This peak was plan "C" for the day. Plan A was up in Flagstaff, but the forest service road was a frozen mud-bog... and the forecast was for it to stay above freezing. We had no issue getting in, but would we have gotten out? So, we scrapped plan A and drove back out to the highway. We headed south of the Mogollon Rim, as everything was covered in snow and all the forest service roads were still closed (due to said snow), which limits trailhead access. Considered some other peaks, had decided on Woodchute Mountain near Jerome, as our Plan "B" but that was a 2 hour drive... and we didn't like the timing. Ended up here, plan "C", to try for a peak we had gotten to the saddle of but not quite summitted last November. Starts at the Copper Canyon trailhead right outside Camp Verde, AZ. It's a pretty nice trailhead - a good vault toilet, huge parking lot (lots of equestrian use around here), and some picnic tables/shade structures. We hiked up the trail until it met the road, and then followed the road around the curve and up an OHV trail to the saddle of Geode Hill and whatever huge bluff is behind it. There are some very impressive red volcanic rock cliffs encircling the summit in 2 tiers of cliff bands on Geode Hill. We had to find a route that would give us a break in the cliffs, which was to the south-west. Once you're off the OHV trail, you're on your own. There's a mixture of cow paths and bighorn sheep paths, but nothing direct to the summit. The rock on some of the steeper slopes is loose, chossy - at one point, I had to have Ken do a meat anchor and throw me down a handline to get up a section of the slope, as this stuff broke if you looked at it sideways. Everything about this rock just fell apart. Once we were around the cliffs and could make a push for the summit, it was much easier and straightforward. We found a cairn and what was probably once a summit register, but there was no jar or ammo can or anything to protect it, so it was just a very moldy piece of papier-mâché at this point. We didn't bring a new register with us. Enjoyed a nice late lunch at the peak, and then chose to go down the east slope, as it didn't have as much of the cliff banding. In hindsight, I wish I had led us down the first gully, as that would have been a more straightforward down than what we did, which involved some backtracking and serious side-hilling. Overall, though, a good day, a new peak, and the coolest thing we saw were the tons of geodes that were lodged into some of the larger volcanic rocks. (Pic included)