Miller Peak, Up Miller Canyon, Down Ramsey Canyon

Overviews

The 9466 ft Miller Peak is the highest point in the Huachuca Mountains of Southern Arizona. The Huachucas are a small “Sky Island” Range that start at the US-Mexico Border to the west of the town of Sierra Vista, Arizona and stretch northwest for 18 miles. The range is only 6 miles (one peak) wide. In contrast to the surrounding arid planes, the Huachucas are forested, hence the term Sky Island.

 

Miller Peak is 4 aerial miles to the north of the US-Mexico border. It can be hiked from the south starting at Montezuma Saddle or Lutz Canyon. From the north, there are many other options including Miller Canyon, Carr Peak or Ramsey Canyon Trails, among others.

 

I did a 14.75-mile one way hike from Miller Canyon Trailhead up to the summit of Miller Peak, down to Ramsey Canyon Trailhead and then a mile more on the street to reach the vacation rental house we were staying at.

 

The last 1.2 mile of the trail in Ramsey Canyon falls in a private area known as Ramsey Canyon Nature Preserve. Entering the trail at the trailhead at the end of Ramsey Canyon Road is only possible at certain hours and requires a fee. I, however, reached the trailhead from up on the mountains and just walked through.

 

 

Is It Safe to Hike so Close to the Border?

Many online entries from before 2015, including notes on Summitpost, said that the trail was trashed by illegal immigrants and advised against hiking alone. A sign at the beginning of Miller Canyon Road clearly said that smuggling and illegal immigration might be encountered. More recent entries, however, did not seem to give such warnings. I had even read about an annual mountain hiking and running event sponsored by the city of Sierra Vista, Arizona on the last weekend of May.

 

On the day of my hike (alone), I did not see anyone until 2.5 hours after the start of my hike when I suddenly ran into a young man in jeans and a hoodie with no hiking apparel. The handle of a gun was sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. For all I know, he might have been just another hiker, but I did get scared and seriously considered turning back. Unbeknownst to me, the day of my hike turned out to be the day of the Sky Islands Summit Challenge Hike and I soon found the trails flooded with 200 people.

 

 

 

Trip Report

Hike Length: 14.75 miles

Total Ascent: 4714 ft per my GPS

Starting Point: Upper Miller Canyon Trailhead 5720 ft

Highest Point: Summit of Miller Peak 9466 ft

Lowest Point: 5286 ft

End Point: Vacation rental house near Ramsey Canyon Road

 

 

 

May 25, 2024

My wife and I left the vacation rental house in Ramsey Canyon at 4:50 AM (sunrise 5:20). View of the town of Sierra Vista, Arizona, and the distant Dragoon Mountains from the driveway.

 

 

Miller Peak could be seen from Route 92 with the moon above it.

 

 

Turned west onto E Miller Canyon Road, the first mile of which was paved and went through a neighborhood. Suddenly saw a bunch of Javelinas running across the street.

 

 

I had seen this sign on Google Street views but coming across it at that early hour when no one else was around had me think again about the safety of hiking alone in that area.

 

 

After 1.5 miles of driving on a graded dirt road, we reached the Miller Canyon Upper Parking. No one was there and as I got out of the rental Jeep, I heard what sounded like a big pack of angry dogs barking on a nearby property. Said goodbye to the wife and started my hike at 5:25 AM. Elevation was 5720 ft and it was 62 degrees F.

 

The trail headed east a short distance then turned west going through a forest of small trees. Sunrise to the east.

 

 

Noted frequent small flags on the side of the trail. In one spot, I saw a sign that said “Sky Islands Summit Challenge Finish Line” with an arrow that pointed to the trailhead that I had come from. Was there going to be a race to finish where I had started at? (I did not see anyone until 2.5 hours later). I had brought 5.4 liters of water so my backpack was feeling heavy.

Cliffs to the north, east ridgeline of Carr Peak.

 

 

Miller Peak to the left and Carr Peak to the right.

 

 

As a canyon formed, trees became larger and higher up turned into big conifers.

 

 

 

Looking down Miller Canyon.

 

 

 

Summit of Miller Peak.

 

 

 

Was looking forward to reaching Bathtub Springs at the junction of Crest Trail where I hoped to take a rest. I suddenly saw a lone man appearing behind me. He was dressed in jeans and a hoodie holding a bottle of water in hand with no backpack or any other hiking apparel. Where the heck did he suddenly appear from? I really doubted that he started at the trailhead and caught up with me. I pulled over and let him get ahead of me. He smiled and said hi. As he went by, I saw the handle of a handgun sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. That got me really concerned. Had I come across somebody in some type of illegal activity close to the border? Was he going to come back to kill me? What was I supposed to do? Did not want to go back. Reaching Miller Peak meant going south on the Crest Trail further toward the border. I gave up on my hopes of reaching Miller Peak and decided to go north on Crest Trail to Pat Scott Peak. Was really unhappy that I had come all the way from Wisconsin and had to give up at the last 2 miles, but I did not want to lose my life either.

