Hike Seven Warriors North via Hiline Trail Coconino National Forest, AZ

Feb 08, 2021 — The Seven Warriors feature is a mountain near the Village of Oak Creek, called as such by the locals. It took some research to find the name. This hike heads to a high point of the mountain on the northern end, even though the southern summit of Seven Warriors is taller. The ridgeline separating the two peaks prevented easy access, otherwise we would have preferred to get both summits in one hike.

We started along the web of official mountain biking trails eventually leading to the Hiline Trail. We followed this trail until a hairpin turn at the base of our chosen ascent gully. The gully went at Class 2, and although steep, it was quite pleasant for an Arizona bushwhack. There is a fair amount of cryptobiotic soil, and some groundcover plant that looked like it might be fragile, so please be careful not to trample either. The gully led to the ridgeline above, and we followed the ridgeline south. There were two humps along the way, the first requiring some Class 2, and the second Class 3 if you go up and over. Keeping lower and to the left removes any difficult scrambling. The summit can be approached using any number of Class 3 moves over the small cliff band protecting the summit area, but we also located a Class 2 set of moves.