Central Eagletail Mountains Wilderness in Eagletail Mountains Wilderness, AZ

Hike Central Eagletail Mountains Wilderness Eagletail Mountains Wilderness, AZ

Class 4 6.6 miles 2700 gain 5-7 hrs Loop Jan 28, 2024
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

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The high point of the Eagletail Mountains is a technical endeavor, but from its perch, I fell in love with the area and was hoping we could locate some cool routes to other summits in this gnarly-looking range. I set out with Matt, Karson, and Shawn to hit some more of the more spectacular-looking peaks near the center of the range. The problem with accessing the Eagletails is that due to the swath of land surrounding them being designated as wilderness, there are few roads that come within their vicinity. After scouring satellite maps, I located a road that could potentially get us pretty close and seemed to be of good quality. Leave the pipeline road here (33.47054, -113.29883) and then take a right here (33.44667, -113.32326). A crossover SUV or better can make it to the trailhead, which is located at the end of the road on the Eagletail Mountains Wilderness boundary.

As is typical for us, we loudly exited our car in anticipation of a fun outing. A couple of hunters concealed on a lump nearby didn't wave back, clearly not thrilled with our antics. We headed across the wilderness boundary along the remains of a very old road, which faded away not long after. The desert was easy to traverse here regardless, and we quickly made our way to the cliffy base of Dark Tower, the first summit of the day. At this point, we didn't know it had been given a name, but we would learn from the summit register that a party dubbed this "Dark Tower," and a second party had endorsed it.

Rather than stay low and wrap all the way around to the south side of the peak where the cliffs might give way a bit more obviously, we figured we could try to locate a weakness from higher up. We hiked up the steep slope to a small cliff band, which provided a Class 3/4 move to overcome. This led to a wide ledge that continued wrapping around and introduced some Class 3 obstacles. We soon reached the spot where we decided to descend later on the south side of the peak. Our shortcut had worked nicely. Above was an interesting-looking lightly colored slope that funneled to a Class 4 crux. The slope was somewhat slick with tiny steppy ledges. The crux at its head freaked me out a bit, basically a short, flared chimney. The moves were fun and quite solid, but a slip would be very bad. I used a piece of webbing on the way down later to assist. Past this crux, a Class 2 slope covered in boulders and prickly cacti got us to the east ridge of Dark Tower. A really delightful set of Class 3/4 moves using large cracks in a flat face gained us the summit. This section might be avoided on the right on loose terrain, but we didn't explore that since this was good fun.

From the summit, we could see the route to come, as well as the incredible Courthouse Rock nearby. We backtracked to the base of the funnel crux and continued down from here since it was clearly the only weakness on the whole volcanic plug. It still didn't go easily, though. The rock was a bit slick, and a detached cholla seemed to be on every hold I wanted to use. While the moves were Class 3, it felt pretty exposed all the way down to the slope below.

The next goal was to reach the main Eagletail ridgeline where we could access our next two summits. I'll note that map imagery might not be accurate here, as you'll see on my attached map. The summits are not correctly placed, and the topography is pretty much totally wrong at some points. The north face of the range is almost completely guarded by serious cliffs, but a weakness at the base of Peak 2874 seemed like our best option, accessed via a steep slope. I wrapped a little farther to avoid the potential for tough terrain, but you might be able to ascend more directly on the crumbly brightly-colored slabs, as my friends did.

At the saddle of our peaks, we decided to head north first to Peak 2874. The goal is to reach a major drainage on the southwest side of the peak. Initially, we debated dropping down and reascending when an option presented itself to reach the peak. In hindsight, this would be a good way to avoid much of the tricky route-finding to get to the drainage, but you'd lose a lot of vertical. Instead, we decided to risk staying high, which ended up working out great. The ridge crest is an impossible affair, so we kept just left of it on a Class 2/3 bench that somehow seemed to keep going. Just to the left of us was a lower cliff, and we were certain at some point our luck along this bench would end.

You'll notice two lines on my attached map. The purple one is our ascent, which I only left in because it was quite fun, but certainly low-Class 5 scrambling. I'll briefly describe that route now, but I'd recommend skipping this paragraph and taking the further option to keep the route more reasonable. For the Class 5 option, we located a deep-looking chasm splitting the ridge that seemed like it could be a feasible stemming chimney. We approached it and were confronted with a Class 4 crumbly slab we needed to climb in order to get into the chimney. We took turns scrambling up the chimney for a couple of hundred feet, surprised that it kept going. It landed us on a wide surface where we could see the easier route option far below (the one I will describe next). Although we could have dropped down to it, we instead pulled an unexposed low Class 5 move up a flared crack and decided to continue the excellent scramble up a series of cracks and ledges in the Class 4 realm to gain the summit.

