Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

Pinkley Peak, Arizona, December 2023

January 5, 2024 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On Saturday morning, December 23, I left Linda and our dogs at the Twin Peaks Campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for a climb of nearby Pinkley Peak. Pinkley Peak is the highpoint of the Puerto Blanco Mountains. It has 1345 feet of topographic prominence and has a rocky and complex structure that provides interesting climbing. Linda later took the dogs out to explore the monument on their own.

An afternoon view of Pinkley Peak from the Puerto Blanco Drive

I drove past the Kris Eggle Visitor Center and north onto the Puerto Blanco Drive, admiring views of and photographing Pinkley Peak as I approached it. I parked at a picnic area immediately east of Pinkley Peak.

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Kino Peak, Arizona, March 2023

March 22, 2023 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Thursday, March 9, I met Dave Kohnke at Bates Well Ranch off of the Bates Well Road in Organ Pipe National Monument. I had spent the previous night camped nearby but Dave has started his day by driving some three hours from Tucson. Our goal this day was to climb Kino Peak, the highpoint of the Bates Mountains.

A late afternoon view of Kino Peak from the north

Winter of last year I viewed Kino Peak from the north along the Bates Well Road and admired its steep and prominent appearance. Kino Peak has 1537 feet of topographic prominence, making it the 143rd most prominent peak in Arizona. More significantly, it has a reputation of difficult route finding to gain the summit above impressive cliffs. Fortunately, we had found good route information online, including descriptions and photos. This gave us some confidence that we should be able to summit the peak.

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Diaz Peak, Arizona, January 2023

February 7, 2023 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday morning, January 28, I left Tucson and drove west to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. My goal was to climb Diaz Peak. Diaz Peak lies immediately south of Mount Ajo in the Ajo Range. Diaz Peak has 1501 feet of topographic prominence, making it the 153rd most prominent peak in Arizona. It also has a rocky and complex structure. I hoped the GPS track provided by Matthias would guide me as I climbed to the summit.

Diaz Peak from the crest of a ridge, the summit is left of center above a sunlit ramp

I drove the Ajo Mountain Drive past Mount Ajo and parked off the road at Stop #15. It was later in the morning than I had expected and Diaz Peak looked far away across the desert. So I set a tentative turnaround time for myself. It was going to be a close call as to whether I would be able to summit by then.

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Mount Ajo, Arizona, February 2016

February 28, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On February 23 Linda dropped me off at the Bull Pasture Trail below Mount Ajo along the Ajo Mountain Drive in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. I hiked and scrambled up Mount Ajo, the high point of the Ajo Mountains. This is a volcanic range with many cliffs and rock outcrops and the hiking high on the route reminded me of Misery Ridge at Smith Rock, Oregon. Mount Ajo is another Arizona peak with at least 2000 feet of prominence and I spotted several other such Arizona prominence peaks and Mexican peaks from the summit.

Organ Pipe Cactus and Mount Ajo from the Bull Pasture Trail

I followed the Bull Pasture Trail for the first 1.5 miles, then followed a well-worn climbers trail the rest of the way to the summit. The hiking elevations are only 2400 – 4800 feet and the sky was clear with lots of sunshine but it was a cooler day than recent ones and there was a breeze on the ridges which helped make the day quite pleasant for hiking.

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