Half Mother Lode, Friday, Nov. 28

[DarthStiller]

I've never done Brown's Peak yet, and I don't know if I can handle the full Mother Lode, so I want to try this one as a "get my feet wet" kind of hike for that. Plus, daylight is likely to be an issue for the whole thing. I'm thinking to do Peaks 1 and 2, make it down to the Amethyst Trail and depending on the time/condition, maybe go out to the mine and then back to the TH. It's the day after Thanksgiving, so a good opportunity to work off the turkey and stuffing.

[wallyfrack]

This Sister Lode would be a good intro for anyone considering the Mother Lode in the future. If you don't like the route from Browns to peak 2 then forget about going from peaks 2 to 3. I'm almost 100% sure I'll go. I can find someplace else to hike this Christmas. : rein :

[nonot]

I'll sign up as interested, I'm not sure what my plans will be yet for turkey day.

[wallyfrack]

This will probably the best time of year for this hike. Even in March we encounter snow on the bushwack. No big problem but a little more work.

[pickelltree]

i did the sister load 3 weekend ago, i was by myself and to make it short on how it went, i am not going out there for a long time and never by myself. i planned on hanging in the tree's between 2 and 3, but got off route, really what route, and was clifffed out on the south side, spent the night and hiked down and then up the other side and finished on four peaks trail, i was beat up. and i am not a total retard when it comes to route finding, but i felt like one

[te_wa]

for the first time ever, Wally posts a signature... and its in Russian! Are you Syrias?

this is going to be a great time. I go to Browns about once a year. I miss the place.

[nonot]

What the hell, I'm coming as long as I'm not hungover.

[wallyfrack]

Josh logs a post on how dangerous this place is and 2 more commit. Makes sense to me.

[Hoffmaster]

A post like Josh's would make me commit too, but I've done the Sister Load once before, so I know that I never want to do it again.

[azdesertfather]

ok, i'm in. anybody interested in carpooling? i can pitch in a few $, save some gas

[wallyfrack]

We always car pool. We usually meet at Stiller's place and head out from there. What's the start time?

[DarthStiller]

DIG IT!! One more sucker, er, I mean, more company, YEAH!!

Seriously, we have everyone (except rlrjamy) in Mesa, so we can almost all meet at my place. I'm thinking the usual 5:30am start time from my house. Wally, let me (and us) know if you think its wiser to maybe start a half hour (or hour) earlier to try to get a jump on the daylight just in case for this time of year. We'll probably need 2 cars from my place, we can figure that out as a game time decision. I'll be driving for sure, so if we can cram 5 people in my rig, we'll see. Gas is much cheaper now, so its not the issue it was 4 months ago.

rlrjamy, let me know if you want to make the trip to Mesa (I doubt it), or meet us at the junction of the Bush Hwy and SR87 or the bottom of FR143 (4Peaks RD) by the rest stop area there.

[wallyfrack]

I think 5:30am is early enough. I can drive as well if we need two vehicles.

[rally_toad]

I envy you guys. While you guys are taking a nice stroll on the Four Peaks, I will have to be dealing with all the early morning shoppers. Not fun

[DarthStiller]

I don't know that I would call it a "stroll", but it will be alot nicer than being anywhere near a retail store on Black Friday. My wife loves that though. She'll probably take the kids shopping.

[DarthStiller]

A guy I work with does search and rescue. He told me a story that back in ’90 or ’91 when he did his first one, it was at 4Peaks. Some guys were up on Peak 4 above the amethyst mine. They knocked some shale loose and it created a huge landslide, some of the rocks of which made it all the way down to the trail. When they found these guys, it was pretty much a recovery and not rescue. He said the rocks tore them us so bad they looked a shark got a hold of them and they had to carry them out in duffel bags.

So we’ll need to watch out for loose rocks…

[wallyfrack]

I don't remember much loose stuff over on peak 4. I wasn't exactly trying to look over the edge either.

http://www.hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=59132

[azdesertfather]

I keep thinking something is going to go wrong and I won't make it...checking off these peaks from my list has been more elusive that any other climb for me personally. Three times I have made my way out there to scale at least one of the peaks, and something totally unexpected has happened all three times to short circuit me making it to the top (I hope I don't jinx anybody!!). Hope hitting the "committed" button instead of "interested" didn't jinx me this time, either

My wife is already giving me the look, saying "You're going to do WHAT, with the kids out of school, the day after thanksgiving?!!!" Have some serious family brownie points to make up the rest of this weekend if I indeed do end up making it on this trip!! :kf:

Thanks, stiller, for putting this together. See you then (hopefully)... ;)

[DarthStiller]

The weather forecast for the next two days is rain, which would likely mean some snow up there. If that happens, that could have an adverse affect on trying to make it over to Peak 2. At the very least we should be able to do Brown’s Peak and then make a gametime decision on how much we want to risk our lives.

[wallyfrack]

Brown's peak is good in the snow. There's also a chance the forecast will change in the next few days.