Weavers Needle via West Chimney in Tonto National Forest, AZ

Hike Weavers Needle via West Chimney Tonto National Forest, AZ

Class 5 8.4 miles 3300 gain 6-8 hrs Out + Back Nov 4, 2021
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

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Weavers Needle is an iconic peak that dominates the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Most hikers do a loop that wraps around it via the popular Peralta/Terrapin Loop, which I did almost 6 years ago. Today we'd be going for the summit. The peak has two buttes, the north being significantly higher. The two easiest routes seem to access the saddle of these two buttes. The standard route (loose low Class 5, from my understanding) for Weavers Needle comes in via the east chimney, and is better accessed via the Terrapin and Bluff Spring Trails. Chris and Mike wanted to do the route via the more technical west chimney rather than the standard route, which we'd get to via the Peralta Canyon Trail. Both routes merge at the saddle separating the north and south buttes of Weavers Needle, and then continue north to the summit from there. This is an extremely cool peak, one that's been on my itinerary since the day I saw it, and today I'd be taking advantage of a couple of friends with trad gear. Both Chris and Mike are capable, strong climbers/scramblers and wonderful company.

We started along the Peralta Canyon Trail, a nice walk on a well-traveled and maintained trail despite the immense midday heat up to Fremont Saddle, where the view of Weavers Needle ahead is about as photogenic as it gets. Many people turn around here, Fremont Saddle being a destination for many hikers, but we continued down the north side from Fremont Saddle and followed the trail for another couple of miles as it slowly descended. The perspective toward Weavers Needle changed significantly as we wrapped around to its west side, where it was revealed there are two summits, and we could see the chimney we'd be using the ascend. Now for getting up to it. There isn't a trail to get to the west chimney route, and the terrain seemed potentially quite brushy and riddled with rock outcroppings. We noted a cairn on the right leading away from the Peralta Canyon Trail and decided to follow it, though I'm sure leaving the trail at any point will result in a similar ascent to what we experienced. A short drop led into a minor wash, and then we started scrambling and lightly bushwhacking out of the wash. There is a major set of large pinnacles that we kept to the left of, and then a mostly pleasant and steep Class 2 slope led us up to near the chimney. A social trail materialized below the cliffs of the southern butte, and we followed it as a side-hilling traverse into the gully at the base of the technical chimney.

Happy to be in the shade created by the gully's towering walls, some Class 2/3 on slabs led to the start of the climb, where a deceptively tricky Class 3 slab led to a Class 4 move at its top. There are minimal holds and it's at an awkward angle. Past this Class 4 move, some Class 2/3 stuff led to start of the technical climb, where there were fixed bolts in place. Mike decided to freesolo the route, which I thought was wildly stupid due to the potentially chossy rock quality, but he had no incident. Chris basically freesoloed it as well since his gear placement wasn't great, reporting the majority of the climb was 5.5 PG-13, the PG-13 due to the lack of good placements. The The final bit to get into the notch at the top of the chimney and the end of the climb's technical portion had a chockstone. Climbing underneath this kept the route low Class 5, and it was a pretty fun little feature. Alternatively, there's a 5.7 loose face to the right of the chockstone. I can't understand why Chris decided to do this alternative instead of just go under the chockstone, but I'd learn later this week quite how dangerously burly he's willing to be. Anyway, I thought the climb was fun, but that's just because I didn't have to lead climb it. Thanks for getting me up the route, Chris!

Once at the notch, the real fun began, now away from the Class 5 territory with loose rock. Directly to the north from the notch was a Class 4 ten-foot headwall. Mike ascended it on the left via an exposed set of moves, while I was content to find the less-scary option on the right side. The holds were pretty solid and I didn't feel too concerned, but I did take my sweet-ass time making sure ever hold was okay. Past this there was a lot of fun Class 2/3 up small cliffs and gullies. We flew past it, giggling about how cool this peak was, and surprised at how much scrambling still remained after finishing the Class 5 chimney. The route continued to be straightforward and not at all exposed for a couple hundred vertical feet.

We then got to another headwall. The holds on this guy were incredible fins of surprisingly solid rock, Class 3. I wish every scramble was like this. The jugs were large enough to wrap your arm around. The downside was that a fall would likely mean certain death. I contemplated how I felt about pulling the moves, but the fins were excellent and we made our way up the 15 feet of exposed Class 3 into a small gully, and then pulled a final Class 3 exposed wrap-around move to escape the small gully, now about 30 feet off the deck. This lead to easy Class 2 stuff to the summit, where the sunset views were delightful.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Weavers Needle
4553 ft
993 rise

