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| | | Tucson Mountains Tuesday Two-fer, AZ | | | |
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Tucson Mountains Tuesday Two-fer, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.60 Miles |
2,224 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.60 Miles | 2 Hrs 48 Mns | | 1.71 mph |
| 2,224 ft AEG | 42 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | | Ah, first hike back in the desert after a week in Anaheim for Disney and beach fun. First off, thanks to Philbeer for posting the tracks for Golden Gate and Bren mountain last week, I saw those and it got me thinking. I have been wanting to hit Golden Gate Mountain for a while, throw in another nearby peak and I am sold. Made it out to the Yetman trailhead about 3 to start my fun for the day. The trip up Golden Gate is very steep, but easy to follow. It is a pretty thin trail in spots, but the trip up is extensively cairned, a little overkill in spots even. Nice summit with good views out to the west and south especially. The weather was getting interesting, but I thought I would have enough time for a second summit before the storm started. Made it back down to the Yetman trail and then on to Gates Pass trail for a bit. I went up the west side of Bren Mountain, and there is no trail whatsoever. I found a drainage and followed it up quite a ways, but then the rocks turned to scree and it was mighty steep. It kept getting steeper, and the lightning was looming, but I actually figured I would be safer making it to the summit and going down the backside which looked to be less steep. I ended up going up a rock face for the last 40-50' up to the peak, and I was really happy to see some semblance of a trail on the other side. Very brief stop up top to see lightning hitting on the slopes just to the east of me, all the motivation I needed to haul butt down the other side. If I hit Bren again any time soon, it will be by way of the North and East route...Made it back to the van no worse for wear other than a few scratches, I managed to miss the abundant cholla up here, but had plenty of bursage to pull out of the socks and boots. Pretty short for my usual offerings, but this one was all work. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Okay, the part about T-Hill is a fabrication thrown in for entertainment purposes, but he did suggest hiking up Bren as an alternative. I had done it once about 10 years ago, but liked the idea as it was a nice short hike not far from home. It is Golden Gate's little brother (300 feet lower) and if you take an old trail around to the east side there is a mellow ridge walk to the top. After coming down from the peak we looped around to the south and followed parts of the Yetman and Golden Gate trails back to the parking lot. Beer and BS at Brat's Bar & Grill after the hike. 
