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| Hiking | 8.90 Miles |
1,841 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.90 Miles | 5 Hrs 51 Mns | | 2.09 mph |
| 1,841 ft AEG | 1 Hour 36 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I led a group of five (counting me) on an out-and-back hike of Granite Mountain Trail #261 on Friday.
Parking at the Metate Trailhead required a $5 pass which can be purchased at the trailhead. I think that there are also options for annual passes, but have not investigated this option.
The trail is well maintained and easy to follow. I did get off track once due to leaving the trail in order to get some photos and then inadvertently resuming on another trail. When we returned to the main trail, we noticed that a number of rocks have been placed across the path leading to the errant trail. Had I not left the trail to take photos, I wouldn't have gotten off track.
The trail was occasionally wet at the lower elevations. We saw small mounds of melting snow in shady spots at the higher elevations.
My mileage and elevation are slightly more than that listed in the hike description due to wandering around on the rocks while the others ate lunch. I think that the distance and elevation provided in the description is accurate.
I tried and failed to make it to the actual summit - I probably still had another 30 feet or so to go. I didn't spend much time investigated the various options for getting to the top since the rest of my group didn't appear to have much interest in summitting. I did get to a point where I think I could have gotten to the top, but I wasn't confident of my ability to easily reverse the moves on the downclimb.
We saw some wildflowers, but they're not yet as abundant as what we're now seeing in the (greater Phoenix) valley. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Verbena (and others too... see photos.) |
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