Ascent of Hualapai Peak on 2016-11-20| Other People: | Solo Ascent
| | Date: | Sunday, November 20, 2016 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Hualapai Peak | | Location: | USA-Arizona | | Elevation: | 8417 ft / 2565 m |
Ascent Trip Reportas i neared the base of the summit i was surprised to hear yelping and giggling. then a gaggle of teens came into view, with adult chaperone. they were on their way downhill. so i don't get to check off the "only party on mountain" box. the chaperone seemed quite surprised to see anyone else on the trail... i guess it's not that popular a peak? probably not popular with non-peakbaggers, given the difficulty of the summit block.
when other trip reports mentioned bushwhack near the summit i was prepared to be underwhelmed, the scale of "bushwhack" has a whole different meaning for folks familiar with california coastal peaks. in this case a bit of the meaning applies: the bushes (of which there aren't many) are thorned. i'm still not checking the bushwhack box though, it wasn't all that bad. although i thought about the clippers in my car and how they would have made short work of the few plants i had to avoid.
the scramble was fun, and i wondered about the "big step" at the top all the way until i was within a few feet of it and could finally see what i was in for. i'm afraid to say that i'm going to have to be placed into the group of people who are content to just tap the summit with their hand, and not stand on it. the step was a bit too big for me to attempt solo (the gaggle of teens had long since passed out of shouting range, i know, because they kept yelping the whole way down the hill). i was content to sit on the subordinate rock (also the location of the benchmark), a mere 1' lower than the actual summit, and enjoy the views and a snack.
the summit is probably very nasty when wet: all the rocks are covered with lichen. i associate that much lichen with a more wet climate... but this is arizona? i probably could go look up the rainfall, but mother nature decided to demonstrate to me just how wet it can get here: on the drive between hualapai and phoenix i would spend more time with the wipers on max than i have spent in total in california over the past decade. it was pretty cool to see all the normally dry washes just totally flooded. i was glad i was on the highway and not on a dirt road. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 2559 ft / 779 m | | Extra Gain: | 450 ft / 137 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 7.6 mi / 12.2 km | | Trailhead: | 6758 ft / 2059 m | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Scramble | | Ascent Statistics | | Time: | 2 Hours 6 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Time: | 1 Hours 40 Minutes | GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
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Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Dean Gaudet
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