Wilson Mountain 7122′ and The First Bench of Wilson Mountain 6234′
Sedona
Total Time: 4:50
Distance: 6.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2800′
Crux: Class 2
Companions: Holly, Jacob Hyde, Janelle Thompson
Trailhead: Encinoso Picnic Area, full services, Red Rocks Pass required
I’ll be honest, there are way too many summits named Wilson in the United States. A search of “Wilson” on the website peakery.com gives 137 results, almost all in the US. I’ve climbed many of them, including Mount Wilson in Northern Arizona near the Nevada border, Mount Wilson above Pasadena and Wilson Peak in Colorado. Wilson Mountain above Sedona was one I had yet to do, despite being considered the highest mountain in the area. Multiple trails lead to the summit, the most popular out of the Midgley Bridge trailhead. But after Tisha Spire and the difficulty with parking, we decided to hike the peak from the north side out of the Encinoso Picnic Area. We did not try for an early start with the trail on the northern aspects not receiving much sun. The trail briefly paralleled the highway before cutting into the drainage between Wilson Mountain and a sub summit to the east named The First Bench of Wilson Mountain.
We very quickly encountered ice at the bottom of this drainage perpetually in winter shade, and I was happy for my trekking pole as we slid across the packed trail.
The ice was short lived as we switchbacked up the trail, leaving the shade for sunshine and mud. The views of Oak Creek improved as we climbed, and I marveled at the rock spires deep in Munds Canyon to the east.
After a short break, the trail cut over the top of The First Bench of Wilson Mountain where it became particularly muddy. It was difficult to tell not only visually but also by the map as to what was the high point of the named sub summit, as the flat plateau seemed to gently tilt up towards Wilson Mountain. We reached a junction with the trail coming up from Midgley Bridge that had “The First Bench of Mount Wilson” written across it, so I figured that was good enough to count as a tag of the high point.
We continued along the trail to the west, the final series of switchbacks reentering snow and the thickest mud of the day. We shortly reached the summit plateau and thicker forest, with the high point off trail to the north.
We looked for a use trail leading up from a saddle with a nearby subpeak, but eventually gave up and cut cross country several hundred yards to the blocky high point. We were in no rush to leave the summit, eating a small lunch and splitting a bottle of wine, enjoying the snowy view of Humphreys Peak and Agassiz Peak the to the north, Oak Creek Canyon to the east, the Dry Creek Drainage to the west, and Capitol Butte and Sedona proper to the south.
When the wine was gone, we headed cross country back to the trail. The group wasn’t interested in visiting the other viewpoints off the plateau, and the four of us headed back down the trail to the First Bench of Wilson Mountain.
We made quick time on the descent, taking no real breaks from the summit back to the car. After a quick stop for apple cider at Indian Gardens, we headed back in to Cottonwood for dinner and more wine before heading home.