Pinal Peak 7,848′ and Signal Peak 7,812′
Total Time: 2:05
Mileage: 3.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 1420′
Crux: Class 1
Trailhead: Saddle between Signal and Pinal Peak, pit toilets
Pinal Peak was one of the closer P2Ks I had yet to climb, just south of Globe and a bit over 2 hours from home. With a summit just under 8K, it was a peak that could safely be bagged in the summer with hikers choosing either a 10+ mile loop on the northern slopes, or some shorter variation utilizing the various excellent fire road to get one closer to the top. When I left Phoenix on a random mid-week day off, I was actually planning on climbing a different P2K nearby, Apache Peaks to the north. But as I headed east towards the Superstition Mountains, the monsoon rains from the day before lingered, and I found myself driving in a light rain before evening reaching Superior. I chose Apache Peaks because it was fairly short, and I assumed I could beat the afternoon monsoon rains. But this storm wasn’t following the rules, and an exposed and wet bushwack coupled with a rough approach road that was known to wash out was quickly adding up to be an obvious bad decision. So I instead decided to go for Pinal Peak, knowing I could drive as far as I needed to up the summit and make my hike as long or as short as the weather allowed. I felt genuine guilt as I drove up Pinal Peak, having fully planned to do the longer loop at some point, but the bad weather forcing me into a shorter hike. Despite the rain, the road was in great shape, and I took it all the way to the high saddle between Signal Peak and Pinal Peak, up in pines where lightning would be less of a threat.
I decided to bag Signal Peak first, and walked around the gate and up the fire road. It was probably less than half a mile before I reached the lookout tower at the summit, with someone actively manning the tower during fire season. There were plenty of signs warning me to stay out, so I grabbed a few quick photos before heading back down the road to the saddle where I had parked.
Continuing past my car towards Pinal Peak, I followed the road a short distance before passing a cattle guard. Just beyond the cattle guard was a trail hidden in the brush to the right. It looked like it paralleled the main road on my map, so I hooked on to the trail to give myself a bit more of wilderness feel as it wound through picnic areas.
The trail briefly hit a stretch of open ridgeline near a barbwire fence before continuing back into the thin trees along the ridgeline towards the summit, ultimately ending at the same road I had been on when starting. The sun began to peek out as I walked past a number of cabins, boarded up mid-week, and I turned down a final spur road to the radio towers at the summit. While trees obscured views in most directions, I had nice views south to Mount Lemmon and north to Signal Peak.
By now it actually looked a bit sunny to the south, although there was still clearly thunder and lightning in the near distance and the decision to not go for Apache Peaks was a good one. I found a patch of rocks on the north side of the summit to have a small lunch before heading back down the road. I took the road the entire way back to my car, passing a few more picnic spots and camping areas on the way. Somehow I managed to stay basically dry the entire hike, and only hit small pockets of rain as I was driving home. Apache Peaks would have to wait for another day…