For the easier Class 3 route to reach Peak 2874 from the bench mentioned above, navigate the now steepening terrain beneath cliffs. While it was nice to be on the wide bench for a while, it fades away and becomes a series of ribs and faces. It's difficult to see what will work and what does not, so you may have to poke around until you find a Class 3 option to traverse this section safely. The terrain eases up again and drops into the major drainage on the southwest side of Peak 2874. This is the key drainage to use, and you can't miss it once you lay eyes on it. The watercourse is quite pretty, a slickrock slope leading into a wide amphitheater-like formation. At the head of this formation is a massive weakness in the ridge crest above, forming a notch. The weakness provides a Class 3 series of moves out of the amphitheater and into the notch. The summit was just above us, but protected by another cliff band. To reach it, we had to pass below the summit on its north side and follow its base along a bench, then scramble some light Class 3 to gain the summit ridge.

The views from Peak 2874 were fantastic and made me want to spend even more time in the Eagletail Mountains. My friends wanted to return via the Class 5 chimney route, but my curiosity was piqued, and I was hoping to find a more reasonable option, hence my discovery of the easier route, which I used on the return and managed to beat them back to the saddle.

Next up was Peak 2773. We continued along the ridgeline using Class 3 moves on interestingly-shaped rock ledges. This brought us up and over a sub-peak, then we descended to the western base of Peak 2773. There's nothing too tricky along the way, maybe a low-Class 3 move here and there to overcome small cliffies. The summit ahead was looking a bit more serious now that we were getting close. A nicely-formed protruding piece of rock provided a fun, tricky set of Class 4 traverse moves, and then the proceeding 100 ft or so was extremely fun and sustained Class 3 on blocky ledges and boulders. Somehow everything was solid and free of cacti.

After enjoying the summit, we decided to wrap around its southern base in an attempt to find another route off of the ridge crest. All of us were looking forward to exploring the area a bit more rather than backtrack. The east side of Peak 2773 did not look reasonable for an ascent, but we didn't try to find a route since we'd already reached the summit. We dropped off the ridge, initially using a tame slope. This became a steep and gorgeous volcanic slab that descended/traversed to the south to wrap around a massive dryfall and surrounding cliffs. Once down, we followed a drainage for a bit and then continued north through the desert, passing by Dark Tower.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Dark Tower
2476 ft
496 rise
2
Peak 2874
2874 ft
794 rise
3
Peak 2773
2773 ft
333 rise

