How to make mistakes while hiking - Battleship Mountain Summit Hike - Superstition Wilderness

How to make mistakes while hiking - Battleship Mountain Summit Hike - Superstition Wilderness
I tried to make this video as raw and real as I could. There are things I could have left out. But experience comes from mistakes. So why not share some of ours?
If you're the impatient type, fast forward to around the 10 minute mark and it'll get into the exciting stuff. But try watching the whole thing if you want to avoid making someone else's mistakes.
There's a misconception in the hiking world that inexperience leads to mistakes. Don't get me wrong. It does. But experience is not a cure for mistakes. We are all imperfect. We all screw up. We all get complacent.
That's why we prepare. That's why we plan. That's why we try our best to put contingencies in place.
So we may have screwed up a little on this one. First and foremost, we underestimated Battleship Mountain. The Superstitions are rugged. Battleship Mountain is a very rugged part of a very rugged wilderness area. I pictured it wrong. I pictured a mild incline and some light scrambling to the top of a lesser known summit in the Superstition Wilderness.
I was wrong.
Battleship Mountain is a beast. The hike to the summit is an unmaintained trail. It's poorly marked, full of spots of exposure and areas that border on rock climbing....And it was a 12 mile round trip walk from anywhere, just to GET to the sketchy parts.
Luckily for us, we planned for the worst. We have had to dip into our 'emergency supplies' before, but never as many of them as we did here. But that planning was enough to get us safely back to our truck.
Did we make it to the summit? You'll have to watch and see.
All of that aside, Battleship Mountain is a beautiful peak. It's set in what I consider to be the most beautiful area of the already beautiful Superstition Wilderness.
If you're adventurous, comfortable with heights and have the experience, the Battleship Mountain summit hike may be right up your alley.
Just don't get complacent. And have a lot of Plan B's.
Turn off coordinates: 33.487849, -111.395551

[@scottsatterthwaite5056]

Another delightful video, beautifully shot and narrated. Jerry, you're even more compelling when you think you're going to die.

[@bmwman63]

My old captain had a saying: "Planning isn't a very unique skill. 90% of people can plan. The valuable skill is making a shitty plan work." He didn't say "shitty". He was an officer. Enjoying the video. Thanks for making it.

[@AdventureJenny]

This was so scary to watch! I would love to do this but I'm not confident enough yet. Gorgeous views!!!

[@JerryArizona]

Definitely one to build up to. I think at least half of the people I see when I'm there turn around before the top.

[@fkthedemlibscum7026]

The trail seems to disappear in many locations, so those "stone stacks" are a BIG HELP in marking the trail since the park Rangers wants people to get lost & die, and hope there will be more "stone stacks" for when I go there because I do NOT have GPS.... and it looks like I will need to put on my Snake Boots.

[@stanstclair475]

Wow guys! Awesome hike! My wife would tell me hell no!

[@papajon62]

Well, that was one for the books! Made my palms sweaty watching (and this unexplainable desire to do it) just watching. Reminds my a little of Angles Landing in Zion minus the chains. Good job, guys!

[@JerryArizona]

This has become one of my favorites. Did it the following year and planning again this year. Definitely outside my comfort zone in spots.

[@Aptster1939]

great scramble!

[@dmn3773]

Re-watched this again and miss how lush Garden Valley used to be.

[@lloyd8043]

You guys are machines! Great vid...

[@ovherlander]

That looks like an awesome hike... to watch 😂 Thanks for the vicarious thrill!

[@JerryArizona]

This one was almost too much thrill! But the views were worth it, or so I tell myself.

[@woodrealty8890]

Watched this after NOT being able to figure it out and had to turn back. Took the low road - not correct! Great job editing and engaging -- somehow you managed to capture the majesty, which is profound! xo

[@JerryArizona]

Yeah, we failed our first attempt too. Tried to hike up Boulder Canyon instead of following the trail over the saddle. Bad decision. Did it again this year from Canyon Lake. It's a little bit harder, but the views are much better.

[@karenflores4987]

Holy crap this hike kicked my butt too. We took same route, went off route several times, went back found right route. When we got to the "ship" we only hiked the first part of the plateau and then decided to turn around to avoid night hiking. I want to do it again but earlier and take Boulder Canyon this time. I know it will be a longer hike but I also want to meet the other side of Boulder Canyon. I took 3 litters of water and realized i could have taken my water filter and take advantage of all the water available. However I did not know there was so much water flowing. Anyway, I want to actually hike to the end of the ship next time.

