I started the day in the lower right hand corner of the map, on the yellow line near Lexington Arch.
My big goal was to get up to Granite Peak. It's a somewhat isolated peak with no trail to it. There's not actually any granite near it, just limestone. And I hadn't climbed it ever! I was thinking I would spend the night at Mustang Spring, or possibly a but further north.
I woke up a little later than I wanted to, at 6:05 am. Geez, what a slacker (lol).
It took me 20 minutes to pack up and I headed up the old road behind the cabin. It twisted and turned and had clearly been washed out for awhile, with some older foot travel visible. I knew this was a back way to Lexington Arch, although I had never taken it. I enjoyed finding a little ponderosa pine seedling. Ponderosa pines thrive with low-intensity fire, as it allows their pinecones to open and the seeds to fall to the ground and germinate.
As I kept hiking I found a lot of elk sign, including a spot where one had recently bedded down, then got up and peed. I looked around, and not far from me was a big bull elk! As soon as he saw me, he took off running. I was just outside the national park, and apparently the elk knew it.
I enjoyed seeing some shadows on the burned landscape as the sun rose. Here are some yarrow flowers.
As I looked to the east, I saw a familiar form take shape--Lexington Arch! I did a little happy dance! I wasn't expecting to see it, so what a lovely surprise!
I kept hiking up. And up. And dodging tree branches. And then ahead of me I could see three peaks. Granite Peak is the one on the left, with the long, flat summit. Oof, it looked far away.
I just kept plugging along. I enjoyed these orange lichen-covered rocks. Off to the north I could see Pyramid Peak and beyond that, Wheeler Peak and Doso Doyabi.
I welcomed the cloud cover, which made it a little cooler.
The bristlecone pines take such wonderful forms! I took a little break near this one so I could enjoy it longer. My path? The rocky slope behind it. As you can see, there's absolutely no trail.
I got some views into the upper part of South Fork Big Wash, which has some awesome cliffs. Speaking of cliffs, at one point when I was down climbing along the ridge, one of my empty water bottles fell out of a pocket and bounced down the cliff and into the trees below. It kept rolling, and I knew I wouldn't be able to retrieve it. I felt bad about littering. On the bright side, I felt good that it wasn't my body going down the cliff. Later I found a helium balloon and packed that out, so I felt a little better about removing trash.
I kept hiking. And hiking. And, then, finally, I was at the summit of Granite Peak!
Here's the view looking south, towards Decathon and Highland Ridge Wilderness. Not a building in sight. This is so remote.
A summit register was in a jar in the rock pile. I was the only person for 2024 to sign in so far. Whoop, whoop! I read through the entries and found that I'm not the first one to do this backpacking route, someone did it a few years ago. Or at least they planned to, I'm not sure if they made it or not! There was also someone with extensive plans from the Lexington trailhead.
And here's my pack, a Gossamer Mariposa 60. I loved it. I took out the back pad to sit (and for extra padding at night). So many pockets kept everything easy to access. And best of all, it was very comfortable.
After a celebratory snack at the summit, it was time to head towards Mustang Spring. This was more hours of tough hiking, basically following the ridge.
Using my GPS app, I was able to find Mustang Spring. I only had about half a liter of water left at this point, so I needed this spring. The animal trails helped lead me there. There wasn't much water, but it was enough. I dug a little hole and then used a cup (from the stove--so I can say I used a part of the stove!) to fill up my filter. Earlier in the day I had been hoping to get to Mustang Spring by noon, but I got here at 2:30. I took a nice hour-long break, including eating and filling all my water bottles, plus watching the birds--red crossbills, dark-eyed juncos, and mountain chickadees, hang out at the spring.
Next it was time to head towards the ridge to the north. Along the way I found this rock, which I think is a fossil.
The views were just lovely, with yellow snowberry and currant bushes.
I found that I was on the "new" Highland Ridge Route, which goes from Mustang Spring to the north, following the drainage, and then meets up with the ridge just south of Lincoln Peak. Years ago I hiked the "old" Highland Ridge Route, which stays up high on the ridge and only goes down into Decathon near the southern park boundary. There's not a marked trail for either one, so it doesn't really matter which one you take, as long as you know where you are. (And if you need water, Mustang Spring is the only spring between Decathon trailhead and Lincoln Peak.)
The late afternoon light was gorgeous. I got so much energy just being in such a beautiful place.
But then it got even better. The little sprinkles turned into a rainbow over South Fork Big Wash! Another little happy dance!
And then it was time to eat again. I was absolutely starving, but fortunately I had put water into my dinner at Mustang Spring (and into an additional ziploc bag, which was good, because the Mountain House package didn't seal too well). It had cold-soaked long enough and was perfect. I thought I might just eat part of it, but I ate the whole package while I watched the clouds float by.
I started hiking and another rainbow came out. How lucky!
Later I saw a golden-mantled ground squirrel. What a cutie.
Then I noticed I could see my shadow hiking. Can you spot me below?
I still had to get up Lincoln Peak, but Highland Ridge at golden hour is insanely beautiful, so I didn't mind the continued hiking.
I turned my phone off airplane mode and called my husband as I approached Lincoln Peak. At the peak I saw someone had signed into the register that same day! Cool. It soon got dark, but I felt like continuing. I had hiked this section in the dark with a headlamp several times coming back from bighorn sheep searches and caving trips. I definitely needed my GPS app to find my way, as there are no markers or trail, and once you get down in the trees it gets very confusing.
Fortunately I got to the road and continued for a ways until I found a flat spot with little rocks to call home for the night. What a great day 2!
Just one day left!
Stay tuned...
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