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| Hiking | 9.60 Miles |
1,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.60 Miles | | | |
| 1,600 ft AEG | | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Preston drove (which was awesome!) for an Angle Orchard trip with a Mount Graham hike after. I picked 32 lbs and I believe he got 30 lbs. My haul was mostly Arkansas Black (perhaps 75%) and some Winesap, along with a few Fuji, blushing golden, and even a couple of Red Delicious, just because. I am most excited about those Arkansas Blacks as they store well, but also taste great. However, everything I sampled was actually really good, including those Red Delicious, which was why I bought them. Perhaps the dry summer and fall brought out some flavor? Very nice conditions in the orchard, too.
After apple picking, we went up the Swift Trail and started the hike. Fall color is visible from US 191, and will soon be near peak up top, perhaps later this week or next weekend. It was very colorful for the hike yesterday. The road has recently been driven by someone with a gate key, and the area closure sign is gone. As always, excellent views the entire hike, and the summit was nice. No flying snakes, this time, though. A few birds near the top, but with the wide open expanse up there, little wildlife is present. Preston found our 2022 summit register entries, along with 4 other HAZ members.
It was chilly for this hike, with summit temperatures probably in the mid to high 40s while we were up there. It was also windy at times, which made it colder, but the wind wasn't really that bad. We both found it comfortable hiking up, but after the summit coming down was a bit cold. We just needed a hat to help with the chill. Summer is over! Really, I think temps like that are a shock to me because I was walking around in 102 degrees on Friday and it felt more or less okay so long as I was in the shade.
Mount Graham ended up being my high point for 2023. My first year since 2006 where I didn't get up over 11,000', and specifically to or over 11,916' which was my yearly high when I hiked Mount Charleston in 2021. Every other year since 2006 I hiked Humphrey or better, up to Mount Whitney. So, while this is a new low high for me, I still managed to summit the high-point of SE Arizona, which is good. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
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Route Editor
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