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| Hiking | 4.48 Miles |
1,177 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.48 Miles | 4 Hrs 1 Min | | 1.49 mph |
| 1,177 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Congratulations to 14 yr old Kesean Terry for doing his very first mountain summit and doing it very well! This was not an easy hike and involved hiking over some steep slopes covered in lava rock. I saw Kesean jump over a standard barbed wire fence, which had to be over 3 feet tall, TWICE which looked a bit dangerous to me and was very impressive! After seeing him do that I was confident he would have no problem on this hike. I crawled under the fence each time.
We arrived at the trailhead around 8 pm. The sun was already set but we still had some light. We were able to hike for the first 20 minutes without lamps but then decided to put our lamps on when it got darker. There was a half moon but it was very cloudy and the moon was completely blocked by clouds at times. The temps ranged from 93 to 86 but there was a light breeze and it felt comfortable. This is a hike I would never do in the heat of the daytime in June!
The first mile was relatively flat with not a lot of rock, at first, but as we continued, there was more rock, and then we started climbing up in the direction of the peak. We reached the first saddle after 1.35 miles and continued up the steep slope from that point. Because it was dark and we were using lamps, we needed to constantly refer to the map to make sure we were on the right track.
About 10 minutes from the summit, we saw a small 2 foot rattlesnake on a rock. It didn't move and it didn't rattle. We felt safe about 5 feet away. We tried to get the snake's attention. After we did it slowly moved down into a gap between the rocks. From this point on, we slowed down even more and looked out for more snakes.
At the summit, we found a jar with some registry entries. Some of the paper was very worn, but I was able to get photos of all of the legible entries. We signed the registry and took some quick photos even though it was quite dark up there. In the distance to the East, we could see lights, which were probably from the town of Wintersburg.
It was about 10 pm while we were on the summit so we decided we should not stay long and head down. In the area where we saw the rattlesnake, we took extra care to look for the snake again and not disturb it and not get too close. I was surprised that we saw the same snake again.
We continued down, getting off our original route a few times. I felt that it was slightly more difficult at night because we could not see more than about 20 feet in any direction. We got back to my truck around midnight and drove 5.2 miles to get back to Salome highway.
Stats:
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RT distance 4.48 miles
1177 aeg
strava moving time 2 hrs 24 mins
strava elapsed time 4 hrs 1 min
Drive to trailhead:
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Note: You will definitely need 4x4 to get to where I parked. There was a major wash crossing 2 to 2.5 miles NW of where I parked. Even with my capable 4x4, I was not entirely sure that my truck would make it up the steep slope which was eroded in a few places. |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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