DESTINATION Little Granite Mountain 4214 - Tonto NF 1 Photoset
2012-10-13 | |
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| | Little Granite - Indian Point loop, AZ | | | |
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Little Granite - Indian Point loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.20 Miles |
1,850 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.20 Miles | 6 Hrs 13 Mns | | 1.58 mph |
| 1,850 ft AEG | 1 Hour 39 Mns Break | 22 LBS Pack | | |
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none
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| no partners | | Due to a last-minute change in plans this was going to be a short hike to the summit of Little Granite Mountain before taking the Cherokee to map out washes east and west of Forest Road 393. But knowing many times for me one thing leads to another, I filled my CamelBak bladder to its limit and set off. Good thing I did.
The hike from the Log Corral saddle allows no time to loosen up, with an immediate climb up and steep and shifty slope through cholla. After the first climb things got better with no more cholla and more rolling terrain for the rest of the way to Little Granite summit.
I found no log at the summit so I took the usual summit pan photos and 360 pan video. Looking north I could see Maverick Mountain, which has been on my peak bag list for a while so decided to do some scouting for a future climb. I set off along the ridge directly toward Maverick Mountain, climbing each minor peak along the way until I reached the tallest of the bunch, Peak 4015.
From the summit of Peak 4015 I shot another 360 pan video then took my time scanning the slopes of Maverick Mountain seeking the best route to the summit. At this moment I was vacillating whether to go ahead and summit Maverick now, or wait for a dedicated hike just for that purpose. Although the route from where I stood looked great as opposed to an approach from FR393 to the west it appeared to be more than I was ready to tackle today.
But I had no sooner started on my way back toward Little Granite that I realized two more of the peaks on my list in the Maverick Mountain quadrant were right there in front of me, I decided to make a big loop to bag them both on the way back to the trailhead.
Of course it helped that much of this area had burned in the lightning-ignited Charley Fire in August so I wasn't bushwhacking through brush... at least not until my climb out of the wash between Indian Point and Peak 3742.
Indian Point was a reasonably easy climb from the northwest up to the summit. I searched for a summit log but found none so I sat down for my PB&J lunch. Although it was before just noon it was still cool so it felt great with a stiff breeze as well. More photos and a 360 pan video and it's time to bag the last peak before heading home.
Barely 3/4 mile away is the summit of Peak 3742, but it will be the most challenging part of the hike. First it entails descending 600' down a steep, loose slope, through heavy brush to an open wash, through heavier brush on the other side then over 600' up another steep slope, this time with loose rocks hidden in tall grass. I took short breaks on the climb until I reached the summit. Again no log so I took the usual photos and 360 pan video and began my trip back, wrapping up my big circle loop.
The last leg included a steep 400' drop to the west followed by an 800' climb almost all the way back up to Little Granite before the last steep drop back down to the TH. For a short time I followed a single-track motorcycle trail which had fresh tracks, probably from the trio who borrowed some tools from me to fix bike problems while I was driving Log Corral Trail before my hike. I believe one of them mentioned this was called the Dagger Trail.
Tons of photos and video so I broke them up into 4 separate sets, one for each leg of my loop hike.
The photosets on HAZ are as follows:
1. Little Granite = http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=21971
2. Peak 4015 = http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=21976
3. Indian Point = http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=21978
4. Peak 3742 = http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=21979
I posted the 360-degree summit pan videos on my web site as follows:
1. Little Granite = http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=262
2. Peak 4015 = http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=263
3. Indian Point = http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=264
4. Peak 3742 = http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=265 |
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