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West Face of Cypress Hill
West Face of Cypress Hill
If you visit the small community of Star
Valley, Arizona, you can see Cypress Hill
and its taller neighbor Cypress Mountain to
the south. These landforms actually lie
between AZ's (hot) Sonoran Desert to the
southwest, and the (cooler) Ponderosa Pine zone and Mogollon Rim to the northeast.
Look at all that decomposing granite! This
igneous rock contains minerals that give it
the red colour. I swear I didn't run to the
local hardware store to buy several million
gallons of red paint! :)
There are many obstacles that keep the
number of people climbing Cypress Hill
very low. First, there are no established
trails, so you have to follow washes and
game trails. Second, there are many kinds
of cactus and "shin-dagger" agave growing
on the mountain. Third, there are several
"monsoon" thunderstorms that rattle this
area in summer, causing flash flooding.
And ... I won't even mention the awesome
amount of rattlesnakes to trip over in this
part of central Arizona!
But, with the right attitude and
equipment, I'm sure the hardiest of the
hardy could reach this 5,263' summit quite easily.
June 8, 2008
lcarreau
on Jun 9, 2008 4:25 pm
