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| Hiking | 12.07 Miles |
3,148 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.07 Miles | 7 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.90 mph |
| 3,148 ft AEG | 42 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Wally and I got an early start on this one, just after 6am. It was just far enough north to get out of the heat and close enough to avoid a longer drive. The steepness of the trail is usually the trade off for this kind of hike, but right now that's actually what I'm looking for.
We had hiked down this trail 15 years earlier doing the South Fork-Gold Ridge loop. seems like South Fork is still a mess, so we opted to just hike Gold Ridge up and back down. Miles 2 and 3 are the steepest parts, with a few really steep sections. Normally after a bit of a warm up I start to get a 2nd wind and the climbing gets easier. This time, it seemed like it never got any easier. This was surprising to me especially after all the more strenuous hikes I've been doing recently. We only topped out at 6000' so it couldn't have been the elevation. Even on the way down I felt kind of spent. After I got halfway thru my 2nd Camelbak bladder I felt better, so I'm thinking I was a bit dehydrated.
15 years ago there was a cart [ photo ] on the upper end of the trail that seems to have disappeared. We had lunch at the camping spot at the top of the trail by a 4WD road. Lots of empty casing and live casings bullets were left there. Wally lined them up for pics and then realized his fingerprints were all over them which could lead to an issue if the nearby vultures were looking for human remains we may have been unaware off  . Fun times.
Drove by the fire on the 87 on the way back. We first noticed that it was "a bit hazy" near Mt. Ord, then noticed it was only hazy in parts of the sky. Then we saw the column of smoke. Fortunately we never saw the backup of cars because only the NB lanes were closed  . I had first planned to hike the Ballantine Trail before I decided on Gold Ridge. This fire totally engulfed the Ballantine Trail as the lower portions and as far up as we could see. I was beyond very happy with my choice of hike for the day at this point.
On the way back on the Bush Hwy we saw 8 police vehicles flying the other way with the flashers on. Looks like we dodged several bullets this day, both metaphorical and literal. Once I got home I hunkered down for the rest of the day. |
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Route Editor
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