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| Hiking | 6.30 Miles |
1,700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.30 Miles | 4 Hrs 35 Mns | | 1.54 mph |
| 1,700 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Having been talking to my friends all week about my hike to Baldy Mountain last Sunday and raving about the views, flora, etc. a few had asked to join me on my next trip citing various reasons: wanting to get back into shape or back into hiking or just that they love my company. I used HAZ to find a peak in the same area that was similar to Baldy and Governors Peak was the choice. I woke up rather fuzzy from the night before and apparently so did my drinking-buddies-turned-hiking-buddies as our party of 4-5 was reduced to 2. We spent the drive to the trailhead calling the 3 deserters to belittle and harass them, and conjectured that their glaring lack of will power was a disappointment to the entire human race.
Sorry for the long intro, nothing but the trail from here on out. The dirt road to the TH was great, easily passable with a car. I even had a Ford Focus riding on my bumper for most of the way. We got a late start on the trail because of the fuzziness stated above and hit the trail a little after 2. The air was cool but the sun was rather warm and you could feel it whenever the breeze died. We saw in the logbook that someone else had been on the trail that day but had already finished so we had the trail to ourselves the entire trip with the exception of the gentlemen shooting in Castle Creek 100 yards from the start of the trail. You get a good sense of solitude and of being in the wilderness on this hike. The desert was very green from the all the precipitation the storm brought on Friday and there was still quite a bit of snow on the Bradshaws. A lot of saguaros and most of the barrel cacti were quite fat and full of water. I enjoyed the views of Lake Pleasant and of the first ravine but I was most excited when we got to the bottom of Four Tanks Canyon and could hear running water. We found an area that had several mini waterfalls (1 to 2 feet) dripping into small pools. It is always thrilling to see running water in the desert! I dipped my bandanna into the clear, cold water and we got ready for the final ascent. We followed the cairns the best we could and they were actually pretty helpful. They at least pointed us in the right direction. But we lost them almost halfway up and made our own path from there. Once reaching the false summit, we looked down and realized that we had taken one of the more difficult paths available so we planned out a much easier path for the way down. We got to the actual summit in no time after that and took in all the scenery. We rested, snacked, and took a bunch of photos in all directions. The way down seemed much easier especially in the shade of the peak with the setting sun. There was some sliding but that was expected. We made it back to my truck just as it was getting dark and sped back to town for some supper. |
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