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Jun 02, 2022 — Pastora Peak is the highest point of the Carrizo Mountains, located on Navajo Nation lands in northeastern Arizona, but it doesn't seem to be an area that requires a permit to hike. I called many agencies within the Navajo Nation and nobody seemed to have an answer. I didn't have any issues on my hike, but you may want to put more effort into obtaining a permit than I did for this hike just in case. With a good enough vehicle, you could drive nearly to the summit. However, with all the driving I've been doing during this trip, I wanted to get some exercise so I parked just before the first major impasse without even attempting it with my car. The result was a significant road walk. To reach where I parked, head south here (36.92680, -109.18543) and follow the initially excellent road. As it heads into the foothills, the road gets a bit more rutted and once it starts hugging a cliff face I'd say a Subaru may start to struggle. There were long spurts of good sections, but I stopped where I did when the road became extremely steep and rocky for a short section.
Low trees obscured the majority of the views initially, but they improved at around 8500' when the pleasant hills of the Carizzo Mountains came into view to the northeast. Shortly after the trees faded away and I was walking on the now relatively flat road with open meadows in all directions. It was actually really pretty, and despite the otherwise boring vibes of the hike I found myself enjoying being out here in this weird and remote area. A couple miles of walking through this pleasant landscape also meant I got to see over 20 horses, arranged in small clusters. One had a baby, and when I got within 500 feet it started to approach me, startling me and prompting a detour from the road. Apparently horses are friendly, but this one seemed aggressive. I was a little on edge for the duration of the hike.
The road wrapped around a drainage and ascended to about 9000', a small hump along the way. Pastora Peak came into view just to the east, separated by a minor dip in the road. Once at the base of the peak, I left the road and ascended for about 400 vertical feet on steep, but relatively easy terrain. The last hundred feet or so had some brush, but it wasn't bad at all. There were nice views toward Roof Butte to the southeast, but for the most part trees made for less than ideal visual conditions. I returned the way I came, happy the hike was prettier than anticipated.
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