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| Hiking | 4.80 Miles |
1,957 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.80 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 1.20 mph |
| 1,957 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | It was nearly a year ago when I went hiking with Randy in the Sierra Anchas and when we looked over to the Four Peaks, he said, "That's my mountain." That's when I caught the bug. If that's Randy's mountain, could I conquer it as well?
So this spring, as Randy and I were discussing the trips that we might want to take, Brown's Peak came up. This May is going to be busy for me with a couple of non-hiking trips planned, so this weekend was the only available time. Two weeks ago there was a bit of a storm that could've dumped a bit of snow on the peaks, so I was scared that the trip would be cancelled.
Randy invited Johnr1 and I invited Al_HikesAZ from the Phoenix area to join a select few of us Tucsonans. John and Alan were set to meet us at the TH on Sunday. I had been following Al's escapades for about three years on Flickr first, then here on HAZ - I was excited to meet him.
The Tucson contingent (Randy, Kim, Joel, and I) headed up on Saturday for a car camp at Roosevelt Lake. Randy and I did a trip to the Cholla Campground a few weeks prior and I had fallen in love with the tent loop within the Christmas Cholla loop. For a $6 Tonto pass bought in Globe, you really can't go wrong. Speaking of Globe, we had lunch there at Chalo's. Good food, served with a smile. Kim had a conversation with the hostess, who mentioned a hike that we'd have to come back for: Cibecue Falls.
We set up the four tents in one of our adjoining camping spots and had our fire and kitchen in the other one. A fantastic sunset and little wind for our campfire. We were able to see a little snow on the peaks earlier and Kim and Joel were a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to summit the following day. The wind did pick up a couple of times during the night waking me up momentarily.
The morning came and we had a nice leisurely morning before meeting John and Alan at the trailhead. We figured 45 minutes to the TH from the campground, and it was about 5 minutes longer - we were just a tad late getting meeting our friends. After reading Al's triplog, I'm glad I didn't give him my cell number or he may have bailed on us!
We started up on the hike at about 10:30. The lower trail was fairly quick - Kim brought up the rear since she needed to take all those macro pics. I'm usually bringing up the rear for the same reason - but I wanted to get up to the hard, steep part that I had heard so much about. The lower portion was a steady uphill, but not too dramatic. For scenery, we saw plenty of manzanita and aligator junipers. Interesting rock formations abound as well.
We hiked a little above the saddle, and the wind came rushing directly in our faces. I had to lose my hat (safely in my pack). Kim was a bit intimidated by the wind, and she headed back. I turned my face directly in the wind and felt the wind's g-forces wiggle my jowls. It was just that windy. Randy decided to stay back with Kim, but there was no way I was going to miss out on this chance to hike this peak.
At one point during the scramble up the chute, my legs weren't quite long enough and I needed a boost. At another point during the scramble, I thought I might die.  Stop. Breathe. Move on. I had John in front of me and Alan behind, so I was in good hands.  The wind was blowing the dust into my eyes, too, so I had to stop to blink out the dust as well.
As we neared the summit, I started to feel my heart race with expectation and exhileration. After all that work, this was what it was all about. I was looking forward to my beer, but remembered that Randy had the bottle opener I had counted on so I took the photo of the unopened beer. I was also looking forward to taking in the views.
The views, it turned out, included the view of the impending storm coming right our direction - hardly any time for photos and we had to turn around. Heading down, the weather came in the opposite direction. Literally. The snow was falling up the chute as we were going down.
I couldn't contain my smiles all the way down. Randy and Kim waited for us at the saddle, and we headed down as a group. It snowed on us a couple of times even past the saddle and still - even without gloves - I couldn't be happier.
Once down, I could finally have that Four Peaks Kiltlifter Ale. We shared a couple of tasty beverages and went out separate directions.
As you can see from my photoset, Randy and I had to head back to Globe for more Mexican food. We stopped in to La Casita downtown, but don't think we'll make that mistake again. The food and the service were uninspired. The drinks at "Under the Palms" were a bit more cheery. A great capper for another fantastic roadtrip and hike. |
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| There are just two switchbacks left. And another half-mile to the destination... |
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