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| Hiking | 13.53 Miles |
2,158 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.53 Miles | 9 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.45 mph |
| 2,158 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | It was a cool day with a high temp of only 71, probably the last cool day in a while. I was at my condo in Rocky Point, Mexico and planning on driving back to Tucson today. I arrived at the Bates Well Ranch around 11:20 am. I took about 10 minutes to see the historical stuff and get a few photos. I figured that I would have enough time to summit this peak before dark. I was wrong, as I realized at around 4 pm! It was possible to make good time on the road portion of this hike. On the uphill portion, route finding was quite difficult. I definitely missed a few cairns and ended up wandering around a bit and then after double checking and triple checking my GPS device, I was able to get back on the route. This route was very technical and it's important to look carefully for cairns. I did see a few rock piles that could have been fallen cairns. I guess I should have read more triplogs. Maybe I would have summited if I arrived 1 hour earlier. I finally reached the last saddle before 4 pm and I didn't have my lunch yet. I was starved and running out of time quickly. I was only 1/4 to 1/3 mile from the peak, so close, but I definitely didn't want to be hunting for cairns or stepping on rattlesnakes on my way down. I wanted to definitely be on the road before dark, so I decided to turn around here and try to summit a different day. It would have been better to do this hike with someone else. Hiking alone in such a remote area requires a lot of focus and good decision making. I also didn't rush at all.
When I was approaching the high point North of the last saddle, I saw a bighorn sheep. I got a video then I saw about 4-5 more sheep West of the last saddle traveling Northwest. In all my years of hiking in Arizona and Northern Mexico, I've only seen 1 bighorn sheep at a time, never more than one. Today I saw at least 5 and was able to get some good video also. Even though I didn't make it, my hike was still very long. I will make this summit on my next attempt! I may try again in May if there's a cool day. If not, this will need to wait until the Fall.
Total distance = 13.53 miles
Total AEG = 2,158 |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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