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Peralta Canyon Trailhead.
Peralta Canyon Trailhead.
Hiking along the Peralta Canyon Trail. Pretty and popular.
Hiking along the Peralta Canyon Trail. Pretty and popular.
Progress up the trail.
Progress up the trail.
View back down the Peralta Canyon Trail.
View back down the Peralta Canyon Trail.
Image 4 from gallery
Image 5 from gallery
Nearing Fremont Saddle.
Nearing Fremont Saddle.
View back down the Peralta Canyon Trail from just below the saddle.
View back down the Peralta Canyon Trail from just below the saddle.
Fremont Saddle, view toward Weavers Needle.
Fremont Saddle, view toward Weavers Needle.
Descending north from Fremont Saddle.
Descending north from Fremont Saddle.
Farther down from Fremont Saddle as we wrap around to the west side of Weavers Needle.
Farther down from Fremont Saddle as we wrap around to the west side of Weavers Needle.
Weavers Needle looks very different from the west side, where you can see its buttes. Obviously the north side is taller. We left the Peralta Canyon Trail at a cairn, but as you can see the terrain is generally pretty brushy and rocky so I don't think you can leave at a specifically ideal spot. We descended into a small wash and then re-ascended onto the slope ahead, keeping generally to the left of the pinnacle-filled rock outcropping.
Weavers Needle looks very different from the west side, where you can see its buttes. Obviously the north side is taller. We left the Peralta Canyon Trail at a cairn, but as you can see the terrain is generally pretty brushy and rocky so I don't think you can leave at a specifically ideal spot. We descended into a small wash and then re-ascended onto the slope ahead, keeping generally to the left of the pinnacle-filled rock outcropping.
Wrapping around the pinnacles. Class 2/3 at times.
Wrapping around the pinnacles. Class 2/3 at times.
Making progress up the steep slope. The west chimney is visible center.
Making progress up the steep slope. The west chimney is visible center.
We found a social trail that led into the gully that would lead to our chimney.
We found a social trail that led into the gully that would lead to our chimney.
View back toward the Peralta Canyon Trail (in shadows). You can see the pinnacle-filled rock outcropping we avoided in the center of this photo.
View back toward the Peralta Canyon Trail (in shadows). You can see the pinnacle-filled rock outcropping we avoided in the center of this photo.
Entering the gully.
Entering the gully.
Class 2/3 slabs.
Class 2/3 slabs.
Class 4 move. It's harder than it looks from below.
Class 4 move. It's harder than it looks from below.
View down the Class 4 move. It's awkward and sloped with not great holds.
View down the Class 4 move. It's awkward and sloped with not great holds.
Mike snagged this close-up of me coming up the Class 4 move. You can see why it's a bit tricky in this shot.
Mike snagged this close-up of me coming up the Class 4 move. You can see why it's a bit tricky in this shot.
Mike starting up the West Chimney of Weavers Needle. He free-soloed.
Mike starting up the West Chimney of Weavers Needle. He free-soloed.
Chris clipped into some bolts before starting up.
Chris clipped into some bolts before starting up.
I came up on top-rope, view back down at the first bit of the climb.
I came up on top-rope, view back down at the first bit of the climb.
Continuing up the chimney.
Continuing up the chimney.
Higher up, closer to the chockstone.
Higher up, closer to the chockstone.
View back, just below the chockstone.
View back, just below the chockstone.
Chockstone crawl-through, very cool.
Chockstone crawl-through, very cool.
Chris at the notch, view back the way we came.
Chris at the notch, view back the way we came.
At the notch, a quick shot down at the more standard East Chimney route.
At the notch, a quick shot down at the more standard East Chimney route.
The Class 4 headwall from the notch. Mike stayed left, Chris and I took the crack below the plants on the right.
The Class 4 headwall from the notch. Mike stayed left, Chris and I took the crack below the plants on the right.
View down at the Class 4 headwall.
View down at the Class 4 headwall.
Lots of fun Class 2/3 scrambling for a few hundred feet.
Lots of fun Class 2/3 scrambling for a few hundred feet.
View back toward the notch, center.
View back toward the notch, center.
Another fun move coming up, center.
Another fun move coming up, center.
Close-up at the Class 3 move.
Close-up at the Class 3 move.
Just past the fun Class 3 move is this exposed Class  3 section. Chris is seen center in the gully. Just past him is another exposed Class 3 move to escape the gully. The holds are incredibly good, and I loved this section of the scramble.
Just past the fun Class 3 move is this exposed Class 3 section. Chris is seen center in the gully. Just past him is another exposed Class 3 move to escape the gully. The holds are incredibly good, and I loved this section of the scramble.
View back down the exposed, fun Class 3. The notch we came up from visible top left. It was scarier than it appears in this photo, but the very good quality rock made it more fun than scary in practice.
View back down the exposed, fun Class 3. The notch we came up from visible top left. It was scarier than it appears in this photo, but the very good quality rock made it more fun than scary in practice.
Class 2 to the summit.
Class 2 to the summit.
Weavers Needle summit, view south.
Weavers Needle summit, view south.
Weavers Needle summit, view north.
Weavers Needle summit, view north.
View down into Peralta Canyon, where we came out from.
View down into Peralta Canyon, where we came out from.
On the way down, another shot of the fun Class 3 exposed section below the summit.
On the way down, another shot of the fun Class 3 exposed section below the summit.
Another shot on the way down. I loved this route.
Another shot on the way down. I loved this route.

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