The High Point of the Tortolita Mountains, Jeffords Peak

My Christmas tree is up!!!!  I still find it a little weird with the temps in the 70's that we are celebrating Christmas season but I can handle it.  The next morning, Saturday was a hike day for which I was kind of unprepared.

Our group of 10, gathered at a school parking lot in the small town of Catalina to consolidate info high clearance vehicles for a short drive to the trail head.  Only then did I discover I had forgotten to bring a hat or sunscreen.  Fellow hiker Emily had extra sunscreen but I had to stop at a Safeway to shop for a hat. The first display had goofy straw hats but behind that, a display of baseball style caps so I was good to go.  I was the subject of good natured derision and rightly so.

The 5 mile drive from Oracle Road could be navigated without a HCV but there were a couple of sandy areas that may be problematic in a car. Upon reaching the trail head, I then spent several minutes walking down one jeep road, then another before orienting myself to a gpx track I was attempting to follow.  Finally we were on the right track and headed up a broad wash which soon narrowed.

We passed a sign for the "Indian Town Trail", an intriguing name but subsequently I was unable to find any information about it.  The wash narrowed and....

....became boulder filled.  Lorna, one of our favs on the right. I was concerned that around each turn we'd be faced with an insurmountable obstacle but we encountered nothing that we could not navigate.and soon.....

....broke right from the ravine and began a climb in earnest. Our destination, Jeffords Peak, is the high point in the Tortolita Mountains.  Few people are aware of the peak, named after Tom Jeffords who held many important positions, mostly in the 1800s.  Actor Jimmy Stewart played Jeffords in the movie "Broken Arrow" but the plot had nothing to do with Jeffords actual work.

Our hike was 100% an off trail, bushwhack.  However, it wasn't nasty, just walking through upper desert/grasslands. There was nothing to distinguish Jeffords Peak from any surrounding peak and it was kind of late in the hike before it came into view. Confirmation of the peak occurred about when I lost power on my phone, losing the gpx track.  Got to do something about that.

We had been following a loop route which I always prefer to an in and out route.  However.....

....after following the bottom segment and returning via the top segment, I would never travel the bottom segment again.  Too much hiking across steep slopes that we did not encounter on the return.

The views were awesome, as with any climb in our region.  An unusual haze partially obscured the usual clarity.  At last we.....

......we reached the peak!

We had passed the edge of a closed chalk mine and now had a good look at it.  

Note how obscured are the Santa Rita mountains in the distance, barely able to make out Elephant Head on the right of the range.  Waiting for us at the peak was "Paul" a fellow hiker who mostly enjoys solo hiking.  This was his third visit to Jeffords and he kindly offered to guide us.....

....on a much more enjoyable route.  Of course it was steep in a few spots as evidenced in the above image but we returned to our vehicles.....

....where coolers were opened (I forgot that too!) and beverages shared.  Amy and I usually have to quickly depart after hikes but the hike was only 4.5 miles, 1100' of climbing and since Jack the Dog had not been alone for as long as most hikes, we could linger. Oh, also....

....Paul has hiked to "Table Tooth" the finger of rock next to Table Mountain (which is in the distance).  Working on a date for that.