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| Black Mountain via Peralta Trailhead, AZ | |
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| | Black Mountain via Peralta Trailhead, AZ | | | |
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Black Mountain via Peralta Trailhead, AZ
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| Hiking | 19.51 Miles |
3,518 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.51 Miles | 10 Hrs 13 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 3,518 ft AEG | 1 Hour 6 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | I'd planned on hiking to Black Mountain via Tortilla Trailhead for a while, following @ScottHika's route from Dec. 2021 [ triplog ] . I ended up changing plans and started from Peralta TH after realizing that the distance to Black Mtn would come out about the same but would cut down the driving time, and I remembered dealing with quite a bit of catclaw along some sections of Peter's Trail closer to Tortilla TH when I was out that way last year.
We headed up Bluff Spring Trail, and there was a lot of great color from the start--the hillsides were covered in yellow, with a lot of other colorful flowers and cactus blooms mixed in. And there was a decent flow of water in most of the crossings today, which was also nice to see. We passed quite a few backpackers hiking out as we continued along Bluff Spring and then onto Dutchman, including one group that was having problems with their water filter and asked if we had one with us, which we didn't.
Seven miles in, we turned onto Peter's Trail to circle around to the east side of Black Mountain. This was my first time hiking that portion of #105, and I was expecting it to be steep and overgrown, but it wasn't bad in either aspect. A little over two miles from the summit, it looked like time was going to be tight to reach the peak before our turnaround time, so TboneKathy waited and I continued on to see if I could make it...I wasn't sure what to expect on the off-trail portion at the end.
Continuing on Peter's Trail, I started to see the red-painted cairns that were all too common farther east on the trail last year. Apparently the idiot with spray paint was thorough when he painted the cairns...I tossed a few of those off the trail on my way. I also passed a rock wall built across a drainage east of the trail that looked looked like a dam of some kind. Plenty of people have posted pictures of the wall in photosets, but I haven't seen any guesses about what it is [ photo ] .
Other than a few tangles with catclaw across the trail, it was smooth sailing, and I was happy to see that the final off-trail portion to the peak was about as easy as it gets--not much brush, not steep, and no major obstacles, and I reached the summit with plenty of time to enjoy a break at the top. The false summit just north of 3707 offered an even better perspective overlooking Squaw Canyon...I wasn't sure if Triangle Cave [ photo ] would be visible from the peak, but it was, and it was a cool vantagepoint looking down on it from above.
[ youtube video ]
I remembered seeing a summit register in ScottHika's photoset, so I didn't bring one with me. I spent a few minutes searching but didn't find the one he left there in 2021 [ photo ] . I guess it's well hidden...I must've been right next to it. But I ate a snack, enjoyed the views, then headed back down to rejoin TboneKathy for the hike out. Frogs (maybe bullfrogs or leopard frogs?) were calling in Lower Barks Canyon in the late afternoon, which was a nice bonus [ youtube video ] . It was a great day in the Superstitions...perfect temperatures from start to finish, and it's always fun visiting a new summit. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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