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| Standard Wash Trail - Lake Havasu, AZ | |
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| | Standard Wash Trail - Lake Havasu, AZ | | | |
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Standard Wash Trail - Lake Havasu, AZ
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| Hiking | 9.13 Miles |
747 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.13 Miles | 4 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.13 mph |
| 747 ft AEG | 18 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This is a really gorgeous hike. It starts out as a wide, braided, Mojave Desert wash sprinkled with smoke trees and palos verdes, and framed by craggy buttes. Then the wide wash suddenly narrows and eventually becomes a slot canyon. There is a dry waterfall requiring a bit of a class 4 downclimb (only about 12 feet or so). There is supposed to be a route around it, by going up on top of the bluff and around. I didn't look for it. I'm that kind of gal. I did the downclimb, although I was by myself.
At the bottom end of the hike, near the lake, some real route-finding is necessary. The directions I had, from Lake Havasu City website, were not very good when it came to getting up onto a very crumbly bluff of loose conglomerate. You have to get around the impenetrable brush where the wash meets the lake. It's possible there have been natural changes since the directions were written. I went way too far before looking for a "burro trail by a brushy tree." Next time I'm bringing a chainsaw (haha)!
When looking at my GPS route, please note that you'll want to take my southerly route in both directions!! Go up onto the left bluff WELL BEFORE you reach the thick jungle. A well-defined burro trail takes you up there. There is even a small cairn. You can easily see the trail angling up, if you are looking soon enough. Walk down the left side of the wash. I will post a photo of the burro trail.
Otherwise you will risk life and limb, as I did, trying to climb up that thing further down, next to the brushy area. By the way, I never saw any burro poo on the ground, so either the herds have moved on, or the BLM or State Park removed them from this particular area.
At the lake there are several beaches. I went only to the first one, because I got the stuffing kicked out of me trying to get up that bluff.
If I had followed burro trails further to the south I would have gotten to the BLM boat-in campsites. This truly would make a nice two-or-three-day relaxed backpacking trip, because you could camp in comfort, with a picnic table, pit toilet and ramada, and there would be plenty of water available from the lake. I have camped in these lakeshore sites before (there are dozens of them) while on a kayak camping trip. An "iron ranger" can collect your fee: $10 for a group of 6 or fewer.
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There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life. |
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