On Saturday, March 22, I hiked Slavin Peak (Peak 7115) and China Peak in the southern Dragoon Mountains of Southern Arizona. I had several goals in mind. First, I wanted to see how my left foot handled hiking after injuring it four weeks earlier. Second, I wanted to explore these peaks to see if I wanted to lead them for the Southern Arizona Hiking Club.

A fellow SAHC member (who did not have a 4WD vehicle) was approaching her goal of 400 SAHC peaks. She had not yet hiked Slavin peak. I thought I could lead both Slavin Peak and China Peak on the same SAHC hike, but had not been that deep into the Southern Dragoon Mountains. I needed to see what the combination hike would require. It had a few surprises for me.

Saturday morning I drove in on Middlemarch Road over Middlemarch Pass. Further north I continued straight onto more primitive Forest Road 345A towards Peak Tank. My first goal was Slavin Peak. “Slavin Peak” is an unofficial name for an otherwise unnamed peak with 7115 feet of elevation. Slavin Gulch lies below the peak to the west and I assume this is what the peak is named after.

The club notes suggested I park before reaching Peak Tank, but I found the driving surprisingly easy enough to continue driving past Pear Tank to reach the ridge saddle higher. There was a lot of room here for parking. This seemed a popular spot for off-roaders.

From the ridge saddle I followed an unmaintained trail on the left (west) side of a fence north along the south ridge of Slavin Peak. When it became brushy on the west side I crossed the fence at a convenient point and continued up the open ridge on the east side of the fence. Later I decided to cross the fence once more and finished the ridge hike to the summit.

The summit provided scenic views of the Southern Dragoons. I found and added my name to a summit registry. Mount Glenn, the highpoint of the Dragoon Mountains dominated the view to the north.

To the south I identified China Peak. My plan was to return along the ridge to my parking spot, then continue south on the ridge to reach China Peak.

I started my descent and soon meet two other hikers from the Huachuca Hiking Club. This is a small, but active, hiking club from nearby Sierra Vista. After a short visit I returned along the ridge back to my Jeep.

China Peak lay to the south and I started following the fence line towards it. Soon the fence descended steeply down forested slopes. After some bushwhacking and seeing the thick forest ahead I decided the ridge hike would not work for me. I escaped down to the road below and decided to relocate my Jeep closer to the peak.

I returned to my Jeep and descended the road to Pear Tank. This is a depression that can collect water during wet seasons, but it was dry and I parked on the dry bottom of the tank. Above me the remnant of a road led into the forest higher towards the north ridge of China Peak.

Soon the road track disappeared and the forest closed in around me. I worked my way higher in spurts, debating after each moment of progress whether it was worth continuing. I moved to my left and found a more open forested slope and climbed higher, eventually breaking out of the forest on the ridge line beside a fence.

The slope to the east of the fence had been cleared. I followed the open slope beside the fence and reached the summit of China Peak. Two Jeeps had just left. They were slowly descending a quite primitive road to the south and west. One driver had paused to raise the hood of his Jeep for some time. I was glad when they continued on and left the summit to myself.

The summit registry was packed with odd pieces of paper marked by previous visitors. This must be a popular 4×4 destination. I soon gave up on trying to make sense of the registry and did not attempt to add my name to it. I enjoyed the views from a slightly different perspective than from Slavin Peak. Close to the south I noted Sala Benchmark, which I hiked last December.

After a belated lunch and a few photos I descended back to my Jeep. I found a slightly better route back, but decided I would not return to China Peak any time soon.

Neither Slavin Peak nor China Peak has significant prominence. But both are located deep within the Southern Dragoon Mountains with nice views of this range and many surrounding ones. I will return soon to lead a SAHC hike of Slavin Peak. It will be a short but pleasant outing and a chance to give a little back to the club.