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| Hiking | 8.56 Miles |
1,679 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.56 Miles | 4 Hrs 48 Mns | | 2.05 mph |
| 1,679 ft AEG | 38 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Started from the parking area and headed south towards Cottonwood Spring. The first mile was very muddy from the rain & snow the night before and the creek was running. At the first scramble, it was covered in snow & ice, so I bypassed it on the right. After that, the mud got thicker and was mixed with snow. After about two miles, it was all snow. The route was a little difficult to follow in places, and I was happy to have found a track online. There was one set of tracks in the snow, heading uphill, so I assumed I would run into a hiker at some point. At the upper scramble, I made it about 3/4 of the way up before deciding it was too unsafe with the snow. I noticed the tracks had turned around at the same spot, so I decided to follow them. The tracks followed a wash around to the right, then followed a ridge for a little while.
After getting back into the gully, it was easy to head up towards the saddle. At the saddle, I decided to head over to Jacal first. Easy walk along the ridge up to Jacal and the snow covered views were beautiful. It was hard to remember that I was on a low desert peak that easily gets over 100 degrees in the summer. I headed back down to the saddle, then up to Hamblin. Getting up to Hamblin was a little steeper, but easy to follow. The very top of Hamblin has you on the left side of a lip along the ridge. If you don't like heights, this short section might make you a little nervous, but the rock is very grippy. You cross over to the right side of the lip through a crack in the rock, then it's just a few more feet to the summit. Even better views from Hamblin. The hiker whose tracks I had been seeing was eating her lunch at the summit. She and I chatted for a few minutes, then I headed back down after signing the register and taking some pictures.
The hike back down was very easy, and the snow had melted noticeably in just a few hours. I made a few exploratory side trips up some of the washes on my way down. Beautiful area with a lot more winter hiking options. |
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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