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| Pbar - Grant - Paradise Lolly, AZ | |
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| | Pbar - Grant - Paradise Lolly, AZ | | | |
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Pbar - Grant - Paradise Lolly, AZ
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| Hiking | 11.10 Miles |
2,534 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.10 Miles | | | |
| 2,534 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | | With the holiday weekend and warm temps in the valley, I opted for a last-minute trip up NE to the Blue Range, and S was happy to join me. We drove up Saturday evening, found an isolated spot to camp for the night off FR58 before getting up early Monday, heading over to the TH. I've been wanting to check out Paradise Park for a couple of years now, but the first time I attempted it, I ran into a locust jungle, so I was hoping my luck would be better this time. Easy hiking with a good trail to P Bar Lake. Got to P Bar Lake (still not sure why it's called a lake) and started the descent. The descent down was not nearly as bad as it was last time I attempted it (someone has done some maintenance), but there is still some overhang of locust and raspberry that will grab you from time to time. I did some light trimming on the bigger pieces, but without a good cleaning soon it will be overgrown again. We decided to hike the loop counterclockwise to break up some of the elevation gain and headed down the Grant Cabin shortcut. Lost the trail through a section near the top, but overall not difficult to follow. Made it down to Grant Creek, where we took a few minutes to check out the old Grant Cabin and rehydrate. FYI - the bovines have made the cabin area their new home as we ran into several there and tons of fresh patties. As we continued, the next section of Grant Creek was nice, with a good trail, shade, and a good amount of water in the creek. After a bit, we crossed the creek and started a small climb up the Paradise Trail, which was my least favorite section as it was eroded quite a bit initially, with loose footing. As we continued down the Paradise trail, we followed the track making its way up and to the left of 7576, however, the HAZ route has the trail out on the cliffside before getting to Paradise Park. We saved roughly a mile and a half by doing this route. We spent a good amount of time at Paradise Park eating lunch, listening to a very loud bird sing the same song over and over again for a good 30 minutes, before we connected with the Grant Creek Trail. By this time, it was warm, and with no shade, I was completely dreading the climb back up to the lake. The first half of the ascent was hot and slow, however, some clouds and wind came in and made it much more tolerable. Got back to the TH around 3 and started the long drive home. Saw tons of deer and elk and got serenaded by turkeys at the campsite. The Blue is always a favorite of mine, even though it's a long haul. The weather was a bit cold overnight, but warmed up to 70 degrees by the end of the day. Thanks S, for joining me out in the Blue. |
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P Bar Lake |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Completely dry, not even muddy. | | _____________________
Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.  |
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