Please be sure to read the piece entitled “Trips – One” before starting in on this one.
So here I was, just having moved to Arizona in May of 1985. It was exciting, to be in one of the most mountainous states in the country. I got busy climbing in earnest, just day stuff, with the odd overnight trip thrown in for good measure. It wasn’t until the following year when I started getting out for some longer trips.
1986: July 12 to July 17 – I flew to Wyoming and Brian Rundle and I climbed a couple of peaks in the Wind River Range, the first climbing we’d done together since ’78 November 13 to 15 – 4 peaks in the Chiricahua Mountains November 21 to 23 – 3 county high points in eastern Arizona
1987: April 25 to 27 – western AZ desert – 6 range high points May 22 to 24 – northwest AZ – 5 range high points September 5 to 7 – eastern AZ – 3 range high points October 29 to 31 – Ajo AZ area – 4 range high points November 10 to 15 – Ajo AZ area – 8 range high points
1988: January 16 to 20 – western AZ desert – 6 range high points March 10 to 12 – traverse through Rincon Mountains – 6 peaks June 22 to 27 – climbing in the Lake Louise area June 30 to July 1 – attempt of Mt. Sir Donald August 29 to 31 – central AZ – 4 range high points October 7 to 9 – western AZ desert – 3 range high points November 10 to 13 – very wintery climb of Agassiz Peak December 2 to 6 – dig out truck from snowstorm in Pinaleño Mountains
1989: April 8 to 16 – northern AZ – 16 range high points August 7 to 9 – climb of Mamquam Mountain, BC August 11 to 22 – attempt of Mount Robson, BC September 29 to October 1 – 5 peaks in Chiricahua Mountains, AZ October 16 to 24 – northern AZ – 14 range high points November 3 to 6 – central AZ – 8 range high points November 10 to 12 – eastern AZ November 18 to 22 – western deserts – 6 range high points December 2 to 8 – western deserts – 12 range high points December 15 to 17 – central AZ – 193 ranges list finish with 3 range high points December 25 to 29 – Cañon del Cobre, Mexico
1990: January 25 to February 15 – attempt on Cerro Aconcagua, Argentina April 11 to 13 – Rincon Peak, AZ May 7 to 11 – climb of Picacho del Diablo, Mexico December 7 to 10 – climb of Cerro Santa Elena, Argentina December 13 to 23 – climb of 11 peaks in Cordón del Plata, Argentina December 26 to January 3 – summit climb of Cerro Aconcagua, Argentina
1991: January 30 to February 1 – climb of Brecha Negra, Bariloche area, Argentina June 11 to 14 – Eastern US – 7 state high points August 9 to 16 – Lake Louise area – 8 peaks October 15 to 23 – Utah – Tushar Mtns. 11 pks; La Sal Mtns. 9 pks November 25 to 27 – Tortolita Mtns. AZ backpack – 8 peaks
Then followed a period of several years while I lived in Arizona and climbed regularly but didn’t go on longer trips – just day climbs and sometimes out for one night. It took until 1996 before Brian Rundle and I got together again and went to South America on a longer trip.
1996: June 23 to 30 – Bolivia and Chile – Sajama and Parinacota September 21 to 24 – plains states high points – 5
1997: January 17 to 19 – 4 peaks along the AZ/NM border
Then followed another spell with no extended trips, until the new millennium rolled around.
