Hike Mescal Mountain and Deadman's Peak (Peak 6027) Coconino National Forest, AZ

Oct 29, 2022 — This route visits some fun destinations in Sedona and reaches a gorgeous summit with some cool scrambling, visiting the Birthing Cave, some ruins, Mescal Mountain, and Deadman's Peak (Peak 6027). I set out from the popular Long Canyon Trailhead, just an old dirt road for the first half mile or so. I kept left at a junction that leads away from the Long Canyon Trail and over to the popular Birthing Cave attraction. I took the little spur trail to reach the cave where I almost couldn't help but laugh at someone posing for a photo in typical Instagram-style. The cave itself is underwhelming, just a depression in the wall. Apparently there's some debate as to why it's called the Birthing Cave, but I didn't care all that much and just wanted to escape the crowds. I continued along the trail to some ruins housed under an overhanging rock ledge. I love how you can casually stumble on some historic Indigeonous remains all over the place in Sedona, and it's great that people seem to pretty universally respect them. Some Class 2 got me above the ruins and to the flat ridge above.

I was now just north of Mescal Mountain, my first peak. I could see cliffs surrounding the mesatop, so I started up the slope toward them. I'd read that there was a Class 3 route to reach the summit, but I wasn't expecting a social trail the whole way. I was happy this was the case since the brush would be a little annoying otherwise. The trail ascended a bit below the cliffs before reaching their base and then used a little tunnel through the manzanitas. Shortly after reaching the cliffs, a sloped and well-featured ramp served as the Class 3 move. At the top of this move, I kept left and continued on Class 2 to gain the mesatop. It was a trail-less jaunt to the high point from here. I took some time to enjoy the view to the north, realizing what I was seeing would be my next peak for the day.

I'm taking the liberty to provisonally name Peak 6027 Deadman's Peak since Deadman's Pass is located just to its southeast, and because a known canyoneering route called Deadman's Descent leads off the peak's south side. It just seemed like a responsible name, and it's an excellent summit that deserves to not only be a number. I originally planned to backtrack to the Long Canyon Trail to reach the peak, but instead I headed along the trailing ridge on the northeast side of Mescal Mountain, which had a social trail that was pretty easy to follow along its length. This sure beat backtracking, so I was happy I made this decision. At the northern end of this thin ridge, a Class 2 move dropped through a weakness in the small cliff, and the social trail sort of seemed to dissipate past here. I descended the mostly open slope to reach the Deadman's Pass Trail.

Deadman's Pass Peak is almost completely surrounded by impossible sandstone faces, but it has a curved, long finger on its southeast side. The route wraps around the east side of this finger before using an unlikely ramp system that serves as the key to reaching the summit. From below, I kind of couldn't imagine there was a way up, but my friend Matt who'd done it earlier this year assured me via text that it would go. After only a short time on the trail, I headed northwest toward a significant cluster of rock pinnacles at the end of the long finger, using what started out as an excellent social trail. There seem to be multiple social trail options, but none are great and I found myself bushwhacking a teeny bit once in a while. After about 400 feet of vertical gain up the slope, the terrain leveled out and I was still well below the cliffs of the finger on a wide bench. Using a combination of social trail, slickrock, and light bushwhacking I made my way to the base of the seam where the finger joins with the bigger lump that hosts the summit. I saw a series of ledges and ramps, vegetation hinting that this would be the most likely route option. I headed to the base of the cliff toward a wide water-stained overhang. I hugged the wall's face and ascended Class 2 boulders before reaching the start of a ramp. Class 3 led up this steep, humpy ramp characterized by rock ribs and gullies separating the ribs. I seemed to prefer using the gullies over the ribs, keeping close to the sheer face on the left. While the exposure was minimal, the ramp continues for about a hundred feet, so the drop starts to feel a bit daunting. At the top of the ramp there was a Class 3+ move up a short chute and I was standing on flat slickrock sandstone back in the sunlight and just east of Deadman's Peak.

The summit was still a bit away, but I could sketch my route from here and knew there wouldn't be anything problematic. There's a ridge that extends from the summit to above where I was standing, but I don't believe this is a viable option. Instead, I began contouring, following a light social trail leading beneath the aforementioned ridge and around the southeast side of the summit dome. The views during this section were incredible: a curved, massive amphitheater of rounded sandstone plummeting to the desert floor below. I passed over the drainage known to canyoneers as Deadman's Descent. A canyoneer myself, I took a peek at the route to see what I might be missing out on. It looks more like a series of stunt rappels than a true technical canyon if you ask me, but hey, I'm not one to kink shame!

Still contouring, I made my way on slickrock to the southern slope of the summit dome. I headed up the final 600 feet or so, the route pleasant and mostly cactus-free. I encountered some Class 2/2+ and a short couple of sections where it was necessary to navigate around minor rock outcrops. Even if you do a poor job navigating, you still shouldn't encounter anything exceeding Class 3 all the way to the summit. The views were immense.

On the way back, I did a worse job at navigating around the long finger, constantly losing the social trails and bushwhacking a lot more. I kept only my ascent route on my attached map, but I think it's safe to say there's not a "best" option to ascend around the finger. I backtracked to the Deadman's Pass Trail and took it to the Long Canyon Trail.