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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
2,130 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | 4 Hrs 53 Mns | | 1.02 mph |
| 2,130 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | After my recon-by-fire hike yesterday I came back prepared for a full assault on the summit with my hiking companion. In this case, prepared means carrying extra fluid, food, clothing layers, first aid kit, cord and what-have-you, not for me, but if I happen across others not so well prepared. Oh yeah, part of the extra is because Tracey likes to travel light... to have a chance of keeping up with this old man.
Same start as yesterday from the fee-free McKellips TH, on up Siphon Draw Trail until the top edge of the slick-rock section at:
N33.44119 W111.45928 and ~3125' altitude
This is the the start point for this hike. From here we cut straight left toward the north, descending lightly as we curved around toward the right until a short hop up about 5' after which we took a sharp left and beginning our trek up the ravine. We followed the ravine up to the NE, this time climbing 350' higher all the way to the ridge facing toward Four Peaks. From there we headed west over and past the summit of Peak 4175. Up there was where we laid eyes on the only hikers we would see in our time off-trail. There were two men on Peak 4102, which is the closest peak to the Lost Dutchman State Park, so I took a few photos of them. (We would meet near the end of our hike)
Just prior to reaching the flat summit we noticed some very fresh deer tracks and followed them to a thicket where it appeared was a regular refuge for the deer, although none were there at the time. Back toward the summit I noticed a set of tracks that appeared the deer was dragging a foot, along with some coyote prints crossing back and forth. Hmmm.
We took our time wandering around the summit then heading west toward 4102 just far enough to realize the route over there is very doable, but not sure of the time it would take we put that on our list for a future hike and headed back. The trip down took a full hour less than the climb due more to little need for route-finding than fewer breaks or stops for photos. On the descent we heard voices up behind us and realized it was the two men who had been on Peak 4102. We surmised they had climbed up earlier in the day than us and were returning the same way. But once back on the Siphon Draw Trail we dawdled so much (due to our speedy descent we weren't pressed for time) the two men caught up to us. They asked us what route we took up, to which we responded, the same way they came down. Then we asked them how they went up, realizing at that moment, we had seen them leave the Siphon Draw Trail on our way up. They turned off the trail very early and followed the steep ravine up front all the way to the top, ultimately returning the same way we did. It was the first ascent for one of them and the 16th since December 2009 for the other, over one ascent per month! From some very pertinent information they provided, we will be trying that climb soon. BTW, YES, we told them about HAZ!
All in all, a great hike that we are sure to do on a regular basis as there is so much more wandering yet to do. One last note... yesterday I wore my old worn-smooth Teva Terra-Fi's that worked super on the many smooth rock areas I climbed, but knowing we'd be going into more softer terrain, today I wore my second-newest pair. With slightly less surface area contacting on the smooth rock sections I noticed a little less grip, but they gripped better on the more coarse rock and scree. |
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