Hike Mohawk Peak (Little Mohawk) Mohawk Mountains BLM, AZ

Feb 25, 2023 — Mohawk Peak is also known as Hawk Benchmark, and can be differentiated as "Little Mohawk Peak" from the higher-prominence Mowawk Peak farther south. It's clearly visible from I-8 as a stunning dome that looks unclimbable. Fortunately, a route along the peak's northwest ridge makes it a reasonable undertaking. Any car can make it to this turnoff (32.77347, -113.75668), but unsure of the land ownership of the checkerboard mixture of State Land Trust and private land, we decided to drive out of sight on a dirt road.

We started south along this road on foot for a short time and wrapped around a fence. On our ascent we used a drainage/wash system as our approach, but later from the summit Chris spied a visible doubletrack that we decided to take on the way back. This old road ended up being far more efficient than the drainage, so I only included this in my attached map. To reach it, head southwest for a quarter mile or so. Once along this doubletrack it's a trivial hike generally south all the way to the base of Mohawk Peak.

Once within the major drainage, totally choked with rocks, we inspected our ascent route choices, of course not until after my friends took plenty of time laughing at my clumsy face-first fall into the dirt. The slopes presented as either awful or cliffy anywhere we looked. A particularly brushy-looking gully leading directly south somehow got the group's vote after a rock-paper-scissor tiebreaker, because we're adults and that's how adults make decisions. The gully ultimately ended up being a lot of fun. The brush was minimal and easily avoidable, and instead we were able to scramble on usually solid Class 2/3 low-angle dryfalls that kept the ascent interesting, so that was a great surprise. After hundreds of feet of this, the gully did become a little more brushy and steep, and then opened up into a slope.

I highly recommend making sure you note this gully's head, because on the way down later it was somehow significantly less obvious. Once out of the gully, the terrain became more cryptic. The cliffs above looked jagged and loose, so none of us wanted to ascend to the ridgeline yet. The slope below it looked steep and unpleasant, but it seemed to be our best choice. It was a lumpy and dumb undertaking, and the side-hilling left most of the party unhappy. Although probably only Class 2, we regularly had to use a hand to balance or catch a fall from poor rock breaking under our feet. We made an ascending traverse toward the ridgeline where it was clear the cliffy stuff above had ended. I didn't find it to be so bad, but I'm used to side-hilling on particularly loose crap around Lake Mead so I may have had an advantage.

We were finally on the northwest ridgeline of Mohawk Peak, where the going became a lot more straightforward. The views improved drastically and we could see the dome-like summit block ahead. A social trail led to just below the summit block and we all started the scramble up. Initially a low-angle slab, the exposure along the dome increased dramatically and quickly. An exposed Class 2+ move led to a wrap-around beneath a small headwall, followed by another Class 3 move to gain the summit. After getting back we drank beers outside on a (very windy) date farm, a weird, nonstandard for this group, fun addition to the day.