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| Hiking | 25.00 Miles |
3,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 25.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 3,100 ft AEG | | 45 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | Finally made it to Circlestone! Arrived at Rogers Canyon Trailhead at 8am only to discover I had forgot my backpacking boots. Doh! So proceeded to spend the next three days putting 25 backpacking/day hiking miles on a pair of Merrell Jungle Slip-On shoes which did surprisingly well. Caravanned to the TH until the last mile or so when the road got to muddy for my buddies two wheel drive f150 so they parked it along the road and jumped into my Jeep. Day one we dropped our packs at the Reavis Trail Junction and hiked to the cliff dwelling. It had been around 25 years or so since my last trip to the ruin and I don’t remember the scramble to the upper ruin being that exposed or maybe the perspective of something in your 20’s vs. your 50’s is what was happening here. So I used my Merrell slip ons as the excuse to not go any higher.
We didn’t make it to the ranch that 1st night, but water was everywhere on this hike and built ourselves a nice site along the water maybe a mile at the most from the ranch. Made this our home base for the two nights. Day 2 we day hiked to the ranch and up to Circlestone. The plan was to summit Mound Mountain as well, but our late start would have meant hiking back to camp at night so saved that for another trip.
The coldest it got in my tent was 30 degrees, but outside it dipped into the 20’s. Forgot to bring my water bladder and filter into the tent the 2nd night so spent the morning thawing things out to get stuff working again. I was comfortable in my 30 degree down outdoor vitals bag with a cocoon liner and long underwear on. I did get a bit cold the 2nd chillier night at around 4am, but just scrunched into a ball and it was manageable until 6am when things started to warm up.
On the way out we found the radio still hanging on the branch where my co-hikers had left it so that was a win. Trail from the saddle to the ranch had a lot of deadfall. I don’t think this trail is high on the list for clean up. The switchbacks are eroding away. Traction on some of the traverses was an issue not just for me, but for my buddies with good boots as well. That being said I love the east side of the Supes. Totally different climate up there. And much less crowded. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
The poppy’s were starting to bloom along the road. |
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| Not all who wander are lost... |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
