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| Brown's Mountain Summit, AZ | |
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| | Brown's Mountain Summit, AZ | | | |
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Brown's Mountain Summit, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.20 Miles |
528 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.20 Miles | | | |
| 528 ft AEG | | 8 LBS Pack | | |
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| Partners |
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none
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| no partners | | With friends in town from St. Louis we needed a quick hike to fit into their busy schedule. Brown's Mountain seemed to fill the bill as it is short but gives one an excellent 360 degree panoramic view of the valley from the summit.
Like most trailheads in the MSP the Brown's Ranch TH is modern, clean, well staffed, and the bathrooms don't stink.
And oh yeah, busy...even on a weekday. We arrived early to a half full parking lot but not a lot of people around. We headed out on Brown's Ranch Road and hit a traffic jam of folks in short order. I think most were doing flat loop hikes because as soon as we veered off onto the Mountain Trail we had the place to ourselves. We ran into a couple of groups on the way up and a few more coming down from the summit.
Surprised to still see snow on the Mazzies and on a few distant peaks that I don't know the name of. Wildflower sightings were grim at best. No poppies and no Brittlebush. Saw some Lupine and a couple of clumps of Owl Clover. That was it! Tons of Globe Chamomile of course but that stuff is everywhere right now.
Good views from the top as expected but on the way down I got a great view of the sky as I took my first slip and fall in recent memory. One minute I was thinking to myself how nice and sticky the footing was and then my feet went right out from under me with no warning. I was even using a trekking pole at the time! Luckily my back and head broke my fall.  No pain so far, but waiting to see how I feel tomorrow morning. 
Returning down to the TH and parking lot we saw the place had really filled up. Lots of cars circling around looking for parking spots. This whole hiking thing is starting to catch on I think. |
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| "If you wait, all that happens is you get older" |
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