Please read the previous story published on this site, the one called “Enchainments – Canada” before reading this one – it has a lot of useful information about what is meant by the title.

In my previous post, I talked at length about the subject of enchainments, what the term meant, and ones that I had enjoyed doing in Canada up until 1978. Briefly, it means to climb multiple mountains in one push, without descending to a camp and then climbing the next one. You need to go directly from one to another on foot (camping overnight en route in between peaks is okay). Some climbers say that you can use other means to travel between peaks, such as motorized transport, to link them together, but I don’t buy that definition. So, any of these that I list were all done on foot between peaks, whether it was just 2 peaks or more than that.

In this piece, I want to deal with enchainments done in the USA. My problem is that there are a great many of them, way too many to list each one, so I had to figure out a way to summarize them. Most of them were done on minor peaks, and often with just 2 of them making the group. So here’s what I decided – I would go one year at a time, and for each trip that year list the range and how many peaks formed the enchainment. I won’t name all of the peaks, I’ll spare you that, but for more significant trips I’ll list the peaks and include pictures. So let’s give it a try.

1986

2 peaks – highest area of the Pinaleño Mtns; 2 – New Water Mtns; 2 – Hualapai Mtns; 2 -Wind River Range, Wyoming; 4 – Chiricahua Mtns.

1987 

2 – Tucson Mtns; 2 – Sevenmile Mtns; 2 – Sierra Estrella

1988

2 – peaks in Pajarito Mtns. of Sonora, Mexico; 5 – all the way through the Rincon Mtns. (Tanque Verde Pk, Mica Mtn, Rincon Pk, Wrong Mtn, Pk. 7325); 2 – Dos Cabezas Mtns; 3 – Santa Catalina Mtns.

1989

4 – north end of Tucson Mtns; 6 – middle of Tucson Mtns; 5 – south end of Tucson Mtns. these 3 enchainments were each done on different days); 2 – Santa Catalina Mtns; 3 – on Oracle Ridge; 2 – Tortolita Mtns; 19 – trip all the way through Santa Catalina Mtns. from Mt. Lemmon to Redington Pass; 2 – Sierra de la Nariz (Sonora, Mexico); 5 – Chiricahua Mtns; 2 – New River Mtns; 2 – Tucson Mtns.

1990

2 – Cordón del Plata, Argentina; 2 – North and Middle Sisters, Oregon; 5 – Cordón del Plata, Argentina; 2 – Cordón del Plata, Argentina (up to 17,389′), during 2 weeks spent climbing in the range.

1991

5 – Dos Cabezas Mtns; 5 – Dos Cabezas Mtns (an enchainment through the entire range, in 2 parts); 2 – Mt. Belknap, Mount Baldy – Utah; 3 – Utah; 5 – La Sal Mtns. Utah, just as winter snows shut down the range; 8 – Tortolita Mtns. over 3 days with 2 bivouacs.

1992

6 – Mustang Mtns (loop through range).

1997

Several enchainments in the Roskruge Mtns –  2; 2; 4; 2; 4 all done in the fall.

1998

More in the Roskruge Mtns: sets of 2; 2; 4; 5

2000

2 – Plomosa Mtns.

2001

5 – in the northern part of the Vaiva Hills; 2 – Red Bird Hills; 2 – in the Ninety-Six Hills

2002

2 – in Pinal County; 2 – high points of hills near Tombstone; 2 – west of the Silverbell Mtns; 3 – the north summits of the Vaca Hills; 2 – near Sells, AZ; 2 – in the Vaiva Hills; 2, 2, 2 – three pairs of peaks in the Tat Momoli Mtns; 2 – Dos Cabezas Mtns; 2, 2 – two pairs of peaks in the Slate Mountains; 3 – in the Black Hills; 2 – in the Picacho Mtns; 2, 2, 2 – three pairs of peaks in the South Combabi Mtns; 3, 2 – two sets of peaks in the North Comobabi Mtns; 2 – Osobavi Pk. and Peak 5674 in the Baboquiviri Mtns; 2 – Lalo Peak and Aguirre Peak in the Baboquiviri Mtns.

2003

2 – in the Table Top Mtns; 2, 2, 2 – three pairs of peaks in the Vekol Mtns; 2 – Presumido Peak and Caponera Peak; 4, 2 – two sets in the Baboquiviri Mtns; 4 – along ridges south of Cimarron Mtn; 5 – San Gabriel Pk; Mt. Disappointment; Mt. Deception; Mt. Lowe; Mt. Markham, all done in one push near Mt. Wilson, CA; 2 – in the Copperosity Hills; 2 – S of Kaka, AZ; 2 – E of Cimarron Pk; 2 – in the Quijotoa Mtns.

2004

2 – in the Alvarez Mtns; 2, 2- two pairs near South Mtn; Pks. 6403 and 6111 in the Baboquivari Mtns; 5 – loop of peaks in the northern Santa Rosa Mtns; 3 – in the Santa Rosa Mtns; 2 – La Lesna Mtns; 4 – a chain of peaks in the Cimarron Mtns; 2, 3, 4 – sets of peaks in the Castle Mtns.

