From the trailhead, we hiked Jacob's Crosscut trail for about 3.2 kilometres to its junction with the Siphon Draw trail.  We then followed this well-traveled trail which climbs steadily up through the Siphon Draw, a scenic waterworn passageway.  Above the Siphon Draw, we made a wrong turn following a trail marked with cairns and ended up on the broad ridge west of The Flatiron.  Rather than backtrack, we hiked up the ridge toward the cliffs of The Flatiron and then traversed to climber's left across some scrubby terrain to reach a steep rocky gully.  We scrambled up this gully and eventually popped out onto the main access trail only a few minutes away from the top of The Flatiron.

	Sonny checks out a map board at the trailhead. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia hikes easily along Jacob's Crosscut trail.
	Some deer graze among the grass in front of the cliffs of the Superstition Mountains. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia gains the Siphon Draw trail.  The Flatiron is visible through the gap at left.
	From here, The Flatiron still looks hopelessly far away.
	Zosia hikes up the Siphon Draw.
	Sonny takes a wrong turn here.  The correct trail goes past the rocks behind him. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Here is the view of The Flatiron from the ridge to the west.  Also visible are Ironview Peak (left of The Flatiron) and Superstition Peak (distant right).
	Zosia approaches the impressive cliffs of The Flatiron.
	Zosia takes advantage of game trails to traverse the steep terrain below the cliffs of The Flatiron.
	After traversing below the cliffs of The Flatiron, Zosia scrambles up a steep rocky gully.
	Zosia regains the main access trail and heads for the top of The Flatiron.
	Sonny arrives at the top of The Flatiron (1422 metres).  Behind him to the right is Ironview Peak. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia stands atop The Flatiron.  The ridge west of The Flatiron can be seen at bottom left.

After tagging the top of The Flatiron, Zosia and I promptly retraced our steps back along the trail and continued northeast to ascend Ironview Peak.  Although technically easy, the ascent of Ironview Peak demands some route-finding and scrambling ability to get through the maze of rocks guarding the summit.  The blazing hot sun was quite unbearable by the time we reached the summit of Ironview Peak, and we stayed only long enough to snap a few photographs before retreating lower to take a longer break in the shade of some large rocks.

Once we got moving again, we had some difficulty getting out of the maze of rocks below the summit, but after a bit of trial and error, we eventually made it down to the main access trail.  Following blazes and cairns, we descended the normal access route for The Flatiron all the way back to where we took our wrong turn above the Siphon Draw.  Some of the upper parts of the normal access route are quite steep and require hands-on scrambling skills--definitely not a place for novice hikers.  From the top of the Siphon Draw, the rest of our descent was straightforward.  While the warm temperatures definitely made the long walk back to our trailhead feel even longer, we were fortunate to be partly shielded from the full brunt of the hot sun by some late afternoon cloud cover.

From the top of The Flatiron, Zosia heads toward Ironview Peak (left).  Sadly, a plane crashed into the cliffs of Ironview Peak on 23 November 2011 killing 6 people including a father and his 3 young children.

 

	Zosia approaches the confusing maze of rocks below the summit of Ironview Peak.
	The route to the summit of Ironview Peak has some interesting moments.

Sonny and Zosia reach the summit of Ironview Peak (1507 metres).

 

The city of Phoenix is spread out to the west.

 

	The Four Peaks massif is the most notable bump to the north.
	Superstition Peak, the highest point of the Superstition Ridge line, lies to the southeast.  Also visible at left is Weavers Needle.
	Ironview Peak gets its name from this view of The Flatiron.

A small lizard makes an appearance on a rock.

 

	Zosia descends the normal access route for The Flatiron.
	Zosia descends the Siphon Draw.
	Zosia exits the bottom of the Siphon Draw.
	Back on Jacob's Crosscut trail, Sonny marches past a forest of chain fruit cholla. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance:  16.1 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  9 hours 21 minutes Net Elevation Gain:  868 metres GPX Data