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Hiking | 15.00 Miles |
5,000 AEG |
| Hiking | 15.00 Miles | 8 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.94 mph |
5,000 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I'm a man of my word. I've told people that I wanted to hike the North Loop to the cliffs and bristlecones to enjoy the forest, the cliffs, the trail, the views, and to experience the mountain, but also that I didn't really care about a 4th summit of Chuck. It would be a crime to pass by the Spring Mts twice on US 95 without hiking this, so returning from Whitney I stayed 2 nights in the area, 1 camping after and 1 in a Hampton Inn before, and made good on my promise to return to this trail. It was great.
My legs were about 90%ish recovered from Whitney, so while pretty tired as the day wore on, I was able to hike up fine. I like the trail, and after last year hiking up from the Ski area, I also think this way is better. Certainly more enjoyable!
Because I was directly under it, and I was skipping Chuck, I tagged Lee Peak on the way out. It was nice, and my second time there. I believe it was my day's high point at roughly 11,289'-11,300'.
Recent rainfall has been abundant! Water was seeping from cracks in the rocks, and the soil is moist. Seems there are a lot of flowers as a result, attracting hummingbirds. Lots of typically curious chickadees, too. Very enjoyable day. I took plenty of breaks, but would have liked more. Stopping and listening on this hike is always enjoyable.
If I was 100% fresh, perhaps I would have moved faster allowing for longer breaks. Also, while I would have missed the last parts of the cliffs, Lee Peak could have made a suitable turn around point which would have been shorter and 95% as good. I recommend that.
Also:
[ youtube video ]
[ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate Paintbrush and thistle, both of which attracted a lot of entertaining hummingbirds. |
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Cave Spring |
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| | The log tank appeared as it might have been dry recently. Water was not yet overflowing. However, there was abundant water to filter, and the pipe had a small trickle into it. Lots of seeping water in other places, so the flow may increase with additional rain. | | _____________________
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