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| Hiking | 21.90 Miles |
6,150 AEG |
| | Hiking | 21.90 Miles | 11 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.33 mph |
| 6,150 ft AEG | 1 Hour 55 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Off trail to Alamo Peak!
 Well, that went better than I thought it might!
After not being able to make it up 800 feet on a clear trail on Friday, the thought of 5,000' of off trail bushwhacking had me thinking about calling the day off. I rested Saturday... and awoke this morning not knowing what to expect. Yubao was at the trailhead just after 5:30am and we headed up canyon. I was very conservative about our pace and stopped often for hits of food and fluid. The easy pace made for a great a morning... we climbed out of the canyon proper and enjoyed breakfast at the rock house mine site. From there I knew I wanted to head north to catch the ridge and follow it up and around, but I had not loaded any routes into the GPS. So, we hiked up to the mine site, then angled slightly north from there... until we didn't.
I caught a series of broken elk trails that looped us more and more south... much more south than I thought. Our target peak: 9300'. We topped out at 8700'+ on a peak south and west of our target. South!!!
So... dropping off that peak, we descended and began the re-climb... and added in a loop around the north side of the mountain, just because I knew we could catch an old logging road to make for an easier finish to the Observatory. Even with all of that diversion, we enjoyed lunch on the peak ahead of schedule.
We'd planned to do the 104 trail down the mountain, but I was feeling good and suggested that we use another route home... it would add to our already added to elevation gain and show Yubao a new stretch of hiking. It would also give him a shot at yet another mini-peak plus a very interesting descent. He liked the mini-peak. He could have done without the descent. (I am yet to find anyone who likes climbing down the mesa cliffs on the city water line... go figure?)
I'd stashed a half gallon of chocolate milk at the base of the pipeline as we passed it hiking in... I'd finished off my gallon of fluids about an hour earlier and was feeling the need for some wet and some calories. It hit the spot with 2.5 miles to go... at that same spot Yubao spotted a nice 35# rock he liked. Since my pack had plenty of space with the water all gone, it only seem reasonable to load me up. He did. I closed out the very nice day enjoying a nice pack weight augmentation.
Just missed the sunset... but caught the red glows around us on the upper canyon walls. A very good day! |
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| Ageless Mind... Timeless Body... No Way! Use It and Lose It. Just the way it is... |
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