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| Hiking | 9.79 Miles |
736 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.79 Miles | 3 Hrs 23 Mns | | 2.89 mph |
| 736 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Wanted to get this out while you folks may be planning your weekend expedeitions: Go to MSP North!
Counter-Clockwise, I hiked parts of Bootlegger Trail, the Overlook, Granite Mountain Trail, Branding Iron Trail, Cholla Mountain Loop, Cathedral Rock, the Amphitheater, Balanced Rock Trail (plus the Rock itself), back on Granite Mountain Trail, Saddlehorn Trail, then back to the trailhead on Bootlegger Trail. Around 10 miles and 750 AEG. Trail was pristine. No climbs. But the flowers ...
OH MY.
Bootlegger Trail (substantial) at 8:30 still had shadows, and it was 47o, so only the Brittlebush were really out, and they were abundant. Plenty of lupine. Some desert globe mallow. Plus owl clover, lily, fairy duster, and other species too small too photograph.
Granite Mountain Trail-North (moderate): Coverage definitely tapered off.
Branding Iron & Balanced Rock Trails (light): Branding Iron at the north end of the valley separating Granite Mountain and Cholla Mountain, and Balanced Rock at the south end, had the least coverage of all. It was more spikey succulents. Never saw one cactus flower all day.
Cholla Mountain Trail (Substantial): By the time I got to Cathedral Rock it had warmed up a bit. Brittlebush & lupine had come back in in numbers, both north & south of Cathedral Rock, and there tons of penstemon, and that until I turned onto Balanced Rock Trail. Some good fairy duster by the rock.
Can allergies cause a bloody nose, because I got a good one on Balanced Rock. Maybe it was the lofty altitude?
Granite Mountain Trail-South (EXTREME): Penstemon and brittlebush were BONKERS! Lupine substantial. Some really dense patches of owl clover. A few desert marigold, daisies, some good desert globe mallow, sparse buckwheat, small desert chicory. Not a whole lot of Mexican gold poppy anywhere all day, and what ones I saw were mostly cinched up tight against the cold & recurrent deep cloud caused shadow.
Met a couple who were out last week, on the south end of Granite Mountain Trail, and they said the flowers were definitely better today compared to last week.
It will be awhile before I get pictures up, as I shot around 200. |
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Wildflowers Observation Extreme
See extended report above. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
