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| Hiking | 12.05 Miles |
4,743 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.05 Miles | 4 Hrs 46 Mns | | 2.68 mph |
| 4,743 ft AEG | 16 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Day 2 of my 10 day mountain getaway was an out-and-back to the summit of Holt Mountain in the Gila National Forest. For under 4,000 AEG, I can’t remember the last time a hike that was over 90% on trail beat the crap out of me this bad… perhaps it was just an off-day, [or perhaps it had something to do with holding a pace of 3 mph or very close to it with almost no breaks/water stops for most of the ascent, thanks to CONSTANTLY getting buzzed by bees if I stopped/slowed up too much]…
…at any rate, the moment I reached the highpoint of Holt/area marked ‘X’ on the topo, I heard a loud noise and looked up to see a large stag with huge antlers about 50 feet in front of me. It was so big that at first glance, I felt a little panicked, [thinking that it was a moose…]. It ran all but a few feet before it turned to look at me. I took a [ photo ] and then went about my biz, trying to find the summit register, which is located a short distance from the highpoint [ photo ] . My descent was luckily uneventful, [and much more pleasant that the ascent]. I was buzzed by bees several times, but not constantly like on the way up.
Upon arriving back at the TH, I bumped into a local who told me of some hot springs in the area, which are located just down the road off some well-graded dirt roads off the west side of highway 180. Too beat to hike out to the hot springs, I opted to approach via another dirt road, [but just 1 mile down encountered a gate / private property sign]… which actually proved to be a total blessing! The beat up old sign by the gate listed a phone # / mentioned something about by ‘appointment only.’ Not knowing what to expect, I figured it couldn’t hurt to call…
…come to find out, I basically stumbled upon beautiful, privately run hot springs! For just $23, the next 2.5 hours of my day involved: a hot shower in a clean/cozy bathroom [ photo ] , chillaxin’ under one of the beautiful vistas while I waited for my turn in the hot springs [ photo ] , and then a full hour of soaking in the hot springs [ photo ] , [which are filtered AND sourced from well water as opposed to river water… so you can go all the way under / even drink the water w/o risk of contracting that amoeba]. Talk about a fine ending to Day 2! |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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