2000: February 17 to 20 – Mohawk Mountains, 4 peaks November 18 to 20 – Diaz Peak and Diaz Spire
2001: January 19 to 23 – Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation (TOIR) hills – 11 peaks February 16 to 18 – Organ Pipe Cactus Monument (OPC) hills – 4 peaks March 22 to 25 – western AZ hills – 4 peaks September 7 to 9 – Flagstaff area hills – 8 peaks November 2 to 4 -Gila Bend Mountains – 5 peaks
2002: January 8 to 11 – eastern AZ hills – 9 peaks
2003: November 8 to 14 – 4 peaks on TOIR
2005: November 24 to 26 – attempt on the Ugly Sister
2006: February 12 to 17 – 10 TOIR peaks with Brian Rundle including climb of Ugly Sister
2008: March 28 to 30 – climb of east outlier of Dragon’s Tooth
2009: November 21 to 23 – Mohawk, Granite, Growler Mtns – 3 peaks December 10 to 12 – Agua Dulce, Cabeza Prieta Mtns – 4 peaks
2010: September 3 to 5 – Flagstaff area – 3 peaks
2012: January 31 to February 6 – Sand Tank Mtns. and Sauceda Mtns. – 11 peaks
2013: February 16 to 23 – Castle Dome, Kofa, Mohawk Mountains – 13 peaks October 7 to 12 – Agua Dulce Mountains – 13 peaks November 8 to 10 – Antelope Hills, Agua Dulce Mountains – 7 peaks December 26 to 30 – Sheep Peak, northern Growler Mountains – 9 peaks
2014: January 2 to 5 – Sauceda Mtns. – 10 peaks February 15 to 23 – Granite Mtns. expedition – 18 peaks March 17 to 19 – Sikort Chuapo Mtns.; Sauceda Mtns. – 5 peaks December 5 to 7 – Ajo area – 6 peaks December 12 to 14 – northern Sand Tank Mtns. – 6 peaks December 26 to 30 – Sand Tank Mtns. – 8 peaks
2015: January 23 to 25 – Cipriano Hills area – 5 peaks February 6 to 8 – Growler Mountains – 3 peaks February 20 to 22 – Ajo Range and Batamote Mtns. – 5 peaks March 13 to 16 – Sauceda Mtns. – 7 peaks March 27 to 29 – Bates Mtns. – 7 peaks May 7 to 9 – Bates Mtns. – 5 peaks October 6 to 9 – Puerto Blanco Mtns. area – 7 peaks October 23 to 25 – Puerto Blanco Mtns; Crater Range – 7 peaks November 6 to 8 – Ajo area; OPC – 4 peaks November 27 to 29 – Ajo Range – 5 peaks December 17 to 20 – Sauceda Mtns. – 8 peaks December 26 to 31 – Aguila Mtns. backpack – 12 peaks
2016: January 22 to 24 – Sauceda Mtns. – 6 peaks February 5 to 7 – Sauceda Mtns. – 6 peaks February 24 to 28 – Sauceda Mtns. 9 peaks March 16 to 19 – Sauceda Mtns. – 9 peaks April 15 to 17 – TOIR – 4 peaks October 7 to 13 – Sauceda Mtns. – 16 peaks November 10 to 12 – Crater Range – 3 peaks December 25 to 30 – Crater Range – 14 peaks
2017: February 23 to 25 – Eastern AZ – 3 peaks March 19 to 24 – 2K prominence peaks around AZ June 18 to 24 – Utah – 13 various high peaks September 1 to 3 – White Mtns. of AZ – 12 peaks October 8 to 10 – climbing in Ajo Range, AZ December 26 to 31 – Tank Mtns. – 16 peaks
2018: February 21 to 24 – Tank Mtns. – 8 peaks March 16 to 21 – Tinajas Altas Mtns; Gila Mtns. – 9 peaks May 19 to 24 – Northern AZ – 11 peaks July 12 to 26 – Utah – 21 various high peaks October 7 to 11 – Oatman Mtn. area – 10 peaks November 9 to 11 – northern Granite Mtns. – 5 peaks December 26 to 31 – Chocolate Mtns. – 8 peaks
2019: February 6 to 10 – Little Horn Mtns. – 7 peaks February 20 to 24 – Clanton Hills – 5 peaks March 13 to 21 – Little Horn Mtns. – 24 peaks April 10 to 13 – Little Horn Mtns. – 9 peaks
2020: January 31 to February 4 – Cemetery Ridge – 5 peaks March 18 to 21 – Palomas Mtns. – 4 peaks April 3 to 7 – Palomas Mtns. – 3 peaks June 3 to 5 – White Mtns. – 4 peaks August 10 to 15 – White Mtns. – 10 peaks November 6 to 11 – Devil Hills trip – 4 peaks December 14 to 19 – various AZ hills – 5 peaks
2021: February 1 to 3 – Gila Bend Mtns. – 2 peaks February 18 to 20 – various AZ hills – 4 peaks March 7 to 11 – various AZ hills – 7 peaks
Wow, there you have it, a compendium of sorts of all of the longer climbing trips I’ve ever done over the 60 years I’ve been climbing. I’ve never laid it out like that before, so it was an interesting exercise to see it like this. It revealed some interesting details that I never knew before.
