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| Hiking | 4.50 Miles |
246 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.50 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 2.25 mph |
| 246 ft AEG | 15 Hrs Break | | | |
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| partners | | Memory. It’s a good thing to have. Either that or you make notes and refer to them at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, neither method worked for me on this hike.
I was especially looking forward to this jaunt because the destination offered palm trees, a spring, and petroglyphs. We were getting a late start as we’d lazily broke camp that morning. But, no big deal, the hike was only 5 miles roundtrip with a modest elevation gain.
From the trailhead, you follow an old road, headed east-southeast. After coming to a substantial stone windbreak or the remains (?) of a stone building, the trail follows a wash, still headed southeast. The canyon walls are covered with dark brown rocks and little vegetation. But in the wash, there was brittlebush, palo verde, a fragrant bush with small purple flowers, an occasional red fishhook barrel cactus, and a couple of chollas thrown in for good measure.
The further into the wash you get, the more you see of Mopah Peak (which is considered the most difficult mountain to climb in the Turtle Mountain Wilderness). But, our goal wasn’t to scale Mopah. It was to see the palms and petroglyphs. Just then the glint of glass or metal up on a small rise caught our eye. We scrambled up to find an old jar containing very brittle paper and indecipherable writing. With a lovely view of Mopah Peak, we chose to plop down and enjoy lunch.
About this time I consulted the GPS. Hhhmmmm... we’d hiked over two miles, but had only covered about half the distance to the spring. How could that be? That means the hike is more like 8+ miles roundtrip. Was I confusing this hike with another one we'd mapped out for this outing? Still puzzled and knowing we still had many miles to drive and camp to set up, we chose to have a leisurely lunch on our viewing knoll and head back. The palms and glyphs would have to wait for another day.
P.S. Yes, my memory failed me and, no, I didn’t bother to consult my notes before setting out. The hike out to the spring is 8.2 miles roundtrip. |
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| Stephanie and Blake Barnard |
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