[@JerryArizona]

Yeah, you can never count on water out there. (Or at least you shouldn't.) Boulder canyon from Canyon Lake is absolutely gorgeous. If you leave enough time, check out LaBarge canyon. Basically just keep going straight over the spine where you climb up to Battleship. We didn't leave enough time to do that, but I'll be back.

[@nicholasbuzzell]

I summeted Battleship today with the help of your video! Thank you!

[@JerryArizona]

Awesome! One of my favorite hikes out there. Look into Brown's Peak if you haven't already. (Not now since it's probably an icy death trap at the moment.)

[@NickandRachel]

Such a beautiful place! Thanks for sharing

[@RoadtrippinwithTakacs]

Nice hike! That one part definitely looked a bit sketchy to me too. 😯 I might bail out there. Thanks for the great video. I Subscribed. 😀 I look forward to growing with you. 👍🔥

[@jonschmidt1709]

What an AWESOME hike! A beast! Did it yesterday....wanna give a huge thank you for the video! On spot! For me the gloves were the best take away....gives you gecko fingers....only had to reassure myself that I wasn't going to fall off twice, or maybe 3...4? times...

[@JerryArizona]

Love that hike! I swore I'd never do it again, and it was one of the first hikes I did this year. Might end up being my New Year's tradition. Great views, great challenge and unique. Glad you got to check it out.

[@jonschmidt1709]

@@JerryArizona a little of a gear geek...weather starts turning in MN and I'm cold ALL the time...that sweatshirt looks warm, been looking for it, cannot find it, what brand?

[@80808O]

Seriously this is my channel! You have so many videos that I need to watch.

[@JerryArizona]

Glad you like it!

[@joycecaudell6047]

Jerry, you clean up real good! As in the intro.

[@wisestguy]

Enjoy your videos and adventures!

[@JasonPuckettNY]

This is epic. You guys are a power couple. Fun to watch but looks harrowing, great work on the video!

[@JerryArizona]

Thanks! Love this hike. It's becoming a yearly thing for me. Tina? Not as psyched about redoing it.

[@matthewsresilientways]

That ain't hiking, that's scrambling! :) As you know, it's these kinda trips that you remember and talk about. A Lot of good advice in this video. Thanks for recording it, so it could be recorded.

[@JerryArizona]

Ha! I am an idiot sometimes. We definitely will be talking about this one for a long time to come.

[@derrickh7869]

Bin around the bottom of Battleship on horse back heading to Canyon lake, beautiful!!!

[@JerryArizona]

I need to make it up into La Barge one of these trips.

[@martinforrester8249]

Loved that, what a team.

[@oldboater]

That hike made me rather nervous and I was sitting in a recliner 😮

[@danipantv3499]

You both amazing

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

This hike video was awesome. Love your videos. You both rock on the rock. I would love to do this but too sketchy for me. Alas. I could hike to the area of first significant exposure and turn around.

[@matthewdaniel2493]

Love your videos man

[@JamesRobertSmith]

Yeeeaaaaahhh...that's one I won't be doing.

[@libertyvilleguy2903]

Great video, well done.

[@DavidHerringtonOutdoors]

Second Water is a workout in itself, let alone a return trip back up Second Water after Battleship. Killer man, lol. I'm heading back into the Supes this week, for a couple overnights

[@JerryArizona]

Prime time for hiking the Supes, for sure. Enjoy!

[@johnwhatley]

Not sure if I'll put that one on my solo list! Thanks as always!

[@JerryArizona]

I was extremely happy I didn't do this one alone. Btw, we tried the walk in lottery for the wave this weekend while we were in Utah...Friday and AGAIN today on the way home. No luck. Guess I'm going to have to keep trying.

[@princesssachikoikeda1050]

Please keep it up!

[@epicsave635]

Great video! Almost looks like Arizona's version of angels landing without the safety chains...

[@kristophergunnar9551]

I guess Im randomly asking but does anybody know of a method to log back into an instagram account..? I was dumb lost my login password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me

[@leviknox4323]

@Kristopher Gunnar Instablaster :)

[@kristophergunnar9551]

@Levi Knox thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@kristophergunnar9551]

@Levi Knox it worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much you really help me out :D

[@leviknox4323]

@Kristopher Gunnar You are welcome :)

[@Dirtbag.G]

Awesome!

[@13jnichols]

There is a much shorter route to the Battleship.

