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| Hiking | 10.89 Miles |
1,958 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.89 Miles | | | |
| 1,958 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Jennifer Juniper lives upon the hill
Jennifer Juniper, sitting very still
Is she sleeping? I don't think so
Is she breathing? Yes, very low
With apologies to the Hurdy Gurdy Man, I decided to hike up to Juniper Mesa and bag the Juniper Mountains highpoint. On the way back to the VOS, I made a detour to also hit the Connell Mountains highpoint.
Juniper Mountains HP
The Jumper Mountains are about 45 miles NW of Prescott. They are partly on the O RO Ranch(more on that in a minute) and partly in the Prescott National Forest and the Juniper Mountains Wilderness. The range highpoint is on Juniper Mesa. There are actually two competing highpoints: one at a spot elevation of 7,081 feet(just off of Juniper Mesa Trail #20) and the other at an unmarked elevation about 1,000 feet from the junction of the of Juniper Mesa Trail and the Bull Spring Trail. My GPS indicated that the unmarked elevation was at about 7,095 feet, so I'll call it the highpoint. Other hikers and peakbaggers have drawn the same conclusion as to which of the competing highpoints is the highest.
I started the hike to Juniper Mesa at the Oaks and Willows TH and did a CW loop, with sidetrips to the 2 competing highpoints. I made the climb up to the mesa, and it was an enjoyable hike walking on top of the mesa, although views were limited since I was mostly in the middle of the mesa.
After the hike I drove a little less than 1/2 mile down the road to where it ends at the locked gate at the eastern end of the mysterious, secretive, and reclusive O RO Ranch. The O RO ranch property was established in 1856 as the Luis Maria Baca Float #5 Spanish Land Grant. The ranch today encompasses 257,000 acres. It is a working ranch -- cattle are branded "O RO" and the horses "RO". There are no power lines or telephone poles on the ranch. Visitors are not allowed for any reason. Nobody legally goes there unless they have official business. Armed horseback riders regularly patrol the ranch property. I have read that the property has never been surveyed as part of the United States Public Lands Survey System; I looked at a map and this appears to be the case. Most, if not all, of the perimeter of the ranch is fenced. Then there is the black helicopter stuff: https://www.unknowncountry.com/insight/ ... ry-signal/
I thought it unwise to go into the property to do some exploring. However, I did stick my arm across the fence so I could say that I have been in the O RO ranch!
Connell Mountains HP
On the way back to the VOS I drove about 22 miles on dirt roads to the base of the Connell Mountains highpoint. There was nothing elegant about this hike: just bust uphill through trees, brush, and grass to the highpoint, and then turn around and go back. There were lanes through most of the brush, so bushwhacking was minimal. Views at the summit were really nice!
Synopsis
These 2 hikes won't make the Hiking Hall of Fame, but am glad that I did them. The hike to Juniper Mesa was a nice one -- I enjoyed hiking on the mesa even if the views were limited. The Connell Mountains HP gets good marks for the view at the summit.
Distance and elevation gain for the 2 hikes is below. Stats above are the sum of the two.
Juniper Mesa: 9.45 miles with 1,411 feet of elevation gain
Connell Mountains HP: 1.44 miles with 547 feet of elevation gain |
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Wildflowers Observation None
There were hardly any wildflowers to be seen, but it is a bit early yet for wildflowers in this area. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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