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| Hiking | 12.80 Miles |
4,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.80 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.33 mph |
| 4,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | | This is always a fantastic hike with some of the best 360-degree views out there. I started at 7am, and there was only one other car in the parking lot. As I reached the intersection with the Vault Mine Trail I saw a dark figure moving in the distance and was going to reach for my camera to take a picture of what I thought was a bear. Then I realized what I was looking at was a drug smuggler with a large black backpack. Three men crossed the trail and disappeared into the canyon, and another guy, carrying nothing but a wooden walking stick walked down the trail toward me and tried to act nonchalantly, saying good morning as he passed me by. I think it was the owner of the other vehicle in the lot. I figured that the smugglers were probably headed off to hide for the day, and I continued up the trail. The morning was beautiful, and the trail was in shade for 80% of the time up to Baldy Saddle. There were plenty of wildflowers, including purple wildflowers I haven't seen before. The forecast called for 30% chance of rain after 11am, but I wasn't too worried, as the forecasters are wrong all the time. At Baldy Saddle, the wildflowers exploded and the entire hillside was covered in goldeneye blooms. There was a cloud over the summit, but it looked ok to proceed. I wanted to make it up and back to the saddle before it started raining, so I pushed myself to get to the summit quickly. There were tons of colorful spiny lizards jumping every which way as I worked my way up the trail. My stomach had not been feeling great all day, and as I reached the summit, the first thing I did was throw up. Thankfully there were no others to share in the moment. The views from up there are incredible. From my vantage point, I could see almost the whole path of the AZT from Mexico to the Catalinas, and I recalled fond memories. I stayed only 10 minutes on the summit, snapped a few pictures, choked down a couple of crackers in hopes of settling my stomach, and started down the mountain. By now, the clouds were turning darker and I rushed to get off the "baldy" part and into tree cover. At Baldy saddle, I ran into Harold, who I know from trailbuilding on the AZT. We said a quick hello as it started to rain precisely at 11:00 and I put on my rain jacket. But there was no avoiding getting soaked, because lots of the trail was overgrown with flowers that smacked my legs and deposited all the water right into my boots. The water flowed right down the center of the trail most of the time. The rain grew harder and harder, but thankfully I heard only one clap of thunder the whole day. I squished my way down the trail and as I got closer to the parking lot, the rain got lighter and lighter. By the time I reached the parking lot at 12:30, it was clear and sunny. Which was good, because I was soaked from head to toe and forgot to bring a change of clothes. This was the first long hike for my new pair of boots and I was happy to see that I had no blisters. I drove down to the Proctor area, which was a little warmer and walked around for a bit to dry off and take a couple of pictures before heading home. This was my first big hike after not doing much all summer and I was really surprised how fast my time was, especially since I wasn't feeling so good all day. What a great hike. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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