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| Hiking | 5.37 Miles |
1,182 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.37 Miles | 3 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.53 mph |
| 1,182 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | We used a high clearance van and did not need 4 wheel drive to get to the starting point. We probably got 90% of the way to the starting point and thought maybe there wouldn't be any pinstriping (AKA free car detailing by various desert trees and plants), but then it hit all at once. There was a lot of pinstriping in the last 1/2 to 1 mile of the road.
We started hiking to the East and immediately reached a wide sandy wash. We crossed the wash and entered an open Country area which was easy to cross. We continued until after we hiked a total of 0.7 miles and reached a wash. We stayed in the wash until after hiking a total of roughly one mile, then exited the wash on the South side. After hiking a total of 1.43 miles, we crossed another wash and started heading up the West ridge toward Antelope peak. We later realized that we were crossing the same wash each time, which was an "S" shaped wash. On the climb up, there was a lot of lava rock but the brush wasn't bad at all. We needed to weave a bit to avoid obstacles.
We made it to the peak in about 1 hr 30 mins and found an American flag at the top. I thought to myself, "God Bless America, of what's left of it..." We found a registry near the flag which we signed. We had our lunch and enjoyed some nice views of Table Top mountain. Looking back down to the West, we could see the "S" shaped wash and decided it might be easier just to walk that back, although the open Country hike across wasn't bad at all. Looking North we could see I-8 and a lot of trucks probably transporting products both ways.
On the way down, near the very top of the mountain, we found some drug running trash including a car battery, a carry bag for binoculars, an old stove, clothing, etc. Over the years, we've seen several car batteries high up in the mountains in some remote places. We were sure the people who left it here were up to NO GOOD and most likely involved in smuggling drugs. We decided to carry the car battery out of there, even though it probably didn't have any useful charge left. I'll probably take it to O'reilly for a $10 core exchange/store credit. Getting the battery down was a workout. I transferred the contents of my backpack into Brian's back pack to make room for this bulky battery, and carefully carried the battery down the steep rocky slope. The battery felt like it was 50+ pounds but when I got it home I weighed it and it came out to be only 32 pounds.
We took a similar route down but decided to hike further South hitting the wash earlier. Then, we hiked through the S-shaped wash back to the starting point to avoid having to walk the open Country area. We thought that it would be nice to see some different scenery. Furthermore, we thought that it would be easier on our feet to stay in the sand, especially while carrying this extra 30 pounds which felt like an extra 50 pounds. We took a little longer to get back to the parking area mainly because of the longer route and added weight.
On the drive out, we stopped at the old Vekol ranch and looked around. The main house had 2 very nice and large patios, there was a nicely constructed stone wall that someone put a lot of time and work into. We also found some kind of lookout tower which we didn't know what it would have been used for. We wondered why the property was abandoned and for how long. On one of the concrete slabs on one of the smaller buildings, I saw a date of 1971 carved into the cement. This was probably when a lot of the construction took place.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 5.37 miles
AEG: 1,182 feet
Strava moving time: 2 hrs 46 mins
Strava elapsed time: 5 hrs 15 mins |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
poppies, white easterbonnet, pincushion cactus flower, common fiddleneck, bladderpod |
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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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