The Veta Madre

[BobP]

The Veta Madre is not just a quiet hike near a purple gem mine, but rather, it is the quintessential and original "Mother Lode." It is not for the faint of heart or the casual hiker. Nine years, 6 months and 5 days ago, a group headed out to pave the way for the rest of us to become addicted. In the words of Elaine....yada...yada..yada. Its 3,475 days later or over 5 million minutes. NEways, the tenth anniversary of the maiden trip will be Friday December 20, 2013. But this adventure will be on the next day Saturday December 21, 2013 which happens to be the first day of winter. Weather permitting.. You are invited to join for the whole trip or maybe just a trip to Browns or maybe just a jaunt over to the end of the Amethyst trail. We have 179 days to plan and become interested and committed and the same amount of time to ignore or bail. The hike can be a mile for some or 9 miles for others or even more depending what routes are taken. If you plan on doing the full mother lode be warned its not a hike....its a journey stated differently in many triplogs here on HikeArizona.com.

If Flat Denny is stil around, he will make the trip up Brown's

[----]

its not a hike....its a journey stated differently in many triplogs

Well said

[BobP]

Only 157 days left to get in on this one...looking for some males/females under the age of 35 who can join us ;) so far we are a 37 and up crowd. Although, the 37 year old looks like he is a teenager.

[VolcanoCLMBR]

Glad to make the cut agewise! Just turned 34 but thats neither here nor there!

[Hippy]

Isn't it going to be...ummm...a bit chilly ?

[BobP]

Wow... I can't believe its been 111 days since I last posted in this thread. December 21st is fast approaching and Chumley said due to some atmospheric blah blah blah that the weather will be perfect. A brisk morning with winds from the south at 6-8mph. It will warm to a comfortable 55 degrees at 12:06 and stay that way until the sun sets gently over the horizon at 5:25pm. We will have 9 hrs and 56 mins of daylight to work with. There are still 46 days left to get in on this.


Read some of the original triplogs from 10 years ago.....

[chumley]

While daylight will account for 9:56 hiking can certainly take place safely during the additional 52 minutes of twilight. Those 6-degrees of scattered sunlight at both ends of the day could be very useful! So give yourself 10:48 to get this done. Just make sure you're on the trail at 7:01am sharp! (When the temperature will be a balmy 28F)

[joebartels]

I am looking forward to hiking with the brightest and most fashionable guy I know

[azhiker96]

This looks doable. ;-)

I'm going to have to think about the timing. I'm on call that night so I must get back in town by 10pm. Is the plan for a 1234, 4321, or other approach?

[BobP]

@azhiker96
I've always had trouble counting backwards so, 1,2,3,4 is the way I plan on doing it.

[wallyfrack]

The largest group I know of to attempt this was 12. With 15 in the interested column you could beat that. Only 10 of the 12 completed all 4 peaks with two opting out at peak 4 (the easy one). Waiting in line on the down climbs gives you too much time to think about it.

[azhiker96]

I agree, a smaller group is better. When I completed this adventure we started with 4 and ended with 5, picking up a solo hiker into our group along the way. That's much better than losing one.
I'll hit the mountains another time when I don't have to be back at any particular time.

[BobP]

@wallyfrack
I'd be surprised if the final crew was more then 5.

[wallyfrack]

I'd be surprised if the final crew was more then 5.

It's the 6th guy that sends the rock down. At least that's what I remember. ;)

[BobP]

On Thursday, I will pm everyone who is committed or needs to be committed.

Friday Night: A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.

Saturday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 52.

[BobP]

latest update...the high fell 9 degrees...we may hear chewbacka noises

Friday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Saturday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

[BobP]

Latest weather report: Looks perfect

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Breezy, with a south wind 11 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. South wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Friday: Rain and snow showers likely, becoming all rain after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 45. South southeast wind 5 to 11 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.

Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

[BobP]

PM sent to all committed. If you want to get in last minute pm me.

[BobP]

just leftmuddy mills ridge... Joey kryptonie is on the peaks. Just stopped raining but road was nasty

[chumley]

Whatever comes of this hike, I want to see a video of Joe dressed like the unabomber on some kind of homemade sled frolicking in the snow. Cause I know how much he loves that.

I stole a photo taken by Darth Stiller. Looks like fun up there