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| Hiking | 10.63 Miles |
4,154 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.63 Miles | 9 Hrs 27 Mns | | 1.28 mph |
| 4,154 ft AEG | 1 Hour 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | We saw a mountain lion!!!
Frank and I tried this three years back but didn't make it to the top due to an error on my part (tried to navigate around the east side of the last knob about 1000 feet below the peak). We kind of backed into trying this one again when some other plans fell through, and we couldn't come up with anything interesting. Niel fell in with us, even with my dire description of this peak's difficulty. Got an early start and were blessed with cool temps and a cloud cover.
We saw the mountain lion about 1/3 of the way down from the peak, bounding up the slope and visible for about 10 seconds. We earlier flushed a white tail deer and wondered if that was enough to bring him out into the open. This was our first sighting after hiking the Catalinas, a lot of it off trail, for 10+ years. Also saw a red tailed hawk.
Of the 10 miles, less than 4 are on trail. The rest is up the ridge through a mix of desert cacti, scrub oak, and grass. Luckily, no snakes or bees. There is actually a faint trail at a few points, likely game routes (we saw a wildlife camera at one choke point). Scrambling is necessary at a few places, but nothing above class 3. All in all, this is a very difficult day, but the views at the top are outstanding in every direction. From the north side of the peak, you can view right down into the East Fork, West Fork and nearly see Romero Pass. Check out Grottogirl's description. She had it right when she recommended a full meal the night before.
If you're interested in more pix and some video, I posted a video on my Youtube channel "roy v carter".
You won't run into ANY people after leaving the Esperero Trail. WE SAW A MOUNTAIN LION!! |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Not much yet, but look out in a week or two. |
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| Check out my Instagram posts at "cartershift", and videos on my Rumble channel "rvcarter". |
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