Peerless Peak and Ute Mountain in Black Mountains BLM, AZ

Hike Peerless Peak and Ute Mountain Black Mountains BLM, AZ

Class 3 4.6 miles 2200 gain 2-4 hrs Out + Back Feb 15, 2021
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

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Peerless Peak and Ute Mountain are two peaks are adjacent to Boundary Cone, but neither are as interesting. In fact, both are pretty much rubble heaps with only a few redeeming qualities. We nicknamed Peak 3318 "Ute Mountain" because it's the most stunning of the peaks in the small Ute Mountain range after Boundary Cone. 

Whiley and I followed a dirt road and headed up toward Peerless Peak first. The peak looks steep, or simply sheer, on all angles. The most reasonable-looking approach was from the west ridge, but getting there involved an awful scree slog on loose rock. The ridge became more interesting the higher it went, scree fading into Class 2 rock, though still not solid enough to be considered fun scrambling. We reached a false summit and continued on a Class 3 move with some exposure along a small knife edge to the summit. I should note we also ascended this peak from the north slopes on Class 2/3 loose awful terrain and I don't recommend going that way, though it is possible.

We backtracked from Peerless Peak and headed south toward Ute Mountain. To approach the peak, we headed along a mining road into the most obvious gulch, taking a break at the road's terminus to check out an open mine shaft. We continued past the mine shaft, sticking pretty much directly to the gully, our goal being a saddle higher up. It was unclear from down here what the best option for ascending would be, and at the time it felt like the right way to go. We weren't sure if the ridgeline would be doable since it looks pretty nutty on a topo map, which ended up being the case. Instead, from this saddle we side-hilled along an animal trail that traversed below the ridge crest and took us up some loose scree to a viewpoint just below the summit. An easy Class 3 move and some quite fun scrambling brought us to the summit. The view toward Boundary Cone was pretty crazy.

On our descent, we decided to try headed directly down the loose scree slope to get back to the mine shaft (the northern line on the attached map leading down from Ute Mountain). You could ascend our descent, but it would be pretty unpleasant in comparison to our ascent. It did make for a quick descent though, the scree aiding in getting down faster.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Peerless Peak
2880 ft
400 rise
2
Ute Mountain (Peak 3318)
3318 ft
518 rise

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Peerless Peak's west ridge. Looks awful, doesn't it?
Peerless Peak's west ridge. Looks awful, doesn't it?
Ascending the slope to the ridge.
Ascending the slope to the ridge.
Loose on our way up to Peerless Peak.
Loose on our way up to Peerless Peak.
View toward Ute Mountain (center) and Boundary Cone (right).
View toward Ute Mountain (center) and Boundary Cone (right).
Class 2 all the way up Peerless Peak's ridge
Class 2 all the way up Peerless Peak's ridge
View back down the ridge.
View back down the ridge.
Class 3 short move with some exposure.
Class 3 short move with some exposure.
Close-up of the Class 3 section.
Close-up of the Class 3 section.
Close-up toward Ute Mountain (center) and Boundary Cone. We descended from Peerless Peak and headed into the gulch on the left.
Close-up toward Ute Mountain (center) and Boundary Cone. We descended from Peerless Peak and headed into the gulch on the left.
After coming down from Peerless Peak, we crossed the desert and headed to a road that led up the gulch in the center of this photo.
After coming down from Peerless Peak, we crossed the desert and headed to a road that led up the gulch in the center of this photo.
Mining road.
Mining road.
End of the mining road, view back toward Peerless Peak.
End of the mining road, view back toward Peerless Peak.
Open mine shaft at the end of the road. We continued above it to the saddle visible top center.
Open mine shaft at the end of the road. We continued above it to the saddle visible top center.
View back as we ascend to the saddle.
View back as we ascend to the saddle.
Saddle we're going to visible top left. Our later descent route comes down from the right. The ridge above looks jagged, and it likely would have been more than we were comfortable with.
Saddle we're going to visible top left. Our later descent route comes down from the right. The ridge above looks jagged, and it likely would have been more than we were comfortable with.
At the saddle, traversing beneath the ridge crest. Ute Mountain's summit is the bump in the center of this photo.
At the saddle, traversing beneath the ridge crest. Ute Mountain's summit is the bump in the center of this photo.
Looking back toward the saddle as we traverse beneath the ridge crest.
Looking back toward the saddle as we traverse beneath the ridge crest.
Ute Mountain center. An animal trail leads to the left of the rock rib in the center of this photo and then to a nice view point before the final scramble.
Ute Mountain center. An animal trail leads to the left of the rock rib in the center of this photo and then to a nice view point before the final scramble.
Looking back again - we ascended from the gulch in the center.
Looking back again - we ascended from the gulch in the center.
Ute Mountain ahead.
Ute Mountain ahead.
After ascending beneath the base of the ridge crest, we made it to the final scramble. Class 3.
After ascending beneath the base of the ridge crest, we made it to the final scramble. Class 3.
Looking back along the ridge crest. We ascended from the shadowy section in the center.
Looking back along the ridge crest. We ascended from the shadowy section in the center.
Class 2+ to the summit of Ute Mountain. Some of the scrambling here was fun.
Class 2+ to the summit of Ute Mountain. Some of the scrambling here was fun.
Summit of Ute Mountain, view toward Boundary Cone.
Summit of Ute Mountain, view toward Boundary Cone.
Close-up toward Peerless Peak. Oatman, AZ and Mount Nutt are visible in the distance.
Close-up toward Peerless Peak. Oatman, AZ and Mount Nutt are visible in the distance.
Our descent route back into the gulch. Better coming down than going up.
Our descent route back into the gulch. Better coming down than going up.

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