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| Hiking | 8.73 Miles |
1,260 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.73 Miles | 4 Hrs 53 Mns | | 1.79 mph |
| 1,260 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Had to cancel on Friday hike because rain was predicted. (And for once was correct!) Rain was also predicted for Saturday. And Thursday. So, I decided to go on Wednesday and, because that made for only a five day week for me, picked something I thought would be a three hour tour. (And one for exploring.) Like Gilligan, it lasted much longer than I expected.
My normal liquid load is 3-4 liters of water and a liter of G2 (the less sugary Gatorade). Because the temps were cool, and I anticipated a short hike, I carried only 2.5 liters of water, replacing one of my half liter bottles with beer. Thankfully, I carried the liter of G-2. The duration, and physicality, meant I drank more than anticipated and, to make matters worse, I lost a water bottle while descending to the AT-6 crash site wash. I wasn't in danger, but I was running low, and had to watch how fast I drank.
The 1.5 wash walk from the trailhead on Saddle Mountain Rd. is full of ankle breaker rocks and numerous cholla, particularly large buckhorn. But the lower slope of Black Mountain is no better, so you might as well stay in the wash, and look for animal paths to speed you along. Otherwise, watch your footing. The ankle breakers make things slower and more tiring.
Opposite the northwest corner of Black Mountain, there are three washes up to the saddle. The first wash is the one most people take, and I also took that one up. However, I took the middle one back, and that seemed to go a bit smoother. I did not check out the third, eastern-most wash.
At the saddle, I headed out to the OP overlooking Lake Pleasant, where I took a break, enjoying a refreshing “Czechvar” beer — the original Budweis(er), not the swill brewed in St. Louis — while checking my twitter feed.
I now faced a choice, backtrack a half mile to the head of the AT-6 crash site wash, or go “over the edge”, and head straight down to the site.
I headed straight down. The slope is so steep — 400 ft. in only a quarter mile (equivalent to an extreme 1600 ft. in a mile) — that staying upright all the way down was simply unsafe. I admit to occasionally butt scootching. As it was, the slope is bouldery, and I knocked a number of rocks loose. Definitely only for strong & confident hikers.
The ditch you see up the north slope of the AT-6 crash site seems natural, not due to the plane(?), which vertically burned in. Because of its crash angle, the circle of AT-6 remains is relatively compact. I’m not a pilot, and I only have rudimentary mechanical knowledge, so I do not know what all the parts were, but I was surprised at how light the fuselage remains were: I could lift them with one hand easier than I could lift the alternator (?) I found. A number of parts, including the fairly intact engine, have melted aluminum, fused with rocks into a metallic cement. I saw some bones, but they had to be from animals, as 1LT Luhr’s remains were removed soon after the crash. I found a buckle, some control cables, and even a peddle, but no dials or instruments.
I returned by hiking to the head of the AT-6 crash site wash. Then I started towards the third wash (which I mentioned earlier), but decided it might be a bit steeper than I thought, opting for the middle wash down. I got nailed in the calf by buckhorn cholla. Had to use a comb to remove the bud.
Once back in the main wash, despite being very tired, I tried to make as much time as possible, while also minding my footing on the ankle breakers. It was because I was looking down that I walked straight into another buckhorn cholla. That sucked. I still got little cactus hairs in my leg, dragging on my sweatpants.
So, I was mistaken, this was not an easy hike. At all.
Crash Site Video: [ youtube video ] |
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