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| Hiking | 18.77 Miles |
2,078 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.77 Miles | 8 Hrs 15 Mns | | 2.38 mph |
| 2,078 ft AEG | 22 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Started at 7:30am from the pullout area along Snow Bowl Road, which is a kind of unofficial trailhead for this segment. Surprised I got started that early with the long drive from Mesa, but I was out the door pretty early.
3 miles I saw 3 or 4 deer, 2 bucks for sure. The climb northbound is gradual, but at 9000' and in my mid 50's it's a rough slog. It was very nice to be hiking amongst the ponderosas and in actual cold weather, so that helped offset the lack of oxygen. Traffic on the trail was surprisingly busy. saw several backpackers early, all southbound. at the 5 mile mark the trail intersects with trails that create loops from the Snow Bowl area, which brought many other day hikers. At this spot was also the first meadow, which gave amazing views of the SF Peaks and of Hart Prairie below.
Made it just beyond 9 miles from where I started. I split the track at where the topo shows a dirt road. There was some eroded sign that this may have been an actual road a very long time ago, but now it would be difficult to even hike this with the amount of vegetation on it.
stopped for lunch at a boulder that served as a very nice seat. After 20 minutes, I was beginning to shiver and couldn't feel my fingers. After a mile or so on the way back with my gloves on I finally got feeling back in my fingers.
The last few miles downhill on the way back the trail seemed rockier than on the way in, and also steeper. The last few miles I also had a headache that gradually got worse, which may have contributed to this perception. I chalked this up to the elevation and also not having any caffeine for over 12 hours. 2 aspirins and a Coke took care of that.
It was mostly cloudy all day with a few moments of the sun breaking through. The temperature was mildly chilly the entire time, which was perfect for a longer hike like this. |
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