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| Hiking | 12.35 Miles |
2,409 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.35 Miles | 7 Hrs 24 Mns | | 1.77 mph |
| 2,409 ft AEG | 25 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Pass Mountain provided a nice hike.
My first leg was a up and down Wind Cave Trail. As I ascended, a billowy fog closed in over Pass Mountain, rolling over the top ridge and blocking the sun. In the dimmed light, the colors turned deeper and the scene took on a subdued starkness.
I proceeded upward, reaching the spot where the route guide I had said I had reached the wind cave spot. Though the mountain did show some indentations, the scene lacked the expected look and in general struck me as underwhelming. So I wondered if I had reached the real wind cave spot. I trekked on a bit farther, but absent any quick indications that the real wind cave would come up soon, I turned around.
Was I disappointed? For me, I took Wind Cave trail for the invigorating climb; the wind cave was an optional extra. Plus, the rolling fog had provided me with an unexpected kaleidoscope of shifting light, shade and color, a unique drama not always present.
Once back at the bottom, my hike proceeded clockwise on the Pass Mountain loop. Going northward from the Wind Cave junction, the loop ran through easy undulating open desert scrub forest, with Lone and Usery Mountains (I think, the maps in my possession don’t clearly label them) in the background. The fog had given way to soft clouds, and as they drifted across the sky they sent moving bands of shadow and light across the landscape.
Onward, the loop ascended gradually up and around to the northern flank of Pass Mountain. The gently slopped, green covered Usery and Lone Mountains receded from view, replaced by the long, rugged expanse of the western edge of Goldfield Mountains. I was spell-bound as the shifting shade and sun accentuated their roughness. Certainly taller and bigger mountains exist than the Goldfields. But as seen from the loop trail, the Goldfields rise unobstructed from a valley in front of them to form a dramatic line of sharp cliffs and angular setbacks.
Then onward, the trail continued southward down the back side of Pass Mountain. Its slow rise reached to a saddle between Pass Mountain and an intermediate peak linking Pass to the Goldfields. The Pass Mountain loop continues over this saddle, but an alternate route exists. Just a couple hundred feet before the saddle, one can cut sharply left and back, down into the valley between Pass Mountain and the Goldfields, and then hike up and over a saddle between the intermediate peak and the Goldfields, the saddle labeled (from what I could see) Bulldog Saddle.
My plan was to take this alternate trail, and I stuck to plan. This was bit of a lengthy diversion, as the route takes one down into the valley for an extensive trip through desert scrub and cactus. Tedious at times, but one gets a good feel for the width of the open valley. And a tiny gem was thrown in, as the trail crossed a small creek.
At the saddle, the spot proved windy. I had expected the afternoon sun to warm me, but the clouds cut down the sun, and the configuration of the mountains funneled the wind through the saddle. Wind or not, several trails, by all appearances unofficial, ran upward from the saddle. Evening obligations restricted me, so I took in the views, including Apache Junction to the South, and hiked on, but will remember the options to hike higher.
The trail descended from the saddle and proceeded on rather level ground around the south of Pass Mountain and back up to join my starting point at Wind Cave trail head. The sun, clouds and shade continued their shifting, creating nice patterns on Pass Mountain. And to the east, a view of the western flank of the Superstitions came into view, and I was able to catch a nice camera shot, which looked good (I think) in black and white. |
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