Hike Tank Mountains High Point and Courthouse Mountain Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ

Dec 09, 2022 — This trip report covers the Tank Mountains High Point and Courthouse Mountains in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. I don't normally group separate hikes together if they use different trailheads, but these two incredibly remote peaks were short enough that anyone doing one is likely going to do the other, so my stats assume you're doing both. I met up with Bob, Matthew, and Chris for a day to go for these peaks and it was a delightful day of desert frolicking, though overall I didn't care for either of the summits we chose, despite having high hopes after seeing their gorgeous forms. The views are less interesting compared to other peaks in the Kofas and the scrambling is loose and exposed. I guess I should have assumed this would be the case, given my past experiences climbing in the Kofas have pretty much always meant trusting horrible rock. The others seemed to enjoy the peaks more than I did, but I'm very reluctant to trust bad rock and therefore I had minimal fun on the "fun" portions. I happily accepted the bragging right of receiving a belay on the cruxes of both peaks.

The trailhead attached to the the button above is for Tank Mountains High Point. Courthouse Mountain's starting coordinates are here (33.20121, -113.85705), just a bit to the south. To reach both peaks, we drove in using the well-graded King Road, leaving pavement here (33.26690, -114.23893). We kept right here (33.28261, -113.97513) took this less good road here (33.27091, -113.95517), where the road then deteriorates more. If not for a few deep ruts, I'd say a Crossover with really good tires could possibly make it, but even Chris' burly Wrangler tires managed to get a flat so I don't recommend driving out here unless you have a very capable vehicle. The road is overall easy to follow, though a couple of washes with misleading tire tracks could get confusing.

We started with Tank Mountains High Point, a peak recommended by Adam Walker. His group had approached from a horrible road to the north, reportedly bad enough that we decided to come in from King Road instead. The approach we chose from the west uses a typical loose, steep desert slope. The slope led to some Class 2/3 on the south side of the summit and pleasant Class 2 continued along the ridgeline above to the base of the summit block, pretty cool-looking from below.

A Class 3+ crack got us up an initial headwall, the summit just above us, but guarded by a steeper and less featured headwall. We hugged the base of the upper headwall and wrapped to the left through a narrow gully, dropping a few feet, and then found ourselves on the south side of the peak. Here was a Class 5 face that only Matthew and I needed a rope for. Bob decided to scramble up an exposed Class 4 slab to the left of this crux and Chris casually decided to just go for the Class 5 set of moves ropeless. The climb is about 25 feet and low Class 5, maybe 5.2-5.4, but it's definitely loose. We backtracked from the summit the way we came, Bob serving as a meat anchor for us all to rappel/downclimb before taking his Class 4 option back. The nerve.

We got back in the cars and drove south to reach the west side of Courthouse Mountain, where we set out toward a major drainage ahead. On our ascent we used this drainage as our route choice, resulting in some loose terrain and a fun bit of scrambling to escape the drainage. Our descent used a ridgeline just to the south of the drainage, and we agreed this was less brushy and a bit more straightforward, so I only left this on my attached map. Once we reached the south ridge of Courthouse Mountain, we scrambled around and over a series of fun Class 2 and Class 3 obstacles in order to reach the staggeringly steep-looking base of the peak. If not for the poor-quality rock this would be a very cool summit route, but unfortunately that was not the case.

The route utilizes a series of chutes that ascend a weakness on the peak's south side. We started up on straightforward loose Class 2 terrain, taking an initial leftmost chute option when confronted with steeper options on the right, where a Class 3 move up a crack led to steeper terrain above. A second set of chutes presented themselves. We opted to scramble up the left chute again and climb out of it onto an exposed rib as it got too steep (Class 3), though on the descent the others seemed to prefer descending using the chute on the right. Maybe that one's a bit easier? Once past this portion, the ascent grew even more steep, and this is where I decided I wasn't thrilled anymore. This being the crux of the route due to the immense exposure and horrible rock, I was ready to bail. The move requires some Class 3 scrambling to a short step-across using questionable rock before continuing on more near-vertical terrain through a slightly safer-feeling chute. I'd left my harness back at the car thinking I'd have no problem on this peak. I'd just been talking about how cool the route was and did an immediate 180, so that dropped my psych. None of us were wearing helmets. These were decidedly factors that meant I was over it. However, Matthew lent me his harness graciously and Bob was very sweet to not seize the opportunity to take many potential jabs at me as he brightly offered himself up as an anchor. I climbed up and although the moves were certainly not difficult, there's no way in hell I would have done it unprotected. The risk was severe and the rock, again, was horrible.

Once past this Class 4 crux, we continued on easier terrain to a viewpoint toward the twin summits of Courthouse Mountain. The left (western) summit was quick Class 3 jaunt to a view of the (possibly) taller eastern summit. We all agreed we needed to go for the other as well since they're nearly identical in height. Reaching the eastern block required a Class 4 move up a crack with an awkward pull over a chockstone. I was able to upclimb and downclimb this since the rock was actually in decent shape, the face having ample holds and the chockstone solid enough that we all trusted it to raise/lower ourselves. A loose chute hosting hidden cholla barbs led more easily to the summit. Chris and I both sufffered a cholla attack. On the descent, I rappeled twice at both dangerous portions, Bob serving as ameat anchor again (thanks Bob). Once down, bits of rock kept getting knocked down, so took care to zig-zag on the ledges below to stay out of the way. It's a dangerous desert peak for sure.