 

 

A little farther up, I saw the same guy standing by the trail looking aimlessly around. I slowly went by him, and he did not say anything. I then noted that I had reached Bathtub Springs at the junction of Crest Trail. A man with full camping gear had camped there, I was glad to see him. It was 7:50 AM, 8560 ft elevation and I had gone 3.69 miles. I went to him asking if it was safe to hike there and told him that I had given up on my plans to reach Miller Peak. He said it was perfectly safe. There was a race. Two people had already gone by to reach Miller Peak and there were 200 more coming. They had started at Ramsey Canyon Trailhead where I wanted to end my hike. For the first time in my life, I was happy to hear that I would be sharing the mountain with 200 more people. I told him about the man with a gun that I had seen. He said that man was walking up the trail toward him but then he turned back and went down. Very strange. Reaching Miller Peak was back in order again.

 

 

After a short rest, turned south on Crest Trail going toward Miller Peak. For the first mile, the trail did not gain did not gain any elevation. Four times runners came from behind and got ahead of me. Views of Miller Peak.

 

 

Carr Peak. I hoped to climb it the next day.

 

 

The next mile was uphill. No one came from behind to pass by. I figured that in the uphill sections, the runners slowed down to my pace.

 

 

Carr Peak again.

 

 

Near the summit, a cold wind began to blow. I actually welcomed that since I had been worried about heat exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

At 9:05 AM, 5.81 miles and 9466 ft elevation, I reached the summit of Miller Peak. Two young men who only had short sleeves on and were obviously feeling cold were sheltering from the wind behind a rock. They were going to give me a chip and stamp my pass, but I told them that I was not part of the race. I asked when they had come to the summit, and they said 2 AM (probably when they started). Put my jacket on and sat there to eat, rest, take pictures and call my wife. Runners kept coming every few minutes to get their stamps and then go back.

Looking north at Carr Peak and the city of Sierra Vista.

 

 

Looking northeast.

 

 

Mexico’s Sierra San Jose to the southeast.

 

 

Looking south-southwest into Mexico.

 

 

Looking west.

 

 

Mt Wrightson seen to the distant northwest.

 

 

Another view south with Montezuma and Bob Thompson peaks plus Mexico’s Sierra San Jose.

 

 

Left at 9:20 AM going back the way I had come toward Bathtub Springs. For the next 2 hours, I kept running into participants in the race that were coming opposite to my direction. Occasionally, I had to pull over to let runners from behind go by.

A section of Aspen Forest.

 

 

A look back at Miller Peak.

 

 

Nearing Bathtub Springs.

 

 

At 10:20 and 7.97 miles and 8560 ft elevation, I reached Bathtub Springs. The same camper that I had seen in the morning was still there. He turned out to be an official in the race and asked me how my hike was. I then sat there to eat and rest. My original plan was to do a 17.5 mile hike up to Pat Scott Peak and then down to Ramsey Canyon. Time was, however, slipping by and I decided to shorten the hike by 2.8 miles by going down Hamburg Trail (Wisconsin Canyon). I was from Wisconsin after all.

 

Left at 10:35 AM and instead of going down the way I had come from Miller Canyon, I continued up Crest Trail (Arizona Trail) to a 8730 ft saddle. Last view of Miller Peak.

 

 

On the west/north side of the saddle, the trail went down to around 8200 ft of elevation and remained level for some time. As I was coming across the last people in the race, I found some huffing and puffing asking me how much more? I had to of course ask to where since there seemed to be different variations to the race. I then reached an official who asked if I was in the race. I did not see runners after that.

 

 

 

 

At 11:25 AM, 9.40 miles and 8070 ft elevation, I reached the junction with Hamburg Trail. South face of Ramsey Peak.

 

 

Continued down the trail in Wisconsin Canyon through a mostly lush forest.

 

Reached the bottom of Ramsey Canyon at 12:18 AM, 10.77 and 6845 ft elevation. A young couple were sitting there. They said they had started at Montezuma Pass for presumably a backpacking trip, but the man had developed knee pain. They had called a friend to come pick them up at Ramsey Canyon Trailhead. I asked if there was anything I could do to help, obviously the answer was negative. I went a little away from them and then sat down to rest and eat then continued to walk down the trail at the bottom of Ramsey Canyon.

 

 

Just when I thought I was getting out of the canyon, the trail began to go uphill and climbed 170 vertical feet to 6300 ft elevation. Ramsey Peak and Ramsey Canyon from the high point.

 

 

 

 

The trail began to go down steeply, and a sign said that we were entering Ramsey Canyon Nature Preserve which was supposedly private property but open to hiking. Benches under the trees, which at that point were no longer tall pines, provided nice places to rest. I ran into a couple and then a lone lady hiking up. After a steep drop, the trail reached the bottom of the canyon where there were beautiful giant Arizona Sycamore and Cottonwood Trees.

 

 

 

To reach Ramsey Canyon Trailhead, you had to walk through the Preserve’s main office. I was then at the parking lot at 2:05 PM, 13.64 mile and 5522 ft elevation. Deer in the parking area.

 

 

Continued down the road to 5286 ft and then up the private road until I reached our vacation rental house at 2:30 pm, 14.7 miles and 5345 ft elevation. It was 80 degrees F. What a great hike!

 

 

Images

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