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| Hiking | 6.80 Miles |
1,860 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.80 Miles | 3 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.81 mph |
| 1,860 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | In June, 2013 a lightening strike wildfire near the sleepy little ranching/mining community of Yarnell, AZ led to a shocking tragedy in which 19 hotshot firefighters lost their lives. As you can imagine, this was a huge local story, and one with which our readers may have some familiarity. On Nov 30, 2016 a memorial hiking trail, Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, opened to the public. This is a seven mile, 1600' (1200' + 400') elevation gain hike to the very site at which these brave firefighters lost their lives. Individual placards along the trail feature photos and bios of each firefighter and provide information regarding wildfires in general, and of course, this tragic event in particular. A large memorial has been placed at the actual site of the multiple fatalities.
The trail is of particular interest because it leads to the Weaver Mountains, which up until now have been inaccessible due to private property restrictions around the perimeter, so we were excited to see if anything unusual is growing up there. We have hiked the surrounding area and found parryi, mckelveyana, chrysantha, chrysantha × mckelveyana, and even chrysantha × mckelveyana × parryi, so an interesting bunch.
In the end, nothing too exciting plantwise, but some nice Agave mckelveyana and Echinocereus yavapaiensis. I must say however, that this was an entirely unique experience. I don't know how many memorial hiking trails there are in our country, but this was carefully crafted with great skill, reverence, and respect, and I doubt I'll ever forget what I saw and experienced up there today. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
