Backpacker – September 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

BACKPACKER.COM

shrubs and ironwoods a dozen feet

ta ll g row thick. Head for the south

side of Ragged Top and wander

through dense patches of mesquite

and blue palo verde near its base. But

be warned: “The desert’s a hard place

to live,” Borax says. “Even the plants

had to evolve thorns to survive.” So

take your time, and try not to get too

scratched up.

UP HIGH

You can’t appreciate the full sweep of

the Ironwood Forest without visit-

ing its tallest mountains and taking

it all in. Silver Bell Peak is the tallest

in the monument at 4,199 feet—and

it’s only a 4.2-mile hike there and

back. Ascend nearly 2,000 steady

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TOWER OF FLOWERS

Survey the jewel of the monument—

the craggy knobs of Ragged Top—

from top to bottom with a basecamp

overnight. Day one: Summit 3,907-

foot Ragged Top, where volcanic soil

hosts a Garden of Eden: 410 types

of plants–69 percent of the monu-

ment ’s f lora–sink roots into this

aerie. It’s only 1.3 miles to the top, but

give yourself 6 or 7 hours to get there

and back —class 3 and 4 scrambling

makes the journey sporty and you’ll

wa nt to stop a nd sta re at both the

views and the f lora.

From the drive-up group campsite

at the base of the mountain, climb

200 feet to Wolcott Saddle among

saguaros and foothill palo verde.

Continue west to a second saddle,

then take a sharp right to scramble

up a na rrow chute. A scend the scree

slopes of the 22 million-yea r-old

mountain to its summit.

Next day, start the same way, but

this time bear south off the first

saddle and make a wide loop around

Wolcott Peak, circling it in about

3.6 miles. Trek through the ups and

downs of quintessential Sonoran

Desert: patches of hibiscus and

purple allionia, creosote bushes, and

spring-f lowering saguaros protrud-

ing from dense stands of ironwood

trees, which sprouts its own delicate

pink f lowers in May and June.

On f lat plains where javelinas

forage for agave and prickly pear, look

down to spot deser t tor toises or ig ua-

nas among the scrubs, then look to

the peak above to spy curious bighorn

sheep. “They’ll come out and say hi,”

Borax says. Bring plenty of water—

there are no springs here.

DOWN LOW

The best way to get up close and

personal with the desert is a short,

intense bushwhack through the

veins of ancient rivers, where low

THE INSIDER

The uncharted territory of the

Ironwood Forest drew Gary Borax

from mile one. A decade ago, he

started exploring the monument and

hasn’t stopped. Borax quickly learned

the lay of the land, even though there

weren’t any hikers’ maps. In the late

2000s, he went ahead and made the

maps himself. He also volunteers

with Friends of the Ironwood Forest,

cleaning up garbage, restoring eco-

systems, and leading group hikes to

raise awareness.

WARM UP

Jumping right into the good stuff is

easy in the Ironwood—just drive up

to the base of any mountain range to

f ind dra inages, forests of shr ubs a nd

wildf lowers, limestone cliffs, and

desert views for miles. But Waterman

Peak, a jaunt of just over a mile, is spe-

cial in its own right. As a rare desert

limestone uplift, it’s prime real estate

for the endangered Nichol’s Turk’s

head cactus, a round blue-green

ba rrel that occurs in only three sma ll

populations in Arizona and Mexico.

Waterma n a lso cla ims the ea stern-

most territory of the elephant tree,

which lines the mountainside with

red-hued branches.

Follow an abandoned mining road

halfway up the mountain’s east face,

then bear right for a steep bushwhack

to the 3,773-foot summit, passing

decrepit timber str uctures from the

old mines and succulent gardens

sprouting through limestone cracks.

Reach 360-degree views at the top,

where bighorn sheep have f lour-

ished since the monument’s protec-

tion in 2000. The ver tica l cliffs of the

Silver Bell Mountains rise above the

defunct mines to the north, the pyra-

mid-shaped Coyote Mountains squat

to the south, while rough desert scrub

and groves of saguaro fill the spaces

in between.

GANNON MCGHEE

Play List
INSIDER’S GUIDE

Another perfect

fall day in the

Sonoran Desert

ends by splashing

light onto Ragged

Top and desert

cactuses.

4

DESERT VARNISH

IRONWOOD FOREST NATIONAL MONUMENT, AZ

The Ironwood Forest is a true redemption stor y. Home to

arroyos, plains, foothills, and mountains, the monument’s

coarse and well-aerated soil allows roots to dig deep. The

result: The world’s densest stands of ironwoods, low-

growing shrubby trees that enrich the earth, enable the

Ironwood Forest’s species diversity, and burst with purple-

pink flowers in late spring. By Morgan McFall-Johnsen