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| Hiking | 6.50 Miles |
3,200 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.50 Miles | | | |
| 3,200 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | What a great way to ring in the new year!  After spending an amazing night at that Aqua Caliente campground and soaking in the hot springs pool for an hour and taking a hot shower before & after sleeping, I got a bit of a late start and kinna underestimated this peak. How tough can a 6 mile hike be!  I guess I missed the part in the beta about all the granite boulders and thick desert vegetation to dodge & scramble thru...  The drive on that dirt road was no prob for my car and made my way up Cool Canyon, taking the forks that the book recommends and then climbing that recommend ridge towards the eastern peak. Fairly easy so far, but then the cairned route take you thru a maze of boulders to scramble and wind thru, flatten out a bit on top, and then you loose a good 300ft of elevation to get over to the true ridgeline of the main Granite Mt. There's an even thicker maze of boulders up there and the true peak of still a good ways west, so I said 'Screw this route!' and contoured SW below the ridgeline until I got closer to the main peak before making the final push to the peak. Like many of the peaks around here, it's a pile of massive boulders to scramble up upon. Wow, I can see the Salton Sea, the Pacific Ocean, one of the coastal islands, snowy San Jacinto, a sliver of San Gregonio, and Old Baldy thru the pass in the distance.  Thought it was funny that my iPhone had 3G coverage up there, but thanks to a recent Skype app update I was able to video conference with the family back in PHX and show them the amazing views while I spun in a circle. It was already late in the afternoon and I had a hot spring waiting for me and the temps were dropping fast, so I quickly ran down from the peak and took a much lower traverse below the ridgeline to avoid more of the boulder field but in hindsight taking an even lower route would have been even quicker. Once back to the ridge overlooking Cool Canyon, it was easy sailing back down to the TH.  |
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| Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p |
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