There were 150 trips of 3 days or longer which were devoted to climbing. A total of about 800 peaks were climbed during those 150 trips. I thought there would have been more, but no, just 800 out of my life total of 3,000 peaks. That means that the vast majority of all of my climbing was done as day climbs, but with a fair number also done as overnighters.
Something I already knew, but that showed up quite plainly when I listed all of these trips, was the timing of them. Here in Arizona, living in the desert, our summer heat is brutal. If you live in the low desert, you either don’t climb at all or you go and do your climbing up in the high country or out of the state where it is cooler. Those months were when I’d escape to Canada, Utah, the plains states, or just about anywhere other than the low desert if I felt the urge to climb something. You could manage day climbs here in the summer months, but you’d have to start by headlamp and be done very early in the day before the sun cooked you.
My first 20 years of climbing were spent in British Columbia, Canada. Just when I was doing my best climbing and really building up a head of steam, I moved away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered what I might have accomplished had I stayed there and kept up the momentum I had going – coulda, woulda, shoulda, right? Thinking back on it, I know for sure I would have focused on long trips in remote areas involving unclimbed peaks with high prominence, something I had already started doing – Tretheway Creek, Robertson Peak and the Lillooet Range were examples.
A trait I share with most of the really serious peakbaggers that I have had the privilege of knowing is that they are, for the most part, solitary climbers. They tend to practice their craft alone. I think it’s because they create lists that are uniquely their own, of little interest to others, and set their own agendas. I would venture to say that fully 90%, if not more, of all of the peaks I have ever climbed, have been by myself. It just worked out that way, and I have no regrets.
If I had to pick my favorite areas of all of the amazing mountainous regions of Arizona, it would be the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation (TOIR) and the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range (BMG). My favorite mountain ranges within those areas would have to include the Growler Mountains, the Granite Mountains, the Sand Tank Mountains and the Sauceda Mountains.
The most exciting things I have ever done in my life were ten trips in Arizona that involved what we call stealth climbing. As you regular readers of this website know, that means climbing in places where you are not allowed to go, or going by means you are not allowed to use. All 10 of those trips are mentioned in the lists above, but I’ll give you the highlights of each here.
January 2012 – stealth climbs on the BMG in the Sand Tank and Sauceda Mtns.
February 2013 – stealth climbs on the Yuma Proving Ground in the Tank Mountains
October 2013 – 13 peaks in the Agua Dulce Mtns. climbed by means not allowed
December 2013 – 9 peaks in the northern Growler Mtns. dodging cartel drug runners
February 2014 – 18 peaks in the Granite Mtns. by stealth on the BMG
December 2014 – outrageous stealth of 8 peaks on the BMG in the Sand Tank Mtns.
December 2015 – outrageous stealth of 12 peaks on the BMG in the Aguila Mtns.
December 2016 – an Area 51-type stealth of 14 peaks in the Crater Range on the BMG
December 2017 – a stealth of 16 peaks in the Tank Mtns. on the Yuma Proving Ground
December 2018 – a stealth of 8 pks in the Chocolate Mtns. on the Yuma Proving Grnd.
With the exception of the December 2013 trip, all of those stealth trips were done with a partner. Each of them involved months of planning down to the tiniest detail, and it was that level of planning that made each of them a success. All of those trips have been written up on this website in great detail and with full embellishment, and you won’t be bored reading about any of them. If you like that kind of excitement, you’ll also enjoy pieces like these, which you can find using the search bar at the top of the page:
Masked Men With Guns
Too Much Excitement
A Close Call In The Growler Mountains
The last 80 of the trips carried out while living in Arizona were done with the blessing of my wife Dottie, and quite frankly, I don’t know how she did it. The woman is a saint. Had I been in her shoes, I am certain I could never have had the patience, the strength, the faith, the trust, the courage, the belief she showed in those 30 years as I took those risks. Sometimes I was out of touch for weeks at a time. She never wavered. I could never have done any of this without her support. My eternal gratitude, Dearest Dottie.