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| Hiking | 10.62 Miles |
2,559 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.62 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.52 mph |
| 2,559 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I parked at Sitgreaves Pass after going through the town of Oatman for the first time. What a neat little town! Several wild burros were lined up in front of a business, as if waiting to be served breakfast. At Sitgreaves Pass I immediately encountered a benchmark labeled "Historic Beale Wagon Road", which was very cool.
I followed a faint trail up the ridge that faces the parking area. The "trail" became easier to follow once on top of the ridge. Several large rock cairns have been placed along the way. But after a while, I had trouble with route finding when the trail would suddenly disappear. I eventually just followed whichever burro trail looked the best going in my direction.
This hike was absolutely gorgeous. I especially liked the desert vegetation and the scenery down below in Cottonwood Canyon. It was so breathtaking, I snapped a lot of pictures.
I reached a saddle that had a large X-pattern on the ground that someone made with several rocks. It was a little discouraging here looking over at the high point - it seemed like I hadn't made any progress at all. But making my way over to the slope that leads to the high point was easier than I thought. The trail during this stretch was very well-defined.
However, things turned ugly when climbing up the final slope to the Nutt benchmark. This was slow-going through a mix of large boulders and loose rocks, without any handy burro trails. But it sure was nice after getting to the top and seeing the extraordinary views in all directions.
The summit area is not very large, and I found myself standing right over the benchmark without having to search for it. The disk was a bit tilted on the bedrock. The two reference marks were easy to find. A summit register from the Las Vegas Mountaineers Club (dated January of 2023) was near the benchmark at the bottom of a cairn. It had only four entries in it. The plastic container holding it was brittle and cracking, and the lid was lying in pieces on the ground. I collected the pieces and put them in the container, but I'm sure the whole thing is doomed for failure soon.
On the way back, the wild burros were appearing just before sunset. I heard them earlier, but now I was able to see some. Based on their loud, grunting noises, they weren't too happy about my presence. I apologized to them 
I am not surprised this area was designated a wilderness. What a gem! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
