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| Hiking | 14.00 Miles |
2,500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.00 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 2.00 mph |
| 2,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This had a completely different feel to it than it did the last time I did it in May. The plain in front of the mesa is green with grass, though still over grazed, and it was very hot on it. Some Mustangs were out grazing the plain, as were sheep. It was also really beautiful with the clouds around. The hike was also more interesting than the last time I did it. Maybe it was because I hadn't hiked it in over 3 months, or maybe because I hadn't just got back from Tucson at the best time of year to hike down there, or maybe it was simply because it is summer when the wind is down, the area is green, and the clouds cast shadows over the scenery. I definitely enjoyed the scenery far more than I have in a while.
It is very easy to avoid xenophobic home site leasers. Take the furthest east fork of the road that heads southwest from the Kayenta Monument Valley Inn, and then between an old silver single-wide trailer and a red/ maroon house, hike west to and then on a two-track. That becomes an ATV track, and then it takes you into the erosion canyon coming out of the basin at the bottom of the mesa. Once getting up into the gully, at about the same level as the large buttress of rock that sticks out from the mesa, ascend a narrow ridge, with a small pinyon growing near it's base, to a tiny level area with grass on it. Then hike from that grass level up to a second sheep trail that is lower down from the main trail. Take that to a convenient point to hike up to the main ridge. It does help to be pretty familiar with the terrain, but I was able to hike that just fine.
I haven't really appreciated the hike for what it is. Maybe it was because I wanted it to be, and treated it like, an Elden, Humphrey, or Kimball Hike, which is it not. It most similarly resembles an AB Young, though with a long approach and no Red Rocks nonsense. I think this, because while the trail is pretty good, though rough and little more than an erosion gully in a few spots, because neither the high point nor the top is a destination in itself. It seems like the mesa has enough roads and some canyons that would be worth exploring, and the potential for exploring is something worthy of hiking up there in it's own right. I'll have to do that.
As mentioned the hike was better that I expected. With recent rain and moderate humidity, the smells were strong; pinyon, juniper, oaks in spots, and a few I couldn't determine, but they were pleasant. The views were welcome and enjoyable. I went to the high point and saw Joe's and Juan's logs and wrote my own back to them, Juan preferred "HAZ", Joe went with the full web address. I then spent an hour at the furthest NE point and the eastern overlooks. I watched some storms move around, and some pretty good lightning south of me, a few of which hit the mesa edge. As the storm began to move closer, I moved on. An uneventful hike down, and seeing no one reminded me of Tucson. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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