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| Hiking | 1.39 Miles |
849 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.39 Miles | 1 Hour 23 Mns | | 1.13 mph |
| 849 ft AEG | 9 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Our second crater hike of the day, we headed up short but steep SP crater. I have been here before one time many years ago, but we previously drove to the base from the south, which is the way the ranger at Sunset crater near Bonito campground told us to go. You make the turn west off of 89 immediately before a convenience store (which may be abandoned now, I did not check). This time, they had no maps at the ranger station near the campground, so I used Google. You know what happens when you trust the Google!!!  Well, it wasn't that bad, but it was not the way I was expecting. Instead of turning west immediately before the convenience store, Google has you go a few miles further north before turning west which then leads you to the north side of SP Crater instead of the south side. There is a sign there with some information (don't drive up! Eagles!), and from there we walked up. Of the 5 people in my party, 2 took a look up there and decided to stay at the bottom. 3 of us went up, and 1 decided to stay at the saddle and 2 of us went up. It's a use trail, but easy to follow. Once you get up to the saddle which is really hiking up kind of a drainage area, then you start going up the cinder cone proper. It is crunchy, and you experience the standard cinder cone hiking of one step up, slide half a step back. Despite this, it's a fun hike. SP Crater is in the middle of no where even though it is not really far from the road. There are great 360 views from the top. No trees anywhere, just the San Francisco volcanic field as far as you can see, full of many other impressive looking cinder cones. This was a enjoyable hike even with the slipping and sliding going both up and down.  . It is also neat to look into the cone, as well.
From the top, you can see the other road on the south side. When I was here many years ago, you could still drive up and over the saddle,but now you can no longer do that. I didn't do that years ago either, because I am chicken taking my vehicle on those steep grades. Previously, we hiked from the base up to the saddle and top from the south. From the saddle, it is easy to see the switch-backing use trail to the top.
Fun times! |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
We did see a few small wildflowers and flowering cacti, especially in the saddle area. |
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