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| Herman Mtn Summit and Hermans Cave, AZ | |
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| | Herman Mtn Summit and Hermans Cave, AZ | | | |
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Herman Mtn Summit and Hermans Cave, AZ
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| Hiking | 18.30 Miles |
3,711 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.30 Miles | 10 Hrs 34 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 3,711 ft AEG | 1 Hour 14 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | A few weeks ago, I tried hiking up to the summit of Herman Mountain via the west side from Trap Canyon but ran out of time, and the plan today was to try it again with a more direct route going up the south side from Red Tanks Trail. There were 10 other vehicles at Peralta, and it was in the low 40s when we started ~7AM.
We hiked most of this same route last time, too, so there weren't many surprises, but we saw three deer along Dutchman Trail early on, and it was nice to see a little more water at some of the crossings after the rain in late December. Whiskey Spring Trail is still well-maintained, which is one of the reasons I wanted to come back and try this again relatively soon before the catclaw overtakes the trail again.
When we got into Upper La Barge, TboneKathy waited below Herman's Cave while I took off for the peak. I left Red Tanks ~ a quarter mile past the cave and started up a ravine. It wasn't too steep but was very brushy early on, and the first few tenths of a mile were slow as I pushed through branches and thorns and tried to position myself on the right side of a few drainages. I ended up veering farther east than the route I'd drawn up, but it worked well and shortened the distance a little. As I'd hoped, the brush let up once I gained some elevation.
The views opened up once I got up on the ridge, and last quarter mile to the peak was faster with more open, flatter terrain. It's a fairly plain-looking peak--flat and open with a lot of low desert brush, a lot like Music Mountain to the north...but the views of the Ridgeline, Weaver's Needle, Picacho Butte, etc. are very nice. I spent a few unsuccessful minutes looking for the summit register that @ScottHika placed in 2021 [ photo ] but didn't see a summit cairn or the register, so either I missed something obvious or someone has removed it, though pseaudalpine mentioned seeing it in November.
[ youtube video ]
I headed back down the same way and rejoined TBoneKathy, then made a quick trip up to Herman's Cave before we started back. I also detoured up to Miner's Summit before hiking down Dutchman and catching up with her again, and we only saw one other person all day after leaving the trailhead. The sky had clouded over in the afternoon and it turned into a dreary, overcast day, but during the last mile of the hike, the sun broke free and lit up Barkley Basin in beautiful gold just before sunset, and as we got back to Peralta in near-dark, we heard at least two great horned owls calling...it combined to make a great end to the day and a nice start to the new year of hiking. |
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