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| Hiking | 2.24 Miles |
706 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.24 Miles | 1 Hour 48 Mns | | 1.53 mph |
| 706 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | After looping the twin high peaks of the northern Tinajas Altas this morning, we took a couple of hours to recover in the shade of a tree at camp, not wishing to head onto the dark basalt field of Raven Butte with the sun high in the sky during the heat of the day. I pushed for waiting longer hoping to get some evening light and enjoy sunset at the summit, but I was overruled by my more impatient hiking partners.
We were expecting the footing to be more difficult than it was. The volcanic basalt was old. Matt has a degree in geology and was interested in the volcanic origins of this butte. He said it was significantly older than the volcanic fields in Flagstaff. The rock was weathered and smooth, even slick and shiny in places. It was actually fairly easy to hike across.
A large cairn with an exploded ordnance stood near the high point. The register was littered with names as it gets significantly more visitation than our earlier peaks. The north end featured a communications relay antenna. Which team it belonged to was unclear. The solar panel was Chinese. Not that that means anything. China makes a lot of solar panels.
As outlander noted years ago, the butte has some significant man made disturbances in the basalt across it's top. It may have once been home to a small "residential" area with paths between clearings that may have been sleeping pads. The views across the Lechuguilla are vast from here.
We enjoyed an afternoon summit beverage before completing the lasso and dropping back down the tail and back to camp in time to spark up the fire for dinner. |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
