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| Hiking | 8.51 Miles |
3,167 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.51 Miles | 6 Hrs 41 Mns | | 1.60 mph |
| 3,167 ft AEG | 1 Hour 21 Mns Break | 22 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | With a few days of 112-115 temps expected to arrive on Wednesday but 'only' 105 expected today I figured it was time to git-er-done!
Although all three 'Granite' Mountains have been on my list for some time(Granite, West Granite and Little Granite), with FR3456 still being closed in the aftermath of the Sunflower Fire the extra distance didn't make it practical to accomplish in one day, especially this time of year. So I scaled my plan back to only tackle Granite Mountain. But in my research and viewing the satellite map it appeared I may have two options to drive within a mile or so of Granite Mountain from FR160. If this were true, the extra ~2 miles to bag West Granite also would be well within reason. Unfortunately, I found both approaches were restricted to motorcycles and the closest I could approach was 2.5 miles so I scaled my plan back to Granite Mountain only.
I didn't quite get the early start as I planned... too lazy to load everything but fluids in the car and forgot to gas up the car the night before so I was behind to start.
Then a significant delay on FR160 due to a lot more erosion than last time I was out this way, a few times dropping into major ruts while trying to straddle them. So it was after 7 am before I hit the trail and the temp was already 90+. I had 80 oz of Gatorade in the bladder plus a couple frozen 16 oz bottles in the CamelBak for the expected ~6 mile round-trip.
At first I followed the motorcycle track but it soon became evident heading across-country would be more efficient. The track wound all over and the hills were almost impossible to climb up... the only way they could climb was momentum and spinning their rear wheel all the way up.
So I left the track and set off on a bee-line for Granite Mountain. Only problem was it meant climbing up and over every ridge/peak/rise along the way as they were all lined up. Ok, no problem, I can do this... the first three minor peaks were easy enough and each summit I could scan the route ahead. But as I approached Peak 4218, the first major peak on the route I could see it was too steep to tackle from the south.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
So I curved to the east until I reached a slope that although still quite steep, had terrain that was a bit more stable. On the way up the eastern slope of 4218 I hoped to head more directly toward Granite but there were a number of ridges with deep drainages between each and climbing up to the ridge would be the best way. As soon as I was high enough to head north-east across and upward toward the ridge I was able to skip the summit of 4218.
Although now on the ridge that will eventually reach Granite Mountain, it would still be a series of climbing each peak and traversing each saddle. I kept thinking I'd skirt around a few but the east and west slopes were too steep so I continued doing the ups-and-downs and eventually I was at the summit of Granite Mountain! Three miles in a few minutes under 3 hours and already over 100 degrees.
I wandered around a bit attempting to locate a summit log but found none so I figured I'd start one with an extra wide-mouth plastic container I had for that purpose. Although I had plenty of paper I had forgotten to put a pencil or two back in when I last cleaned out the pack, so I settled for leaving a card for my web-site. That done, I cast eyes toward West Granite Mountain and began the calculations to reason out if I should add that side-trip or not. As tough and long as it was to reach this far, and not knowing just how long FR3456 (the easy way to West Granite) would be closed, I figured I might as well bag it while it's close-at-hand.
So let's see... it's only .8 mile as-the-crow-flies (do they even fly straight??), the terrain across the saddle doesn't look bad, there's only a 400' climb up, the bladder is still over half full, the two bottles still have ice chunks in them, so what's another few hours? Let's go! Of course the round-trip will be over 2 miles and there's the extra 400' climb on the return, but who thinks of those details anyway?
On the way down to the saddle I managed to scare up a half-dozen deer but by time I could get the camera out, decide whether to go video or take a still, I barely got the tail-end of the tail-end-Charlie. Oh well, on to the climb now. At the bottom of the saddle I encountered huge cairn, which due to the height (20-25') and size I termed it a 'natural' cairn, not that their was any trail as such.
The climb up West Granite was easier than most of the peaks I'd climbed so far, but remember, easier is a relative term. Again I found not summit log, but not having planned to reach here today I did not have one to add.
Now that I was a mile west of the relatively straight path from my vehicle to Granite Mountain I scanned the terrain hoping to find a shorter return trip. It appeared I could drop down farther below the saddle to the south and by-pass the up-and-down ridge route, so I started down that direction. It didn't take long before I realized between the steep drops along the drainage and the extra 800' to climb out the other side this was not the best route... and now at 105 degrees I'm already into fluid conservation mode. So I chose the devil I knew (up-and-down route) over the one I didn't and cut back across to re-connect with it.
By now I'm fighting not only pain from both ankles (the arthritis is becoming a daily struggle), both knees (little cartilage left in the right and none in the left) as well as the pain in my left achilles from being bitten by a mass of red ants that somehow managed to get under my gaiters and did the old let's-all-bite-together trick.
It finally reached the point it was time for the mind-over-matter exercise, so I stopped, found a nice smooth boulder to lay back on and set my mind on zoning-out the pain and get on with the task at hand. Thankfully due to bio-feedback techniques I learned way back during my years of 3x weekly migraines, within 5-7 minutes I felt no pain and was re-energized for the trek back.
Other than some knee discomfort on the steepest descent down Peak 4218 the trip back was pain-free... at least consciously.
The CamelBak bladder was empty by time I had reconnected from my West Granite side-trip back to my original route and I'd already started into my spare bottles so I planned to drink 8 oz every half-mile or so, expecting to run out of fluid about a mile from the car. I drank the last drop at what turned out to be 1.2 miles out but the moment I caught sight of my vehicle I was cruising faster and with no worries than any time during the hike. I ended up adding 2.5 miles and 150 minutes to the plan but was rewarded by awesome views from both peaks. And I'd do the same thing under the same circumstances. To which Tracey (who doesn't tag along on this kind of hike) said you're crazy! to which I responded 
Whew! It was a rush to reach into the electric cooler for plenty of ice-cold Gatorade... well, maybe a bit too cold by the freezy-headache-rush as I downed 32 oz as fast as it would go down. I took just enough time to grab a squirt bottle of water to wash my face and arms for another wonderful experience before getting into the next task at hand... driving downhill through the most treacherous sections of FR160. And it definitely was treacherous today! (You'll have to read my 4x4 drive triplog for the details... suffice to say body damage reared it's ugly head.)
I posted 26 photos here on HAZ, the full set of 55 is here: Granite Mountain photos
1-minute 55-second Granite Mountain summit video |
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