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| Hiking | 8.27 Miles |
1,721 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.27 Miles | 3 Hrs 5 Mns | | 3.12 mph |
| 1,721 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The criteria for this weekend's hike was 1) it needed to be within 2 hours of Phoenix, 2) it had to be in a new area I haven't hiked before, 3) it had to be easy going. This hike fit the bill.
I left Phoenix around 9:30 am. Just outside of Anthem I was pulling my hair out when an accident had I-17 backed up for a few miles, delaying my arrival to the TH by about 30 minutes. Oh yeah, that's why I hate I-17...
Coming in to the TH off of 89A, I instantly knew which mountain on the horizon was the one. This is a pretty cool looking mountain!
I arrived at the TH around noon to 70 degree temps. 
The first couple of miles of this trail is a gradual uphill walk to the saddle between Granite Mountain and Little Granite Mountain. There is still a lot of good looking flowers on this section of the hike, which was surprising for me, I thought the show would have been long over by now.
The views after the saddle as you actually climb Granite Mountain are stellar. It was a clear day so much of the surrounding area was visible. There was a couple of spots on the mountain where water was running or trickling.
At the end of the trail, I started the scramble to the top of the peak which quickly turned into something that was a little more vertical than I had bargained for. I'm not comfortable doing solo climbs which are beyond your basic rock scrambles, yet. I turned around, a little irritated that the top of the rocks was maybe 20 - 30 ft above me, but I'd rather have a partner to finish this one up. Maybe there is an easier route to the top that I missed?
I will definitely be back to finish that climb, and bag Granite Peak 7626. |
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