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| Club Benchmark - Table Mountain, AZ | |
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| | Club Benchmark - Table Mountain, AZ | | | |
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Club Benchmark - Table Mountain, AZ
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| Hiking | 16.54 Miles |
4,073 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.54 Miles | | | |
| 4,073 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This was a hike to the Club Benchmark, which sits atop Table Mountain. There are several Table Mountains in AZ; this particular Table Mountain is in the western part of the Mazatzal Wilderness, a few miles east of Horseshoe Reservoir. Table Mountain is at an elevation of 5,408 feet and it has clean prominence of 1,048 feet, easily above the magical 1,000 foot threshold.
My hiking partner has the pontoon trim option on his 4Runner, so we were able to drive across the Verde River. We made our way to FR 567, where we parked at a locked gate at the boundary of the Mazatzal Wilderness.
We hiked on the road for almost 3 miles, then went off-trail the rest of the way to the peak. Brush along he way was seldom very dense, and I would not describe it as bushwhacking. There was about 2,000 feet of elevation gain in the last 2.25 miles or so to the summit. It was pretty steep from about 3,500 feet to 4,000 feet, but the steepness moderated a bit beyond that; however, it was tiring on a warm, sunny day.
There were great views at the summit so we took a well-deserved lunch break up there. We returned more or less the way that we came.
The benchmark was dated 1924, and it was cool to see one that is over 100 years old.
There was a good bit of up-and-down on the hike. The net elevation gain was about 3,100 feet, but the gross gain was almost 1,000 feet more than that.
This hike would be better on a cool day, but I am glad to have finally hiked to the summit of this seldom-hiked peak. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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