2005

2 – in the Mesquite Mtns; 3, 2 – two sets in the Castle Mtns; 2 – Mamtotk Peak and Chupan Mtn; 2, 2 – two pairs of peaks in the Ajo Range; 3 – a trio of peaks done in 106-degree heat in the Ajo Range, almost did me in; 2 – in the Mesquite Mtns; 3, 2 – two sets of peaks in the Sikort Chuapo Mtns; 2 – in the Pozo Redondo Mtns; 3, 2 – two sets of peaks south of Cimarron Peak.

2006

3, 2 – two sets of peaks in the Sauceda Mtns; 2 – in the Sand Tank Mtns.

2007

2 – in the Waterman Mtns; 3, 2 – two sets of peaks in the West Silverbell Mtns.

2008

2 – a pair of peaks in the Tortolita Mtns.

2009

2 – with John Klein in the Pinaleño Mtns; 3 – Plain View Pk, Mt. Graham, Hawk Pk in the Pinaleño Mtns; 2 – Mt. Hopkins and Jack Mtn. in the Santa Rita Mtns; 2 – in the Santa Rita Mtns; 2 – Mt. Ballard and Fissure Peak in the Mule Mtns.

2010

3 – northern Cerro Colorado Mtns; 3 – trio of peaks in the Sierrita Mtns; 2, 3 – two sets in the Empire Mtns; 2 – on the Kaibab Plateau; 3, 2 – two sets in the Baboquivari Mtns; 2 – Ragged Top and Wolcott Peak in the Silverbell Mtns; 5 – in one push, Peaks 5487, 5788, 5742, 5664 and 6193 in the Whetstone Mtns.

2011

2 – Pinaleño Mtns; 2 – Rincon Mtns; 2 – Baboquivari Mtns; 3 – Sierrita Mtns; 3 – near Green Valley; 4 – in northern Sand Tank Mtns.

2012

3 – Keystone Mtns; 2 – Santa Rita Mtns; 3 – in the Sand Tank Mtns., with names like Slag and Desolate; 2 – Puerto Blanco Mtns; 2, 2 – two pairs in the Santa Catalina Mtns; 2 – Tumacacori Mtns; 2, 2 – two pairs in the Table Top Mtns; 4 – Earp BM, Pks 5510, 5730, 5652; 2 – in the Little Rincon Mtns; 3 – in the Dragoon Mtns.

2013

4 – in the White Hills; 2 – Castle Dome Mtns; 2 – Kofa Mtns; 2, 2 – two pairs in the Tank Mountains; 3, 2 – in the Santa Catalina Mtns; 2 – Round Butte and Pk 2575 – in the Sand Tank Mtns; 2 – in the Table Top Mtns.

2014

4 – Sauceda Mtns; 4 – Growler Mtns; 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3 – sets of peaks in the Granite Mts., each set done on a separate day; 4, 5, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 – sets of peaks done in the Sand Tank Mtns; 2 – in the Antelope Hills; 2 – Agua Dulce Mtns; 3 – in the Santa Rosa Mtns; 2 – in the Batamote HIlls; 2 – in the Little Ajo Mtns.

2015

3, 2, 2, 4 – four sets of peaks in the Bates Mtns; 2, 3 – peaks in the Growler Mtns; 3, 3, 3, 2 – sets of peaks in the Sauceda Mtns; 2, 2 – two pairs of peaks in the Ajo Mtns; 3, 4, 4 – sets done in the Puerto Blanco Mtns; 4, 3, 2 – sets of peaks in the Aguila Mtns; 3, 2 – in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Much of this year’s enchainment was stealth climbing in very remote places.

2016

2; 2; 3; 3; 3; 2; 2; 2; 2; 3; 2; 2 – all of these sets were in the Sauceda Mtns; 3; 4; 2; 3; 2; 3 – these were all sets of stealth peaks in the Crater Range.

2017

2, 2, 2 – in Eastern Arizona; 2 – in the Copperosity Hills; 2 – in the Tortolita Mtns; 2 – in New Mexico; 2 – at the Mexican border; 2, 2, 3, 2, 2 – all of these sets are in the Tank Mtns.

2018

2 – near Baragan Mtn; 4 – eastern Maricopa Mtns; 3 – Santa Catalina Mtns; 2 – in the San Francisco Peaks; 2 – Utah, Mt. Ellen area; 3, 2, 2, 2 – sets in the Gila Bend Mtns; 2 – in the southern Maricopa Mtns; 3 – in the Chocolate Mtns.

2019

2, 2, 2, 3 – sets of peaks in the Little Horn Mtns; 2 – in the Clanton Hills; 2 – in the Perilla Mtns; 2 – east of Winkleman, AZ; 2 – east of Tombstone, AZ

There you have it, Friends, a summary of all of the enchainments I’ve completed in places other than Canada, nearly all of which were in the United States. I added them all up – the ones mentioned in this piece total 630 peaks. That is out of a total of 1,626 peaks I have climbed in the USA, which means that 38% of all the mountains I have climbed in the last 40 years have been done as enchainments, linked with at least one other peak. Don’t think for a moment that the 1,626 peaks that I’ve climbed in the USA is an impressive figure – it’s not. The website Lists of John keeps track of these things, and it shows no fewer than 62 other peakbaggers who have racked up higher numbers than mine, all the way up to staggering totals of just over 7,000 peaks, which is nothing short of incredible. I spent a lot of enjoyable days and nights completing those enchainmants, though.