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| Hiking | 11.90 Miles |
3,143 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.90 Miles | | | |
| 3,143 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Bob (rljamy) suggested this hike on HAZ. It's a hike I had wanted to do, but not by myself. Eric (Morel) joined us.
This was a great hike today. We made it even more greater and turned it into an adventure. This trail is not used a lot and route finding can be a challenge. It probably doesn't help that we each seem very comfortable off-trail. "trail? we don't need no stinkin' trail !!!!!"
Everything started out fine. We got out to the fence and started following it north. I think we followed it too far. We knew where we thought we should end up, so we worked our way to it. At times we would see a cairn or two and follow a trail, then we would lose it again and go back to bushwhacking.
We got to the juniper tree at what we thought was the southwest corner of below Black Mesa. I think this is actually the western edge, it's not really a western edge as much as a western corner. We thought we needed to work our way north along this end of the mesa so we did. We found some game trails and continued on. About 1/2 way along this end, Rob decided to check out higher so he headed up. Eric & I continued north(actually northeast) until about the 3/4 mark, then we clambered up some rocks to the top of the mesa. We regrouped and hiked across to the southeast end of the mesa. We found the geodetic markers and enjoyed the clear skies and view.
We headed back northwest across the mesa. We found some cairns and followed them to the west corner of the mesa. There is actually a real trail constructed at the west corner. We headed down the trail but toward the bottom as we approached the juniper tree, the trail became hard to follow.
We headed east from the juniper tree toward a saddle. Not quite the same way we had come. Found some cairns and followed the trail. Lost the trail and bushwhacked. Realized we weren't where we expected to be. Clambered down some rocks. Eric dislodged one and woke up a hibernating snake. That was a thrill. This one wasn't a buzzworm. Clambered up some rocks. Found the trail.
So now we are on a well-marked trail back to the Trailhead. Hiking on a trail was so foreign to me at this point that I sprained my ankle. This brought the hike back to a suitable level of adventure for me.
About 100yds south of the Elephant Mountain Trail junction with the Tortuga Trail, we were greeted by a buzzworm that had recently awakened from hibernation. It was still a little lethargic from hibernation but awake enough to let us know that it did not want to be bothered.
Beautiful day. A little windy. Rain was threatened but held off. 11.9 miles today. 3,143 AEG. Plenty of water at "the pump".
Woarnoart's GPS route looks good. Except instead of heading due east across the mesa, the high point and the geodetic markers are to the southeast. When I look at my GPS route, I'll post the lat-long here. |
| _____________________
Anybody can make a hike harder. The real skill comes in making the hike easier.
life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. Andy Rooney |
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