Quartz Peak is perfectly named because the peak has so much quartz on it that the white-capped peak can be seen from far down below. Quartz shows up quickly on the trail as it glistens in the sun and the quartz becomes bigger and bigger rocks and slabs as you go up the trail.

The farther you go up the better the panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, which are many and spectacular.

The book Hiking Arizona rates the hike as strenuous and few hikers would argue with that. The trip is only 6.2 miles round trip, but it climbs about 2,500 feet, from 1,550 feet to 4,052 feet.

Eight people from the Arizona Trailblazers made the trek on February 12. We were on the trail for six hours, from 11:30-5:30.

This is Sonora desert terrain with plenty of cholla and some saguaro. Hikers also must be warned that high clearance vehicles are needed for the drive in. Terry Kelley and Ron Schueman stepped up and drove their vehicles so the eight of us could make it in.

Even though it was February, lizards dotted the rocks on the trail and one pink flower was found toward the top. The trail is known for its flowers once spring hits.

Shortly after the Quartz Peak Trail starts, hikers begin the climb of switchbacks with plenty of scree on the trail and some large steps needed to step over the big rocks. There are few straight aways on this trail, but the toughest part is the last half mile up to the peak, which becomes a scramble over the boulders. At least two of hikers had some cuts on their legs from the last half mile.

Quartz Peak is part of the Estrella Mountain Wilderness. There are 14,400 acres in Estrella Mountain Wilderness and it is bordered by the Gila River Reservation. Estrella Mountain Wilderness is known for its ridgelines, steep slopes and rough rocky canyons.

Quartz Peak is the summit of the Sierra Estrella Wilderness. The 2.9 mile Montezuma Peak Trail is the other known trail in the Sierra Estrella Wilderness. These trails are open to hikers, backpackers, climbers and hunters.

The lower end of the Sierra Estrella Wilderness includes cholla, saguaro, ocotillo, palo verde and elephant bush. The upper parts include shrub oak and juniper.

The wildlife in the Sierra Estrella Wilderness includes bighorn sheep, gila monster, desert tortoise, mountain lion, mule deer, coyote, javelina, giant spotted lizard, golden eagle, prairie falcon and Cooper’s Hawk.

The Sierra Estrella Wilderness was established in 1990 and it is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Wilderness is an area of undeveloped federal land that appears “to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprints of man’s work substantially unnoticeable,” according to the Wilderness Act of 1964. Unlike national parks, wildlife refuges, or monuments, Wilderness designation from Congress provides the highest level of natural resource protection available in the world. Any portion of a park, refuge, or monument can be designated as Wilderness. Potential wilderness includes those roadless and wild areas that we have yet to crisscross with roads and alter with development. Wilderness is our antidote to the sprawl that consumes our open space