Backpacker – September 2019

(Darren Dugan) #1
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

18


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
Free download pdf