Parked inside the campground with $10 parking fee. Started the hike midday with gradual climb. Warm weather but not hot & not too windy. A lot of mosquitoes and bugs along the Azalea Glen trail due to moderate water flowing in creeks hidden in the bushes. Vegetation is lush which gives the trail a lot of shade. But lesser bugs when you turn along the lookout fire road which is 1.5 miles to the peak. It's all steep uphill from this point specially the last half mile. The summit was breathtaking! But we almost missed the markers because there's no more visible trail to get to them. You have to scramble under some entangling branches of bigger bushes. We took the fire road all the way back to the campground. It's faster going down along this road but not very shady and steeper as well. Very challenging hike! Not just the ascent but the bugs are quite huge! Treat all clothing and gear with permethrin spray & spray on exposed skin with picaridin insect repellent. Tried and tested!
AZ Winter 20% off early-bird rate ends in
:
:
:
Responses