[@annraczok670]

My God you guys are FEARLESS... OR JUST CRAZY! AWESOME, but that's 'mountain climbing' in my opinion, not a hike... anyway, I did it with ya! It was bad, really bad, I'm 76, got dizzy, knees got weak, forgot to breath, got scared, really scared, wanted to turn back... then just wanted to be picked up by a chopper, but you kept going... so I had to keep going... WE DID IT GUYS!! (never doing that again tho)... Thanks for letting us tag along.

[@JerryArizona]

I always liked the line "It's a fine line between brave and stupid"....But I'll take fearless over either.

[@teamtortillaflat4337]

Love your videos! We share local info for hikers, and visitors of the Superstition Mountain areas. Planning to feature yours in the next weeks!

[@JerryArizona]

Awesome! Love the Superstitions. Actually backpacking there tomorrow.

[@HikingAZ]

You guys rock lol Id love to join you on a hike sometime !

[@richardhelit3840]

Good pictures. I was using the sun to look for gold.i saw nothing.

[@awlance44]

Glad you all survived! That one is on my list however I will probably not solo it now since it helps to have someone know where to find my body if it comes to that. LOL 😂

[@JerryArizona]

I'm definitely glad I didn't do this one solo!

[@80808O]

Yeah I'd hate to have to bug search and rescue after I'm reported missing 2 weeks later and my body is falling apart as they try to collect it(know someone who did SAR in the supes and told me a story just like that). It's nice to have someone be able to tell authorities where my corpse is. I really wanted to do this solo as I don't know anyone who would want to hike this with me but I might have be smart for once.

[@bestcongressmoneycanbuy9704]

@@JerryArizona That appeared to be about a 4.6 sphincter factor.

[@petervargas3480]

I love battleship. It’s a whole body workout and it seems deceivingly moderate. But it is definitely a tough climb.

[@JerryArizona]

Battleship may become a regular. Great views, great challenge.

[@Michael-xo8lw]

"I think i'm going to cry." lol

[@andyforster3187]

Great Video, Jerry. (Out of curiosity, how many hours did it take you to edit?) We went in from the Canyon Lake Trailhead on 4-29-21. (Boulder Canyon Trail) High of 93 in Phoenix that day, so not a good choice of date. A few stagnant puddles of mucky water on the trail, so we had to drink what we carried (3 quarts each), which was not enough! We made it to what I'll call "The Bridge" on Battleship (NOT because it looked like the Bridge on a ship) at about 2600 ft, steep drop-offs on both sides. We made the mistake of taking a "low road" after The Bridge and could not see a way forward, and it was about 3pm, so we gave up and turned around! Of course, with the heat, there was no one else on the mountain to ask about the route. This mountain made Siphon Draw look easy! We're not fast movers, so with stops it took us 12.5 hours round trip. Take headlamps, just in case. Probably best to tackle this mountain in Feb or March, when it's not too hot and the water is low. (P.s. I've climbed ALL the 54 Fourteeners in Colorado, so take my word for it when I say this is One Tough MoFo!)

[@JerryArizona]

Yeah, that 'bridge' is intimidating, but it's the way to go. Went back and tackled this again this January. It may become a yearly thing for me. I absolutely love it, and the views are the best. Second time I went in from Canyon Lake and the views were so much better than from First Water.

[@robertwright5291]

Ok, at the soft summit Jerry forgot to look and see Gods thumb. Holes the movie!!! Watch out!!

[@Kyleds55]

Great vid! Thanks for the reminder of how tough this one is. I’ve only done it once but from the Boulder Canyon route. I was wondering, how would you compare this with Angels Landing in UT?

[@JerryArizona]

I haven't gotten around to doing Angel's Landing yet. But aside from the exposure, I'm thinking they aren't too similar. Battleship doesn't have a well defined trail once you get up on the spine toward the summit, whereas Angel's seems to be pretty obvious. The trick to Angel's Landing is (from what I've heard) to get there early in the day so you can avoid the crowds. I've seen video where some of the narrow sections look like bottleneck nightmares.

[@sammybelskus1534]

This is way harder than angels landing

[@rvtech101]

Love this video, glad I’m not the only one who has had , um, a unique trip up battleship. For us, all 3 times have been a shitshow. I’d rather do Ridgeline. I’d rather do the mountain with all the switchbacks in Sedona. Kept trying Battleship, thinking it would get better, it never did. Still beautiful from the top though. Happy Hiking.

[@JerryArizona]

Done it three or so times now. Love that hike. Love those views. But you're right. It never gets any easier or less eventful. Last time I ended up coming down in the dark. Still, ready to do it again.

