On Saturday morning, November 26, I met Scott Peavy and and Matthias Stender at the Gu Achi Trading Post beside Arizona Highway 86. Our plan was to climb Ben Nevis Mountain located in Pima County, Arizona. Ben Nevis Mountain has 1691 feet of topographic prominence, tying with Whitlock Peak as the 108th most prominent peak in Arizona.

We have admired Ben Nevis Mountain from nearby South Mountain and traveling the highway and were glad to have a chance to finally visit it.

We drove south on the highway, then turned onto an unmarked dirt road. I followed waypoints as we drove through the mesquite, palo verde, and saguaro cactus towards Ben Nevis Mountain. The dirt roads were eroded but not difficult for our high-clearance vehicles. We encountered no indication on the drive in that we might be unwelcome.

From our parking spot below the east face of Ben Nevis we chose our climbing route, the rocky east ridge leading towards a notch splitting the east face.

At one point on the east ridge I climbed a short rock face. Midway up the face I wished I had packed my poles away. Above the face I was relieved to discover the route did not cliff out – I did not want to retreat down the face I had just climbed.

The east ridge ended at an open slope leading up to the notch between high cliffs. Here miners had carved a ramp rising from right to left across a cliff face.

This wide ramp provided us easy access to the gentle upper slopes. Had it not been for this carved ramp the climb to the upper slopes would have been much more difficult.

Above the helpful ramp we followed the gentle slopes to the south to the summit of Ben Nevis Mountain.

We stopped for lunch beside the summit antenna, noted the NEVIS Benchmark, and added our names to the summit registry. We admired the views of the surrounding peaks and identified as many as we could; most of those we had climbed before.

After lunch we descended back to the notch and down the ramp. From there we descended the south side of the east ridge to bypass the rocky upper ridge, then crossed the ridge through a teddy bear cholla field. Here I picked up some cholla segments on my pants and boots. We then descended a north slope off the ridge to easier terrain leading back to our cars.

We drove back to the trading post, discussed our next goals, and said our goodbyes until we meet again for another desert climb.