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| Hiking | 7.37 Miles |
2,819 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.37 Miles | 5 Hrs 12 Mns | | 1.64 mph |
| 2,819 ft AEG | 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Is it even possible that I haven't been on Browns in a decade!?  I know I hadn't been up since the Bush Fire, but that's only half the elapsed deficit. Oh well.
I set out to summit Browns, but didn't really wanna go the boring way. Alder Saddle looked interesting. But the 2012 triplogs seemed to indicate it could be a bit overgrown. @BobP did a motherlode that seemed to take a ridge route that looked interesting, but his triplog provided no clues and a perfect circle has more points than his GPS track. But I started out in that general direction anyway. After nearly 3 miles, things didn't look too bad and I turned off the trail at the saddle at 5840 and started up, heading for the main ridge to the summit.
I managed to dodge most of the flora first heading up the drainage and later following the clearest path through the brush to the lower ridge at 6300. As I turned south and made my way to the steep climb up to the main ridge, I encountered the only real obstacle today, a couple hundred yards of dense manzanita. Looking back from higher up it appeared I could have avoided it completely had I stayed east of the ridge until the climb began.
From 6400 to 7000 is a near vertical climb but lightly vegetated and reasonably easy to ascend. I kept looking to the next ridge to the west which appeared less steep, but stuck to the nose all the way up. The next half a mile is as enjoyable a hike as any ridgeline in the state and made the whole day worth it. Pure delight.
The final climb to the summit features some route finding and boulder scrambles but still infinitely less challenging than the chute on the opposite side of the peak. I had the summit to myself and took a nice break enjoying the crisp 52 degree afternoon.
Undeterred, I decided to attempt another 2012 route, a @wallyfrack special that didn't sound terrible when he did it in the snow! This worked fine for me, but it's a one-way option only. The chute is thick with oak, and I appreciated the sturdiness of the trunks and firm grip of the roots as I let gravity do the work. It would be an impossible chore to fight this forest while ascending.
After looking for Bear Spring and coming up empty early in the hike, I made a beeline for Jack's Spring on the way down, checking both the HAZ map location and the old topo map location. Neither of which had any signs of water, infrastructure, vegetation, or wildlife routes.
From the topo mark, I traversed on what might have once been a manmade cut to get over to Amethyst, eventually getting stopped by a manzanita forest where I made a direct path to the trail.
I hadn't been on this part of Amethyst before and I was happy to be on a trail again, but also needed to keep an attentive eye on where the route went. Before long it was back on 130 and back to the truck.
I'd do my ascent route again. It's arguably the best Browns route I've done.
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Driving options
El Oso: 41 minutes / 50.6 miles paved driving plus 29 minutes/ 10.6 miles dirt road (70min/61mi)
FR143: 54 minutes / 18.3 miles dirt
15 minutes shorter and 43 miles less via FR143.
El Oso was rougher than I remember, with quite a few washboards and some rougher rocky sections. Views are much nicer on this side. FR143 top section above Mud Spring TH has been totally excavated and very nice. The middle stretch between Mesquite Wash and Cline TH is as rough as I've ever seen it and needs serious work. Brushy Basin is nice-ish. |
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Bear Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Heavily overgrown. Found some mud and a palm-sized puddle of surface water. No infrastructure noted. |
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Jacks Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Dry at location of this waypoint as well as the nearby location indicated on maps. No sign of spring infrastructure. |
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Shake Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | There was a nice pool of water in the drainage at the trail crossing. The springbox was dry and in disrepair. | | _____________________
| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
Saw flowers and snow on the way up. That was the highlight of the trip. The downside was all the traffic on El Oso. Tons of side by sides and motorcycles. All in all a great trip up!
