The sun rose over the eastern mountains at 6:50am and immediately lighted the campsite in a yellow glow. It was time to get up.
Park Rangers were on duty at 8am, driving through the campsite to make sure everyone had paid their camping fees. I was pulled over by one ranger who reminded me of a character typically represented in spoof movies of the Police Academy: wearing shades and with a bushy mustache. He pulled me over because he "thought" I hadn't paid my $12 camp fee because I drove off the same time he drove into the park. I showed him my pay stub which I had on my windshield as directed. "Oh, I didn't see that!" he said and apologized. He didn't see it because he never even bothered to look at the front of the van! He drove up to me from behind, and the small stub isn't visible from the back of the vehicle. The ranger was simply overly ambitious at catching trespassers. Perhaps the park has a problem with campers who don't pay (I did see a full-sized pick-up leave shortly after sunrise) but I wasn't one of those.
The $12 camp fee included the day pass of $6. I drove back to the front gate to reassure myself of that. (In Texas the day fee is separate from the camp fee)
Picacho Peak, a tilted and eroded remains of a sequence of lava flows that rises 1500' above the desert floor, was often used as a landmark by early explorers due to its tall and isolated peak in a valley of much smaller extinct volcanos. Geologists say this peak is four times older than the Grand Canyon. I had always wanted to climb to the top.
The most significant Civil War battle in Arizona--and the most western battle in the war-- took place near Picacho Peak on April 15, 1862, when an advance detachment of Union forces from California attacked a Confederate scouting party. The battle (more like a skirmish) lasted for 1-1/2 hours, and three Union soldiers were killed. I had just missed the weekend reenactments held 8-9 March in the park. But after seeing Gettysburg twice over the July 4th weekend, no other reenactment is as good or realistic as Gettysburg.
By 8:30am I was at the Sunset Vista Trailhead, a 3.1 mile route to the 3374' peak of the mountain range. I left from the campsite, adding another mile to the start of the hike. This trail goes to the peak from the southside, with tall saguaros, Chollas, Crucifix thornbrush and barrel cacti along the route. Wildflowers were still out, but clearly waning of their glory. A hiking group of about ten people waited at the trailhead as I continued on. There were many people already up on the trail; I passed a few.
I rested briefly at one switch-back and talked to an older man wintering in Casa Grande from Craig, CO. He had never hiked this trail before and was clearly challenged. I was, too, and could feel my legs get another work-out. The first two miles of the Sunset Vista trail were relatively moderate, but the last mile was steep and had four cableways to help hikers along. I had forgotten about the cables...they were quite a challenge on two of the stretches as the trail went nearly straight up lava rock. Hiking to the top in part reminded me of hiking up Half Dome.
The man never introduced himself. Perhaps he got turned off by my comment about golf courses. He had never been in Sierra Vista before and asked about golf courses. There is one private golf course in town, but in my opinion golf courses do not belong in the desert where water is limited. "People who want to golf should go to Florida!" I said.
It took me 2:10 hours to get to the top of Picacho. I could see Tucson in the south, covered in smog, and Phoenix to the north covered also in smog. A few green farm fields were in contrast to the brown desert floor, and one could see for miles the aluvial plains around the old volcanoes. Trains along the parallel interstate rolled in from the south.
I didn't stay long at the top. Another couple, who passed me up the trail, sat looking at the south vista. Another man came up, took a drink from his water bottle, and went back down. More people were going up the peak as I descended. Cars entering the park waited in line at 11am to get in. It clearly was a busy day at the park, surprisingly for a Tuesday. And the rangers diligently made sure all the visitors had valid day passes on their windshields.
The shorter but just as challenging Hunter Trail was my choice going down, a trail accessible from the north side. It switch backs all the way to the intersection with the Sunset Vista trail and never loses its difficulty. Many people attempting this trail clearly looked physically exhausted. This way I hiked a complete loop around the Picacho Peak range, adding yet another .8 miles to my hike, making it an almost seven-mile trail that took me five hours to complete. I got back to my van at 1:25pm, giving me just enough time to shower and leave the campsite before my 2pm cut-off time. More campers were coming in.
