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| Hiking | 6.10 Miles |
1,682 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.10 Miles | 6 Hrs 8 Mns | | 1.08 mph |
| 1,682 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | When we saw the temps for the day were going to be below 90 in the valley, we knew we had a chance to do some exploring to find some Sierra Ancha ruins without roasting. Armed with limited information and optimism, we set forth with an early start - though with the long-ish drive and the road heading up to the Reynolds TH requiring some more careful driving, we didn't get on trail until after 8:30.
The hike up Reynolds went by quickly, with the trail being cleared relatively recently - be aware that there are clusters of poison ivy in the area, immediately adjacent to the trail. When I spotted it, I started also looking for jewelweed (I was taught that it can be used to counteract or reduce the symptoms of poison ivy skin irritation) - alas, I didn't see any, but I also was having a hard time remembering what it looks like. We hit the junction with the Center Mountain Trail, where Jason warned us things might get a bit brushy. While the trail wasn't completely overgrown, there were enough raspberry vines impinging to extract a blood tribute - thankfully, the section didn't last very long. We eventually began our off-trail explorations, climbing over deadfall and pushing through manzanita thickets...only to continually be thwarted by the Cliffs of Insanity. While the off-piste bits got a bit challenging (and contributed to a surprising amount of soot smudged on my person even though I don't remember contacting many really charred bits), the on-trail parts were quite lovely, with leaves and pine needles on the track for a good portion of the hike. There's something soothing about the smell of crunching leaves and pine litter underfoot.
We'll have to try to find the break in the cliff band that should allow us access again some time in the future - and I'll need to remember to throw my clippers in my pack in case those raspberry vines get even thicker. As a consolation for not finding our sought-after ruins, Jason drove us up to Aztec Peak - we hopped out to briefly enjoy the view (and tried to not get blown off the mountain - the winds were howling!)
In any case, it was a great day to be out - saw (and photographed) lots of flowers, several bluebirds, squirrel, a number of deer, and some lizards. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Plenty of wallflower in bloom along with a variety of other flowers - some different ones than what I've been seeing on recent hikes...and definitely enough to slow me down taking photos  |
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| Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually |
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