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| Hiking | 6.09 Miles |
1,832 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.09 Miles | 4 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.72 mph |
| 1,832 ft AEG | 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Today I decided to hike to the Grayback Benchmark (elevation of 5,133 feet and prominence of 1,333 feet), the highpoint of the Grayback Mountains.
I think that there are 2 Grayback Benchmarks in AZ. There is one east of Florence, in the Gila River Valley. This particular Grayback is in Yavapai County, and is not far from the mining town of Bagdad.
Just as I was getting into Bagdad I turned on Yavapai Road, and took that over to Old Dick Road, which I followed for 4-5 miles to a 5 way junction, where I parked. The drive on a well graded dirt road that any SUV could drive on, and probably a lot of sedans. I thought about driving further, but I wasn't sure about the condition of the road that I would be hiking on. As it turned out, I could have easily driven another half-mile, and further if I wanted to use 4WD. If I was to do the hike again I would drive the extra 1/2 mile, but would start hiking from there rather than driving on the 4WD road.
From the 5 way junction, I walked on roads for about 1.75 miles, which took me to a saddle at a gate to a ranch. The roads that I hiked on were on property owned by the Freeport-McMoRan Mining Company, but there were signs stating that access was permitted. At the ranch gate, I went off-trail for about 1.25 miles to the summit. The off-trail was mostly through open country, although there was some brush that was mostly easy to navigate around.
The summit had some nice 360 degree views, so I hung out there for a bit. The summit also had:
1) a Lilley-MacLeod register from 1988
2) a height-of-light that was still standing
I enjoyed this hike. The roads were good on the drive in, and the hiking had expansive views. It is in an area with some pretty mountains and valleys, and you are almost guaranteed to have some solitude out there. I was the second person to sign the summit register this year, and there were no entries in 2021. |
| _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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