I am glad I did this peak, finally, but don't plan on doing it any time soon unless the hiking club wants to do it. It's one of those "must-do" hikes for any Arizonan hiker, but not the most spectacular. I am sure people will disagree with me. At least I know I got a good work-out. Now the next time I drive past the peak I can brag that I bagged it and can scratch it off my Arizona peaks list.
http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/picacho.html
http://www.desertusa.com/azpicacho/azpicacho.html
http://www.wtj.com/articles/picacho/
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Picacho_Peak_8520.asp
Park Rangers were on duty at 8am, driving through the campsite to make sure everyone had paid their camping fees. I was pulled over by one ranger who reminded me of a character typically represented in spoof movies of the Police Academy: wearing shades and with a bushy mustache. He pulled me over because he "thought" I hadn't paid my $12 camp fee because I drove off the same time he drove into the park. I showed him my pay stub which I had on my windshield as directed. "Oh, I didn't see that!" he said and apologized. He didn't see it because he never even bothered to look at the front of the van! He drove up to me from behind, and the small stub isn't visible from the back of the vehicle. The ranger was simply overly ambitious at catching trespassers. Perhaps the park has a problem with campers who don't pay (I did see a full-sized pick-up leave shortly after sunrise) but I wasn't one of those.
The $12 camp fee included the day pass of $6. I drove back to the front gate to reassure myself of that. (In Texas the day fee is separate from the camp fee)
Picacho Peak, a tilted and eroded remains of a sequence of lava flows that rises 1500' above the desert floor, was often used as a landmark by early explorers due to its tall and isolated peak in a valley of much smaller extinct volcanos. Geologists say this peak is four times older than the Grand Canyon. I had always wanted to climb to the top.
The most significant Civil War battle in Arizona--and the most western battle in the war-- took place near Picacho Peak on April 15, 1862, when an advance detachment of Union forces from California attacked a Confederate scouting party. The battle (more like a skirmish) lasted for 1-1/2 hours, and three Union soldiers were killed. I had just missed the weekend reenactments held 8-9 March in the park. But after seeing Gettysburg twice over the July 4th weekend, no other reenactment is as good or realistic as Gettysburg.
By 8:30am I was at the Sunset Vista Trailhead, a 3.1 mile route to the 3374' peak of the mountain range. I left from the campsite, adding another mile to the start of the hike. This trail goes to the peak from the southside, with tall saguaros, Chollas, Crucifix thornbrush and barrel cacti along the route. Wildflowers were still out, but clearly waning of their glory. A hiking group of about ten people waited at the trailhead as I continued on. There were many people already up on the trail; I passed a few.
I rested briefly at one switch-back and talked to an older man wintering in Casa Grande from Craig, CO. He had never hiked this trail before and was clearly challenged. I was, too, and could feel my legs get another work-out. The first two miles of the Sunset Vista trail were relatively moderate, but the last mile was steep and had four cableways to help hikers along. I had forgotten about the cables...they were quite a challenge on two of the stretches as the trail went nearly straight up lava rock. Hiking to the top in part reminded me of hiking up Half Dome.
The man never introduced himself. Perhaps he got turned off by my comment about golf courses. He had never been in Sierra Vista before and asked about golf courses. There is one private golf course in town, but in my opinion golf courses do not belong in the desert where water is limited. "People who want to golf should go to Florida!" I said.
It took me 2:10 hours to get to the top of Picacho. I could see Tucson in the south, covered in smog, and Phoenix to the north covered also in smog. A few green farm fields were in contrast to the brown desert floor, and one could see for miles the aluvial plains around the old volcanoes. Trains along the parallel interstate rolled in from the south.
I didn't stay long at the top. Another couple, who passed me up the trail, sat looking at the south vista. Another man came up, took a drink from his water bottle, and went back down. More people were going up the peak as I descended. Cars entering the park waited in line at 11am to get in. It clearly was a busy day at the park, surprisingly for a Tuesday. And the rangers diligently made sure all the visitors had valid day passes on their windshields.
The shorter but just as challenging Hunter Trail was my choice going down, a trail accessible from the north side. It switch backs all the way to the intersection with the Sunset Vista trail and never loses its difficulty. Many people attempting this trail clearly looked physically exhausted. This way I hiked a complete loop around the Picacho Peak range, adding yet another .8 miles to my hike, making it an almost seven-mile trail that took me five hours to complete. I got back to my van at 1:25pm, giving me just enough time to shower and leave the campsite before my 2pm cut-off time. More campers were coming in.
I am glad I did this peak, finally, but don't plan on doing it any time soon unless the hiking club wants to do it. It's one of those "must-do" hikes for any Arizonan hiker, but not the most spectacular. I am sure people will disagree with me. At least I know I got a good work-out. Now the next time I drive past the peak I can brag that I bagged it and can scratch it off my Arizona peaks list.
http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/picacho.html
http://www.desertusa.com/azpicacho/azpicacho.html
http://www.wtj.com/articles/picacho/
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Picacho_Peak_8520.asp
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