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| Hiking | 9.65 Miles |
3,665 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.65 Miles | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.67 mph |
| 3,665 ft AEG | 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | | The original plan was to summit Brown’s Peak and then decide whether to descend to the Alder Saddle or add on, an out and back of the southern Amethyst Trail. Once at the peak, it was still so nice that I decided to tag Peak (2) 7642 instead. The ridgeline descent to Alder Saddle looked uber bushwhacky and the trail to the Amethyst Mine is really just a one and done. BTW, the mine supervisor is such an absolute nutrition waist channels (story for another time). Next thing I know, I’m downclimbing cl.5 terrain, grateful of my new La Sportiva sticky rubber. If one stays true to the ridge, it’s deceivingly spicy getting over the col between Peak 1 and 2. Once at 7642, a route down the east side of the saddle looked feasible, so I kept descending south thinking I'd still eventually link up to the Four Peaks Trail below. At someone’s old rap sling, I went left down a brushy ledge along the cliff and then out onto a huge slab. I’d done this route before, so knew it eventually reached the central saddle. Near the bottom, I cut further left than before and missed the regular cl.5 slit. My alternative was still somewhat exposed though. Travel wasn't too brushy at first because of all the huge boulders that have slid down from the broken saddle above. Some of the small canyon I tracked is quite enchanting, but it was super bushwhacky above the main confluence where a bunch of seeps were surfacing. The Alder Creek Trail doesn't exist or I never found this northern section. Any sane person wouldn't categorize it as a trail anymore. Thrashing over and up to the Four Peaks Trail was the crux of the day. Dusty, hot and overgrown. Once on the AZT #20 section, travel was much easier, except I wasn't anticipating all the uphill sections. There was one small pool at Shake Spring that was such a relief. Wetting down my head and neck got me up that last hill to the Amethyst Trail junction, where it's relatively easy to the car park. It was 90° at the trailhead when I finished at noon. I've driven FR 143 in worse shape than it is now, still super rocky in certain sections, but still an hour drive in the 4runner either direction. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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