DESTINATION Generic 426 Photosets
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| Hiking | 4.67 Miles |
1,167 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.67 Miles | 3 Hrs 33 Mns | | 1.59 mph |
| 1,167 ft AEG | 37 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This was a hike to the Ridge Benchmark (elevation of 1,523 feet and prominence of 743 feet), the highpoint of the Little Picacho Wilderness. This wilderness area is in the southern Chocolate Mountains near the Colorado River. The Imperial National Wildlife Refuge is immediately to the north.
From where I parked I hiked on a road for a little over a mile, going past the Hess Mine along the way. Then I went through a canyon up to a saddle on a good use trail that switchbacked up the canyon. So far so good. At that point I was a little over 1/2 mile to the high point, but to get there I had to rock and boulder hop along a ridgeline, jumping from one basalt rock/boulder to another. The basalt had to be a few feet deep as it was rare to see the ground. That took a lot of time, but miraculously I managed to stay upright.
The views at the summit were really nice so I stayed up there for a while. I located the benchmark and both reference marks. All were stamped "Ridge" and dated 1934.
I returned the way that I came although I was tempted to descend down a steep slope rather than deal with all of the basalt on the ridgeline. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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