DESTINATION Barfoot Peak - Chiricahuas 1 Photoset
2023-07-02 | |
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| Hiking | 1.77 Miles |
742 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.77 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 0.89 mph |
| 742 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Jim and I arrived at Barfoot Park after hiking Buena Vista. We checked out some of the camp sites and explored the area. Down the hill closer to Barfoot peak, we found a private picnic area with a few tables. Nearby there were 3 metal axles with metal wheels on both ends. We couldn't tell if these were from railroad cars or from vehicles, but they looked pretty old. There was a lot of scree on the South side of Barfoot peak and the slopes from this side were incredibly steep.
Jim had no interest in this bushwhack (who can blame him?), and wanted to hit the road so he took off. I had a late lunch and relaxed for a bit in the shade of the huge pines. It was quite hot in the exposed areas. My only hike for the day was Buena Vista, in the morning, at this point. Around 5 pm, I was tired of sitting around all afternoon, so I decided why not try my solo summit of Barfoot peak in the cooler hours. I left my campsite around 5:30 pm with just a backpack and figured I could finish this hike before dark. In summary, this was a challenging bushwhack with some scrambling involved and some very steep slopes on both the ascent and descent.
Timeline:
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5:30 pm - start from Barfoot park area, walk up the road
5:36 pm - 0.20 miles - good place to get off the road. Here I turned left and climbed up a gradual slope working my way over to what looked like the best route.
5:48 pm - 0.46 miles - from here I started climbing up the steep slope to the high point above me. There were a few fallen trees to go around or step over.
5:57 pm - 0.56 miles - I reached a high point which was East of Barfoot peak. It was very rocky and brushy, but I was able to squeeze by and continue working my way toward Barfoot peak. From here, it's about 0.5 more miles to the summit. For most of the rest of the way, I had to weave around obstacles and I ended up staying just North of the ridgeline, sometimes needing to drop 10 to 20 feet below to go around rocky or brushy areas. There were a few areas where I saw foot prints or small holes in the ground where someone hiked before, or perhaps these were tracks from a large animal.
6:26 pm - 0.85 miles - from here I kept working my way around brush, sometimes going through Gamble oak and trying to avoid any thorny stuff (ex. New Mexico Locust).
6:40 pm - 1.05 miles - reached the summit. I searched the peak thoroughly but could not find a registry anywhere. Looking South there were some insane drop offs.
6:51 pm - 1.18 miles - within a few minutes of leaving the summit, I reached an area where I had to go down and cross over a large patch of scree. It looked much worse than it was. I found the rock to be fairly easy to walk across because of the larger pieces. But, these rocks are loose, so it's important to be careful here to avoid an ankle sprain. I took my time and reached the saddle to the West after about 20 minutes.
7:10 pm - 1.3 miles - now at the saddle, it appeared that I was off the rocky section and I could relax a bit. From here, the terrain was dirt with a mixture of grass and rocks. Although very steep going down, I was able to zig zag downward without slipping. At times I found some animal trails but there was nothing that continued going down. I followed sections of animal trails and took it step by step until I reached the bottom. Near the bottom, I was able to the picnic area, metal axles/wheels, so I already knew exactly where I was. Then, I climbed back up the hill to get back to my campsite.
7:30 pm - 1.77 miles - finish (with a few minutes to spare before it started to get dark)
AEG = 741
Strava moving time = 1 hr 9 mins (often seems lower than it really was...) |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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