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| | | Painted Cave - Bren Mtn - Golden Gate Mtn, AZ | | | |
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Painted Cave - Bren Mtn - Golden Gate Mtn, AZ
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| Hiking | 18.30 Miles |
4,023 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.30 Miles | 9 Hrs 24 Mns | | 2.35 mph |
| 4,023 ft AEG | 1 Hour 36 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We started from the eastern trailhead for Yetman (Camino de Oeste), and there were a few spaces available in the small lot when we got there ~7:30AM, with more opening up as a group returned to the trailhead. Yetman Trail itself didn't sound particularly interesting, but we planned to tack on a few off-trail spurs for some additional mileage and excitement.
We passed Bowen House and then turned off Yetman to check out our first destination, Painted Cave. The unofficial trail was very well-defined and easy to follow, and the cave was a worthwhile stop. The pictographs were interesting...a panel with a bunch of bighorn sheep, plus something that looked more like a reindeer and another animal with some kind of mouse ears (?). The drawings are well protected from the elements on the back wall, and I briefly checked out some the smaller/shallower caves nearby but didn't see anything else of interest.
We returned to Yetman and stepped off the trail a few times for mountain bikers along the stretch of trail that runs NE/SW. I had the official route downloaded, and it seems like the trail may have been rerouted slightly at some point, because the route leaves the trail and follows a wash for a few tenths of a mile before reconnecting. The next destination was Bren Mountain, and TboneKathy waited while I headed for the summit. From the trail, it looked like a bushwhack through a lot of cholla, but there was an unofficial trail that made it much easier than it looked. That led past some interesting boulders, over a saddle, then up toward the peak...a little over-cairned with multiple routes leading to the peak.
There was an ammo box with a summit register, but a secondary peak on the other side of a small saddle a slightly northeast looked a little higher, and that peak had a benchmark triangle on the map with the elevation marked. I signed the register and checked out the other peak but didn't see a Bren benchmark (Bren-chmark?)...not sure if the map is wrong, it's been removed, or if I just missed it...maybe @FLYING_FLIVER knows? And I'm still not sure which peak is higher--there was some debate on that in the summit register entries, too. But the peak gets plenty of traffic--lots of entries in the notebook that was placed a little over a year ago. [ youtube video ]
I headed back down and rejoined TboneKathy, and we continued along Yetman to the turnoff for Golden Gate Mountain. With a steep climb on a warm day, she waited near the trail again while I went up to the peak. Once again, there was an informal trail the whole way that meant no bushwhacking needed. It's an efficient, no-nonsense approach up the east side of the mountain and gains ~1,200' in ~three-quarters of a mile, and I was thankful for some clouds that provided shade part of the way up. Like Bren, there was a summit register from early 2022 with plenty of entries, though I didn't see many HAZ names. The views of Bren, Cat Mountain, and the Catalinas were very nice, especially with the shadows. [ youtube video ]
I headed down and rejoined TBoneKathy again, and we continued to the western end of Yetman at Gates Pass Overlook and then started back. We saw two deer on the way out but not many other people. I'd brought plenty of water but was still very thirsty when we got back to the trailhead...it was in the 90s today, so it was good we got this one in before it gets hotter. The trailhead was mostly empty when we finished, and I was happy with the choice...the add-ons made this one more interesting, and the pictographs were cool to see...and the saguaros and other cacti were really blooming, so there was a lot of color. |
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