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| Promontory Trail #278, AZ | |
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| | Promontory Trail #278, AZ | | | |
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Promontory Trail #278, AZ
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| Hiking | 8.60 Miles |
2,537 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.60 Miles | 3 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.57 mph |
| 2,537 ft AEG | 14 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I got a very late start on this one because I woke up not intending to hike today. I changed my mind at the last minute. This is my last day of summer (my 8 month summer, really) before returning to school as a full time student. Then it is back to SoMo and other local hikes on weekdays.
I arrived around 11:00 AM, temps were in the low 80s, a little higher than I expected before noon.
The trip up Derrick was a little warm without any breeze, but I held out hope that once I reached the Highline and Promontory Trail there would be either cloud cover or wind. At the Highline/Promontory JCT the breeze picked up, and with better tree cover, it felt very nice going up.
Got a little spooked by a fellow coming down the hill about 1/3 the way up Promontory. He said he had turned around without reaching the top, I asked if it was because of steepness or trail conditions, he said both. He felt it was a little too overgrown and steep. I thanked him for the info. and he wished me good luck before continuing down the hill.
The trail definitely gets a little gnarly. I wouldn't say the overgrowth is all the bad, but there are a lot of downed trees, and in some spots it is very loose rock and soil. The last 100-150 yards is very steep and loose. I didn't have too much trouble following the cairns going up.
When I started getting close to the top, I would occasionally hear a faint rumbling sound that I couldn't quite make sense of (you probably already know where this is going), at first I dismissed it as maybe vehicles on FR 300 (even though that is far away). Once I topped out and started heading for the Promontory Butte HP, it clicked after a few more rumbles. I saw some very dark clouds just over the tops of the trees.
I wasn't particularly interested in being near a county high point with a big thunderstorm coming. I also decided I value my life too much to see what kind of slip and slide hell Promontory Trail would be on the way down if it was wet. I decided to head back down, a little disappointed that I had done 95% of the work but wouldn't get my summit today.
On the way down the trail was a little harder for me to follow. I fell on my pumpkin a couple of times, but eventually I made it back to the Highline and headed for Derrick.
The storm never really hit til I was back at my truck... Hopefully i'll get her next time, and as it turns out, I'll be in the area for a family reunion Labor Day weekend. Maybe I will find some time to break away for more Promontory Punishment. |
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Route Editor
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