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| Hiking | 5.70 Miles |
2,113 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.70 Miles | 5 Hrs 3 Mns | | 1.85 mph |
| 2,113 ft AEG | 1 Hour 58 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I was going down to Yuma to hike Sheep Mountain, and wanted to do another hike while I was there so I did some research and decided on Klothos Temple. The summit is at an elevation of 1,666', so it is modest by Arizona standards, and it is about the same elevation as my house. However, the trailhead elevation is not much over 300 feet, and with some ups-and-downs you get some decent elevation gain on the hike. In addition, Klothos Temple is the highpoint of the Muggins Mountain Wilderness, so I figured that bagging a wilderness highpoint beats getting a sharp stick in the eye!
I drove in past the information kiosk and parked just before descending into Muggins wash. There was no need in driving any farther than I did. A sign just past the information kiosk said something to the effect that high clearance vehicles only are recommended. I believe that a decent sized sedan could make it, and a small SUV should be able to get there also. In any event, you sure don't need 4WD.
We descended a short distance into the wash, and then scaled a wall that was 8-10 feet high and got on a good use trail. The use trail crossed a wash, and the best thing to do would be to take the wash; however, we followed the use trail, which went to a monolith. From there we descended back into the wash.
We followed the wash around to a drainage that took us up to a saddle that is near Long Mountain. At the saddle we turned a bit to the right and traversed around Long Mountain and a couple of false summits before getting down below Klothos Temple. There is an obvious ramp that we followed almost up to the summit, and from there you can either make a short class 2 or class 3 climb. The summit is flattish, and you go to the eastern end to hit the high point. We returned the way that we came.
I saw a height of light and a register log at the summit. However, I was not able to locate a benchmark or a reference mark.
There are several cairns along the way on the hike that are helpful in route finding. Thankfully Klothos Temple is far enough away from Phoenix that there are no spray painted arrows or dots.
This was a fun hike with some nice views, and it is a hike that I would do again. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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