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| Hiking | 5.41 Miles |
1,084 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.41 Miles | 2 Hrs 28 Mns | | 2.19 mph |
| 1,084 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I’ve had my eye on the Hualapai Mountains for several years, but never quite got around to hiking there due to their distance. Besides Potato Patch Loop, I also planned to summit Hualapai Peak, which would make for a relatively short hike (8.0 miles), but with some good elevation gain (2,500 ft.). I hoped my lack of recent decent hikes would not be a factor.
I started hiking at 9:30 a.m., just behind some chatty girls (“We’re from the Mojave Desert!”). A few minutes after filming the intro to my hike video, I caught up to them already taking a sit down break. I never saw them again. Flatlanders. Not that I am Reinhold Messner. 🏔
On one of the early switchbacks, I got rattled by a snake. A rattle so brief, I wasn’t sure it was a rattle. I didn’t even jump. It was an Arizona Black Rattlesnake (crotalus cerberus). I wonder if the brief rattle was random, or if the species has a shorter rattle, as the western diamondbacks and speckled rattlesnakes I’ve encountered tend to quite lengthy rattles. 
Some fluffy yellow flower clusters were the most common of the sparse floral pickings, with most of the patches found in the open, grassy, area around the Pine Lake Overlook. I took a short break on the bench, as I was already feeling the elevation.
Just past the overlook is Storm Shelter 1. Not sure why storm shelters are needed in the Hualapai Mountains, of all places. I’ve never seen them anywhere else. Indeed, the only other trailside shelters I’ve seen are for camping along the Appalachian Trail or Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail. Definitely not for storms. ⛈
I was already noticing that every time I looked up, then back down to the trail, I was briefly experiencing visual anomalies. Not from looking at the sun (I wasn’t). Not nearly as bad as the heat exhaustion I experienced hiking from Table Mesa Rd. to Little Pan Loop back in 2011! [ photoset ] I figured best not to push too much, and decided to skip Hualapai Peak, or any of the other nearby summits.
At Camp Levi Levi -- not a misprint -- I checked three well hand pumps, and each gushed water, two of them without a single pump, just by lifting the handle! 
The 1.5 miles downhill from Storm Shelter 4 -- what happened to 2 and 3? -- went much quicker than it's opposite earlier in the day. Less than an hour, in fact. And that despite stopping several times to wander off trail to enjoy some nice views. (If Kingman could be considered attractive.)
Even though I didn't summit any of the peaks, that means I now have three other hikes I can do in the area ... once I get back in hiking shape.
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/486827837
Arizona Black Rattlesnake Video: https://vimeo.com/486828629
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
Not the super loop today, but overall a nice, peaceful area lacking aircraft noise mostly. Occasionally vehicles could be heard below, but still not overly annoying. Thirty bucks for a campsite seems reasonable when compared to other similar areas, e.g. Idyllwild.
. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get to the "true" rock/summit, but we figured out how to go around and climb up, a little nerve racking for me. Sprinkled just a little, which helped cool things down significantly. Aspens were starting to change, but lots of green still. The boy scout area was kind of creepy, not sure what they are planning on doing with it.
I'm always impressed on this overpopulated rock when I'm in some obscure place and run into somebody random -- and of course I know them. Lol!
