On Friday, December 20, I climbed the highpoint of the Johnny Lyon Hills, north of Benson, Arizona. The Johnny Lyon Hills highpoint has 1149 feet of topographic prominence. The hills rise above the San Pedro Valley and the highpoint provides nice views of many surrounding Sonoran Desert mountain ranges. So it is a worthwhile peak to visit. The Johnny Lyon Hills are notable from I-10 and surrounding mountain ranges, if you know where to look.

Several of my peakbagging friends, including Wade Luther, Matthias Stender, and Scott Surgent had climbed the highpoint before. Their trip reports, GPS tracks, and road access notes were helpful – I would not be exploring new routes today.

Road access was good. I think any car could drive to where I parked, just before a locked gate on Keith Ranch Road, a well-graded dirt road. From the gate I followed the road higher on foot towards the higher hills. When my destination came into view I left the road and hiked directly towards it.

The highpoint lies on a narrow NW to SE trending ridge. I crossed a few shallow drainages, then climbed the steep southwest slope towards low cliffs on the ridge above. My route was “decorated” with Shin Daggers, Ocotillo, Prickly Pear, Whitethorn Acacia, and etc. I did not linger for careful identification of these plants; I just tried to minimize encounters with them. High on the steep slope I found an opening through the low cliffs and reached the ridgeline.

The apparent highpoint rose ahead of me to the northwest. Sometimes I climbed near the edge of the ridge on the left over rock blocks. When I tired of the unstable footing I would descend a little to my right where the footing was better, until I was tempted back to the rock where the brush was less. But soon I reached the highpoint.

Here I found the summit registry. Before settling in for lunch I quickly checked that a higher point did not lie further along the ridge, and confirmed to myself that an adjacent peak to the north, Peak 5720+, was lower.

So I returned to the highpoint and relaxed for quite a while, eating my lunch and reading registry entries from as far back as 1986. Many of these where from Southern Arizona Hiking Club outings. I recognized many names from the more recent entries.

I also spent time identifying and photographing the many mountain ranges around me. The air was calm and the day warm.

Finally, I packed up and descended back down the ridge. I descended an alternative breach in the low cliffs, then continued down the steep slope. Only once did my feet slip out from under me. Fortunately I did not land on a cactus.

I returned to the road, decided to defer climbing nearby Keith Peak, and returned to my Jeep. It had been a successful hike in the solitude of the Johnny Lyon Hills. Sometime I might return to visit Keith Peak.