North Star Peak is the pointy prominence seen from Highway 90
north. On early-morning caching rollouts its pleasingly pyramidal
shape has often caught my eye. The hike to the peak is a 7-mile
roundtrip with a bit more than 2000 feet of elevation gain. It's
steep in places, rocky in others, but no difficult climbing is
required. There is no formal trail.
To reach the peak, take Mescal Road north from I-10. The
pavement shortly gives way to good, graded dirt road (cars OK).
Continue to approximately N32 4.780 W110 27.230 and find a spot
nearby to park. From here, you'll hike more or less northwest,
initially taking the path of least resistance through a rocky
drainage. You may encounter some helpful cairns to guide you around
the hard parts.
Once you clear the boulders, you'll start up a ridgeline, which,
after a steep beginning, will settle down to a more reasonable
slope (around N32 5.242 W110 26.612). Follow this ridgeline all the
way up. The last hundred yard to the peak is steep, but offers
reasonably good footing. It's nowhere near as difficult as the
steep face seen from the highway would suggest.
The cache is hidden behind rocks at the base of a boulder, as
shown in the photo. It's a small, watertight box with a logbook and
pencils.