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| Backpack | 19.35 Miles |
7,000 AEG |
| | Backpack | 19.35 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 7,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | | What a beautiful passage!! We split this passage into 2 parts. On Saturday, we hiked the 6 miles from Mill Ridge to Roosevelt Lake. We started in the afternoon and boy was it toasty!! On the ridge we had a nice breeze, but every time we had a little climb we had only west sun and no breeze. Whew! Trail was easy to follow and tread on the ridge is great. The downhill - well, it's really down but there seemed to be pretty good traction. Views - wow! From the ridge you could see for miles in all directions and then the trail winds around so that you can see down Apache Lake. WanderingWildcat went on ahead and did the last 4ish miles of passage 19 to the Visitors' Center while Maria and I dragged ourselves out to the Lake parking lot. Camped at Bermuda Flats under a clear, starry sky. NOAA had reported Sunday as being sunny and since Saturday was nothing but sunny and we woke up to clear skies, we left our rain gear and set up the shuttle from Pine Springs TH to Mill Ridge. SAR was up the Pine Springs TH and was coordinating to search for a missing hiker who I guess was trying to get up the back of Four Peaks the day before and did not return to his car. As we headed out, cloud cover came and we were grateful. By mid-morning we had rain but it was one of those nice rains. Not hot and humid and not cold. All day it rained, misted, stopped, started but nothing much. Each of us had some form of emergency rain gear, so we were very comfortable all day, although my $1 poncho was pretty trashed by the end! Parts of this section are nice, wide, clear, sandy tread. Other parts are very brushy!! At some sections the technique was poles in hands, fists in front of your face, and PUSH through all while laughing at the absurdity of the vegetation! But, when out of the brush, the views were stunning! Roosevelt was almost always in view, 1 - 4 of Four Peaks came and went in our views, and at one point we reached a saddle and could see Superstition Peak and Miner's Needle. Came across a small rattlesnake coiled up along the trail. 2 of us walked right by it but WanderingWildcat saw it. Also saw a tarantula. Lots of bear scat - lots! The parts of the trail that run RIGHT along the side of the mountain are pretty good. No real washouts although some areas have more of a diagonal, rather than flat, tread. Trickiest part was through the burn area. Logs down across the trail that needed to be negotiated and all along that steep hillside. Definitely had my "freak-o-meter" going although my other 2 hiking partners seemed to do much better. The ONLY water we saw on this passage came from the sky. Although we didn't hike up to Alder Spring, we saw no water anywhere along the trail, in pools, or in drainages. A little fall color but most of the oaks have already turned. Still a few wildflowers out there. Arrived at Mill Ridge TH a little after 4 and headed on out. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Light
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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 Goldilocks |
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Route Editor
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