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| Hiking | 8.29 Miles |
2,495 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.29 Miles | 5 Hrs 26 Mns | | 1.65 mph |
| 2,495 ft AEG | 24 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | My 4 week “break” from hiking felt like a torturous eternity, and it’s really good to be back. The goal [limit] was supposed to be 5 mi for distance & 500’ for AEG… needless to say, with the stats I effortlessly pulled off today, I’m very much ahead of the game. I executed the route in counterclockwise, true loop fashion and bagged the following 5 Santa Rita summits in the process:
#1 Granite Mountain
#2 USLM 1 (UN 5989’)
#3 UN 6347’
#4 Castle Dome
#5 USLM 1105 (approx. 6160’)
There was a nice blend of both on and off trail, with approx. 54% on-trail [jeep/FS roads] and 46% off-trail [the majority of which involved traversing through crotch high grass with *horrendous footing]… *in the sense of having to contend with TONS of rocks of all shapes and sizes [that were completely blocked from view by the grass] nearly every step of the way. Even though there was practically no thorny vegetation, no super steep grades, and no loose footing, the invisible landmine of rocks within the grass was far more challenging. Nonetheless, I made it back in one piece and without taking a single misstep.
After living in Southern AZ for over 3.5 years, this was my first Santa Rita hike launching from a TH on the East side of the range, and I liked it much better for many reasons. My “sweet spot” for favorite views has always been desert / desert grassland [vs. pine forest / “alpine”]; thus, the lower altitude was a lot more appealing and beautiful to me. And not having to deal with a mobscene up Old Baldy / the Super Trail or worse [i.e. getting stuck behind some pumpkin doing 2 mph up/down the final part of Madera Canyon Road… ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") ] was like total icing on the cake. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
way. No fossils but I did checkout the saddle for some time. The views to the west were good. Views to the east and south were pumpkiny. I did notice another peak and decided it would be my next adventure for the day. I didn't realize I was on the AZT on my way to Granite 