[@rvtech101]

@@JerryArizona Lol, glutton for punishment huh?! Doing it in the dark would be very unfun, specially with my lack of coordination. My sons and I are getting ready to do one of your favorites ,WCC. We’re dropping off a car at the bottom at the Gardens, then trucking up to Callaway and dropping in. Haven’t done that in years, looking forward to it!

[@johnganshow5536]

Is there a shorter trail from a different parking area? We live north of Prescott and would like to try it. Fantastic video!!! Thank you...

[@JerryArizona]

Not really. You can come in a bunch of different ways, but the main one is First Water (which we took) or Boulder Canyon (off Canyon Lake). Boulder is more scenic, but I think it's longer (and definitely more elevation change). We've almost hiked all the way through from Peralta on the other side. But First Water is shortest, least elevation and probably closest for you.

[@johnganshow5536]

@@JerryArizona Thank you!! Sometimes I wish I lived closer to the Sups, but then I would be closer to Phoenix, so it is what it is...

[@Odd2See]

This was my best hike besides 5057 and flatiron

[@JerryArizona]

If you loved Flatiron, look into Ridgeline. You can't go wrong.

[@davetibbitts2596]

Well your wife is a Badass that’s for sure!!

[@jameshenderson9228]

Now we know why it's called battle ship mountain.

[@desertrat1111]

You may have water in August (monsoon season), but you probably won’t have it in May and June.

[@JerryArizona]

Crazy, but as dry as this year has been, I just did this a couple weeks ago and there was running water where Second Water met Boulder Canyon.....still glad I carried my own in just to be safe.

[@theazjones]

It looks very sketchy! Been wanting to hike this for months. Definitely have a fear of heights though :D

[@JerryArizona]

You absolutely don't want to do this if you have a fear of heights. Might want to work up: Picacho, then Picketpost, then Brown's Peak. If none of those bother you.....well, none of those bothered me, but this one really psyched me out. And I don't mind heights at all. It borders on rock climbing in a few spots, for sure.

[@theazjones]

@@JerryArizona that's funny, because Brown's peak looks more intimidating to me. I have a fear of heights, but I don't let that keep me from seeing things I want to see.

[@JerryArizona]

@@theazjones I don't know why, but Brown's Peak was just fun to me. We did that one and it just flew by. It was steep and exposed, but not really much loose scree. There were plenty of sturdy hand and foot holds in most spots. Battleship was just so much harder than I was expecting. And it was very exposed too. Usually it doesn't bother me, but this one sure did.

[@theazjones]

@@JerryArizona yeah, I could tell you were having a hard time. Brown's peak concerns me, not for the climb up but the climb down. I always get incredibly nervous doing that.

[@80808O]

Lol I didn't realize there was a term for me. Trail ninja. I sneak up on people everytime I hike. Battleship is on my short list for this winter.

[@davidthomas2886]

17.08. Face sticking out of the rock

[@corycoaxen3491]

Lmao.... I just learned what a Carin is...

[@corydriver7634]

Makes you wonder why someone would have been up there in 1884, certainly not for recreation.

[@Odd2See]

I summit 2 hours 💪🏾💪🏾

[@JerryArizona]

Damn. That's impressive. Which trailhead did you go in on?

[@jonschmidt1709]

Was supposed to have done this hike this past March.....thanks Wuhan flu/Covid-19/whatever you wanna call it. Next trip. Your vids are awesome to watch, you keep the pace moving, never stop; keep em up!

[@JerryArizona]

I'm trying. COVID has cancelled a few of our plans, including a cabin at Phantom Ranch. I'm crossing my fingers Zion opens soon because we have Narrows permits. Not sure if that'll happen or not. But there are other things to keep us busy.

[@jonschmidt1709]

@@JerryArizona Hope yall get there bud! That would be a heck of a trip...feeling selfish stating this, but AZ trip cancelled in Mar, Superior Hiking Trail cancelled for this month, and Isle Royale cross trek this summer in jeopardy....irritating world we're living in att

[@JerryArizona]

Yeah. There's a lot worse things going on than missing out on a trip here and there. Still sucks, but I don't think we're allowed to complain.

[@jonschmidt1709]

@@JerryArizona, so tickets are booked again for this coming March, barring any pandemic issues. You game to tour guide? Mexican on me afterwards :-)

[@bradmcnutt]

Please connect your chest straps. My shoulders hurt just watching this. :)

[@JerryArizona]

Must've been a light pack on this one or my shoulders would've hurt too!