Hike Sawtooth Mountains and Submarine Rock Ironwood Forest National Monument, AZ

Jan 25, 2024 — Matt and I have been excited to check out the Sawtooth Mountains south of Phoenix for too long, so we anticipated a wild time. Ultimately more tame than we expected, he dubbed the scenic and craggy cluster of peaks "impressive cuties". There's much fun to be had in the area, but we managed to see everything we wanted to in only a day when we originally expected we'd need two. Shawn and Karson flew down to play in the desert, and the four of us embarked on a week of debauchery, composed of raves, tickle fights, and, most importantly, scrambly desert summit routes.

This loop reaches the Sawtooth Mountains High Point first, tacks on three lesser lumps, and finishes with Submarine Rock. To reach the trailhead, navigate to this turn-off (32.56465, -111.73709) and head north. The road is suitable for Crossover SUVs or better, though we arrived just after it had rained and the road was initially a flooded mess that made me hesitate. We set out on foot along a poor road, leaving it shortly after to ascend a cactus-filled slope to reach a saddle on the south side of the Sawtooth Mountains High Point. It made the most sense not to gain the ridge proper since it featured a significant lump, and side-hilling wasn't notably poor through the tall grasses and rocky terrain. We passed some old debris likely left from border-crossers, including a frying pan, clothes, and a backpack that we chose not to inspect more closely.

After side-hilling fully around the lump, we reached the southern ridge of the Sawtooth Mountains High Point, and it was tempting to just head directly north to it, but a huge notch would prevent access. Instead, we followed some white spray-painted arrows up a Class 2/2+ bit of terrain, and then we wrapped around beneath the crest. The high point came into view, as did a clearly straightforward route. The arrows didn't point that way; instead, they led to a notch on the south side of the peak, which features a natural arch and a Class 4 scramble route. Going this way is much more direct but far more exposed and dangerous. Instead, I left my foolhardy friends and continued side-hilling past the notch option and over to a more tame Class 3 scramble route. It was good fun, though short-lived. A series of slabs, ribs, and a small chute wrapped me to the north side of the summit. A grassy slope brought me to the impressive eastern cliff overlooking the desert floor below. Now on the rim of this cliff, I pulled a Class 3 move to gain the summit while I watched as my friends made their way up their Class 4 route choice. I decided to check this way out on the way down and decided I wasn't interested in the unnecessary exposure.

Shawn and Karson, less excited about hiking a quantity of peaks and preferring to save their legs, decided to birdwatch while Matt and I formed a larger loop that included the less-interesting summits Peak 2334, Peak 2467, and Peak 2473 before we planned to meet them later on Submarine Rock. Off the pair of us went down the west slopes of the Sawtooth Mountains High Point, navigating the lumpy terrain, avoiding a couple of dryfalls, and enjoying the warm temperature after weeks overcast in the desert.

An ATV trail runs through this part of the Sawtooth Mountains, including wrapping just below Peak 2334, so reaching these minor summits can be done more easily with a motorized vehicle, but we only had our feet and enjoyed the ease that came with using the ATV trail when it showed up. We left the doubletrack to ascend the steep and heavily cactus-covered slope, lots of hidden embedded rocks adding surprise looseness that more than once almost sent us each tumbling into a prickly plant. The summit of Peak 2334 wasn't notable except that it gave us a nice view toward the peaks along the loop, so we just continued south down the not super fun slope and rejoined the ATV trail for a bit.

The west slope of Peak 2467 was trivial except for one small cliff band we wrapped around, but every other aspect surrounding this peak has a significant and unforgiving cliff. After reaching the summit, we realized in order to get down and reach Peak 2473, we had to backtrack a bit and descend via a cholla-covered slope to reach the ATV trail below to the south. Once here, we followed it to a saddle higher up and continued south to Peak 2473. Avoiding little rocky bits, the slope was straightforward until the top where we pulled a Class 2+/3 move over a small cliff band to gain the summit.

After backtracking from Peak 2473 to the saddle, we then followed an animal trail north until it petered out, wrapping around Peak 2467 until Submarine Rock came into view. We spotted our friends on the sub-peak along the west ridge and headed directly toward it. The aim was to get above a lower cliff band and ascend along a scree slope beneath the upper cliff band. We might have been able to make this easier by wrapping all the way around, but this was more direct and wasn't horribly unpleasant. We reached a Class 2 weakness on the northwest side of the extended Submarine Rock ridgeline, scrambling up a steep gully and then continuing on somewhat loose rock until reaching the false summit we'd seen our friends on earlier. From here we needed to descend to a saddle before the final scrambling ascent to the summit. It was all good fun, never exceeding Class 3 and not feeling particularly exposed.

We enjoyed the sunset before starting back. Shawn found an alternative descent option from the saddle, a Class 4 chimney where stemming was required. This was a fun addition to the route, though it can be avoided by instead backtracking the whole way along the west ridge and wrapping around the entire peak. Either way, it's a standard desert slope descent back to the trailhead, though the dying light allowed a foot-high drop the opportunity to give Matt a little tumble.