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| Hiking | 9.50 Miles |
1,775 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.50 Miles | 3 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.71 mph |
| 1,775 ft AEG | | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I came mostly for peaches, and picked 29 pounds worth at Angle Orchard. The red haven peaches are in, and they are excellent. I probably over picked, but I can freeze them. Clouds were building on the drive over, and I considered just driving the mountain, but I opted to hike this anyway. I am glad that I did, as this was worth it, or it fit into my time slot very nicely. Lots of Hermit Thrushes in the forested sections, which was very enjoyable. Lots of Hermit Thrushes at the trailhead for Lady Bug Peak, too, where there was also a rain gauge with 1 and 3/4 inches of water in it.
This ended up being smaller than expected, which was fine. Everything was wet from heavy rain that must have fallen while I was picking peaches. I had only brief passing showers and no lightning. I have previously thought this area reminds me of Pennsylvania, and with the moisture it does, more so. The exception is the summit which reminded me of Navajo Mountain, but only a little. I was underneath of Hawk Mountain before I realized that I was losing altitude, and thinking that the GPS routes don't show this, I turned back to head to whatever summit was behind me, which ended up being Graham. This was easy to recognize from Todd's photos when he poached it.
There is some decent conifer reproduction up here, so in 50 years a nice forest will have returned, maybe. The views from an outcropping near the summit were interesting, and I wouldn't mind returning on a dry day, probably in Autumn, to enjoy it. An active monsoon season is not one that produces enjoyable hikes or views.
Overall, this hike is kind of underwhelming. I expected more, and it to be bigger. I guess Heliograph feels bigger because you start lower. Wide open burned areas are the exact opposite of squirrel habitat, and I didn't see any squirrels at all, so why this is restricted is just pure regulatory nonsense. Welcome to the United States of Bureaucratic Overreach. I modified the existing GPS route to gain my stats. |
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