This was my first summit attempt of Brown’s Peak, the highest of the four. I started at Lake Roosevelt which makes this about 20 miles with 5500 feet of elevation gain if you make it to the top. Cheaters with 4×4’s can get 2 miles away if the roads are open. On the first day I ran into deep snow on the north facing slopes. I almost turned around and went back the first morning. I’m glad I did not because an AZT thru-hiker caught up to me after a few miles and I would have felt like a looser if I had been walking the other way. He left me with a few tips that should prove to be helpful in my quest. Keep your phone on airplane mode and your feet are going to get wet. He said his feet had been wet 50 percent of the time since he started in Mexico. We saw some pretty large cat tracks following the snowy trail for awhile. On the second morning I woke up at the base of the peaks and I went up the trail a bit. It was full of crunchy snow going uphill. My quads said no and I decided it wasn’t the day. Good thing I did because the hike out through the snow was much harder than the hike in. It was melted and I felt like it was the first day on my new feet. By the time I got out I was exhausted. I’m gonna wait for some Arizona heat to fix the trail before I try again.
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So awesome Nathan!!!
Thanks Marcia.