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| Hiking | 13.60 Miles |
3,125 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.60 Miles | 5 Hrs 35 Mns | | 3.33 mph |
| 3,125 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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Had been a while since I had been back in the McDowells so I made a plan to spend the morning on se of my favorite spots.
Began at the Gateway TH around 6am. A few cars but no one at the trailhead. Ran into two downhill runners on my way up to the gateway turnoff but did not run into anyone else into I topped out at Toms Thumb. After slapping the wall at the thumb I continued down to the East End junction and made a quick trip to the Ogres Den as I'd never been there before. Surprisingly easy to locate after a couple short scrambles.
Headed back and went north slightly to the East end trail. Trail was faint in some spots but someone's taken the time to make small cairns with 2-3 rocks each in visible spots on some of the larger rocks along the way. Found and signed the register at the top of East End (wedged between rocks to the left/east of the gated equipment). Had a quick clif bar lunch and some pics/texts headed back down. First time down east end and it's very true how steep it is! It was hard to pay attention to footing when I was so amazed by the changes in rock formations and the size of some of the boulders! Truly impressive.
About halfway down East End, the wind ended. Made for a very warm hike up windmill trail to Windgate pass. A little water on a cloth hung under my hat and across the neck and shoulders made it much more bearable.
The rest of the hike was uneventful but no less as beautiful as I'd remembered. Finished the hike just before noon. 13.6 miles for the loop
Gateway/Windgate/Toms/EastEnd/Windmills/Windgate/Gateway |
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Mountain Spring |
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| | | As usual the spring is flowing well. Could not access through the reeds and bees so I had to climb up and around to the left to get to where the water flows out of the pipe. Minimal bees. Filtered and treated as a precaution but most drink it direct without issue | |
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| The Striver grimly and gamely puts one foot in front of the other pushing forward up the trail. |
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