DESTINATION Palo Verde Mtns HP 2121 1 Photoset
2023-12-30 | |
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| Hiking | 2.21 Miles |
947 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.21 Miles | 2 Hrs 30 Mns | | 0.88 mph |
| 947 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: We also summitted Peak 1824 which was to the Southeast of this high point. Peak 1824 was quite steep near the top and can be dangerous for anyone who is not comfortable with climbing. All stats include both peaks.
Brian and I camped overnight at the North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness after hiking Peak 2182 the previous day. We stopped over at the Margies Cove Campground and trailhead to have breakfast and see what was there. We met some campers and learned about a Margies Cove trail and Brittlebush trail that we decided to come back and hike another time. Then we drove to the trailhead for Palo Verde Mtns HP and started our hike around 12:30 pm. We went straight up the canyon heading toward the peak and zig zagged as we needed. Near the top it got quite steep but the rocks were pretty stable and we just slowed down a bit. At the top we were able to look down on the shooting range to the North. The noise was a bit distracting and we wondered how the nearby residents lived here with all of the noise.
At the peak we looked around for several minutes for a registry but could not find one. We created a new registry out of a plastic jar and places it under a rock pile away from the heat of the sun. Hopefully this registry will last a long time.
On the way down we decide to take a different route going in the direction of Peak 1824. We basically took the ridgeline down but when the ridgeline was very rocky we dropped on it's South side and ended up at the saddle North of peak 1824. For about a 5 or 10 minute period, we were in full view of the house on the private property to the East but didn't think we were on any private property here as there weren't any fences or signs anywhere. Just past the saddle we were out of view and didn't need to worry about anything. We climbed up Peak 1824 thinking we might find some petroglyphs but didn't see any. The route I took up Peak 1824 was quite steep and involved some rock climbing with some exposure. Only proceed if you're comfortable doing this. At the top of the peak, we found a rock enclosure that someone made with what looked like a broken radio inside. We didn't see anything else so we decided to climb down the West side which was pretty steep. We needed to weave around a bit but made it to lower ground where the slope got less steep and safer. We spend some time looking at the rocks and found some quartz, mica, and 2 small pieces of Indian pottery. It was an enjoyable hike except for the sounds of gunshots which was basically noise pollution in my opinion...
Directions: From the town of Maricopa, take Rt 347 North for about 1 mile. Turn left going West on Rt 238 for 6.2 miles. Turn left on North Rio Bravo road. The name of the road will change to North Hidden Valley road. Continue for a total of 5.9 miles and turn right on Fulcar Rd. Continue for roughly 1/2 mile to an unmarked dirt road going North. Drive North for 1,000 feet and park.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 2.21 miles
AEG = 947 feet
Strava moving time = 1 hr 26 mins
Strava elapsed time = 3 hrs 35 mins |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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