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Crossing the wilderness boundary. Dark Tower seen center. Peak 2874 right, Peak 2773 just right of Dark Tower.
Crossing the wilderness boundary. Dark Tower seen center. Peak 2874 right, Peak 2773 just right of Dark Tower.
Approaching Dark Tower. We headed to its base.
Approaching Dark Tower. We headed to its base.
Class 3/4 move on a small headwall.
Class 3/4 move on a small headwall.
Wrapping around on a bench to the south side of Dark Tower.
Wrapping around on a bench to the south side of Dark Tower.
Class 3 along the way.
Class 3 along the way.
Slickrock funnel.
Slickrock funnel.
Class 4 top of the funnel.
Class 4 top of the funnel.
View down at the crux.
View down at the crux.
Class 2 past the crux.
Class 2 past the crux.
Class 3/4 excellent section to gain the summit.
Class 3/4 excellent section to gain the summit.
Great cracks on a flat face.
Great cracks on a flat face.
Summit of Dark Tower. Peak 2773 center, Peak 2874 right. Our next goal is to reach the little saddle just to the left of Peak 2874.
Summit of Dark Tower. Peak 2773 center, Peak 2874 right. Our next goal is to reach the little saddle just to the left of Peak 2874.
We descended Dark Tower. This is looking back up at the Class 3, somewhat exposed bit from its base.
We descended Dark Tower. This is looking back up at the Class 3, somewhat exposed bit from its base.
Onward, Courthouse Rock seen on the right.
Onward, Courthouse Rock seen on the right.
Ascending the slope ahead to the saddle seen left of center.
Ascending the slope ahead to the saddle seen left of center.
View back toward Dark Tower.
View back toward Dark Tower.
Approaching the saddle.
Approaching the saddle.
Past the saddle, we dropped around to the opposite side of the crest.
Past the saddle, we dropped around to the opposite side of the crest.
View back toward the saddle, seen left of center.
View back toward the saddle, seen left of center.
I'll describe the Class 3 route first before the Class 5. The bench faded away and became a tricky set of ribs and ledges. Keep traversing, keeping the going Class 3, granted there's a drop-off on the left. You can likely avoid all of this if you drop down a few hundred feet below instead.
I'll describe the Class 3 route first before the Class 5. The bench faded away and became a tricky set of ribs and ledges. Keep traversing, keeping the going Class 3, granted there's a drop-off on the left. You can likely avoid all of this if you drop down a few hundred feet below instead.
The cliffs cleared up a bit and I dropped down into the major drainage seen center.
The cliffs cleared up a bit and I dropped down into the major drainage seen center.
Ascending the pretty, slickrock drainage to the notch seen center.
Ascending the pretty, slickrock drainage to the notch seen center.
View back down through the drainage.
View back down through the drainage.
Notch seen center at the head of this amphitheater-like feature.
Notch seen center at the head of this amphitheater-like feature.
Ascending to the notch (ignore the fact that everyone's coming down, I took this on our descent).
Ascending to the notch (ignore the fact that everyone's coming down, I took this on our descent).
View down at the Class 3 up to the notch.
View down at the Class 3 up to the notch.
Close-up.
Close-up.
Nearing the top of the Class 3 ascent.
Nearing the top of the Class 3 ascent.
From the notch, view down. The notch spit us onto a bench.
From the notch, view down. The notch spit us onto a bench.
View back along the bench. It hugs the summit cliff before a low Class 3 set of moves takes us up.
View back along the bench. It hugs the summit cliff before a low Class 3 set of moves takes us up.
A view at an intense-looking knife edge everyone seemed too excited to try, but we couldn't find a way to it.
A view at an intense-looking knife edge everyone seemed too excited to try, but we couldn't find a way to it.
Summit of Peak 2874, view west. Courthouse Rock seen far right.
Summit of Peak 2874, view west. Courthouse Rock seen far right.
View east. Eagletail Mountain HP seen top center. Dark Tower seen left. Our next summit, Peak 2773 seen right of center.
View east. Eagletail Mountain HP seen top center. Dark Tower seen left. Our next summit, Peak 2773 seen right of center.
You can skip the next few photos if you don't care about the Class 5 route we took. From the bench, we located the major crack seen top left.
You can skip the next few photos if you don't care about the Class 5 route we took. From the bench, we located the major crack seen top left.
Class 4 to enter the crack, crumbly.
Class 4 to enter the crack, crumbly.
Low Class 5 stemming for a long time, very fun.
Low Class 5 stemming for a long time, very fun.
View down the first leg of the chimney stem.
View down the first leg of the chimney stem.
More scrambling and wider chimney above.
More scrambling and wider chimney above.
The chimney spit us onto a wide ledge. Karson seen starting up a tough flared crack.
The chimney spit us onto a wide ledge. Karson seen starting up a tough flared crack.
The flared crack.
The flared crack.
More Class 3/4 all the way up, very fun.
More Class 3/4 all the way up, very fun.
View down as we near the summit using the tougher Class 5 route.
View down as we near the summit using the tougher Class 5 route.
Anyway, back to the route. We continued along the crest on this interestingly-formed rock to a lump along the ridge.
Anyway, back to the route. We continued along the crest on this interestingly-formed rock to a lump along the ridge.
View back toward Peak 2874.
View back toward Peak 2874.
Peak 2773 seen ahead.
Peak 2773 seen ahead.
Impressive cliffs along the way.
Impressive cliffs along the way.
Some light Class 3 as we descend from the lump to the base of Peak 2773.
Some light Class 3 as we descend from the lump to the base of Peak 2773.
Ascending to Peak 2773.
Ascending to Peak 2773.
View back along the ridgeline, Peak 2874 top center.
View back along the ridgeline, Peak 2874 top center.
Peak 2773 ahead.
Peak 2773 ahead.
Yes, Matt. We do, in fact, go up!
Yes, Matt. We do, in fact, go up!
Class 4 protruding rock providing a short traverse.
Class 4 protruding rock providing a short traverse.
Karson puling up the Class 4 move.
Karson puling up the Class 4 move.
Excellent Class 3 from here.
Excellent Class 3 from here.
View back down.
View back down.
Wider shot back along the ridge.
Wider shot back along the ridge.
Sustained Class 3.
Sustained Class 3.
Summit of Peak 2773, view back toward Peak 2874.
Summit of Peak 2773, view back toward Peak 2874.
Summit of Peak 2773, view back toward Peak 2874.
Summit of Peak 2773, view back toward Peak 2874.
Summit of Peak 2773, view east.
Summit of Peak 2773, view east.
View back toward Peak 2773's east ridge.
View back toward Peak 2773's east ridge.
Descending an interesting volcanic slope. Dark Tower seen left.
Descending an interesting volcanic slope. Dark Tower seen left.
Descending the volcanic slope, avoiding a major dryfall.
Descending the volcanic slope, avoiding a major dryfall.
We entered the drainage seen below and headed back through the desert.
We entered the drainage seen below and headed back through the desert.
Passing Dark Tower on the way. You can see the south face we scrambled up pretty clearly here.
Passing Dark Tower on the way. You can see the south face we scrambled up pretty clearly here.

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