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Ascent of Pine Mountain on 2012-03-12

Climber: Eric Kassan

Other People:

Solo Ascent

Date:

Monday, March 12, 2012

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Motorized Transport to Trailhead:

4x4 Vehicle

Peak:

Pine Mountain

Location:

USA-Arizona

Elevation:

6814 ft / 2076 m

Ascent Trip Report

Pine Mountain is extremely remote. To get to the trailhead requires about 15 miles of unpaved road which starts on Dugas Road (aka forest road 68), which is exit 268 from I-17. When I went, it was right after a grader went through (we even had to wait to pass the grader), so I can't say what the road is normally like, but at this point it would be passable (though not pleasant) for passenger cars. The roads follow what is on the topo map, except the road to Pine Mountain now ends earlier, at the Salt Flat campground

The trail is somewhere between maintained and unmaintained, as there are places considerable logs have been cut, and others where downed trees still cross the trail. Also, following the trail is difficult in places, but re-acquiring the trail was never a problem.

At about 5,720', the main trail (Nelson Trail, #159) splits with the Willow Spring trail going up the north side of Pine Mountain. Less than half a mile further the Pine Mountain trail splits off heading up the south side of Pine Mountain. Since there is less than half a mile difference in distance, combining them makes for a nice loop. The Willow Spring route appears to handle snow better- while it had some patches, the trail avoided most, whereas the Pine Mountain trail had more patches which covered the trail, and more muddy patches below snow.

The summit offers great views east over the Verde River valley.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

1984 ft / 603 m

Elevation Loss:

1984 ft / 603 m

Distance:

9.8 mi / 15.8 km

Quality:

2 (on a subjective 1-10 scale)

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Snow on Ground

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

1884 ft / 573 m

Extra Loss:

150 ft / 45 m

Distance:

4.7 mi / 7.6 km

Route:

via Willow Spring trail

Trailhead:

Salt Flat campground 5080 ft / 1548 m

Time Up:

2 Hours

Descent Statistics

Elevation Loss:

1834 ft / 558 m

Extra Gain:

100 ft / 30 m

Distance:

5.1 mi / 8.2 km

Route:

via Pine Mountain trail

Trailhead:

Salt Flat campground 5080 ft / 1548 m

GPS Data for Ascent/Trip

GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/long
Peaks: climbed and unclimbed by Eric Kassan
Click Here for a Full Screen Map
Note: GPS Tracks may not be accurate, and may not show the best route. Do not follow this route blindly. Conditions change frequently. Use of a GPS unit in the outdoors, even with a pre-loaded track, is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Peakbagger.com accepts NO resposibility or liability from use of this data.

Download this GPS track as a GPX file

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