Saturday, July 31, 2010

Wild Horse Ridge - 7/31/10


It was a beautifully cloudy day for thirty- one hikers to climb the North Loop Trail and descend on Wild Horse Ridge today. The sun was not a factor as we hiked up to the meadow ... and, neither was rain. We enjoyed the cool breeze and took our time going up the 1000 feet in elevation. On the way, we leap- frogged with three twenty- something men who had "a new respect" for us old- timers by the time we all made it to the top!

As each hiker arrived at the meadow, we found a place to sit and eat our snack while non- stop conversa- tions filled the air. It was interesting that the shelter of sticks and logs which is usually there among the trees no longer exists. A fire had been built there by a tree which was mostly burned, too, and we figure the two observations are related.



After our break, we crossed the meadow, passed the old bristlecone tree at the end, and started out on the small foot path which leads on a mostly level contour around to a rocky ridge. We dropped down a ways and found ourselves on a narrow ridge which overlooked the canyon formed by Deer Creek. We could also see Mummy's Chin higher in the same direction.

Behind us, Mummy Mountain loomed. And, in front of us, the desert playa of the Nevada Test Site was in the distance. The ridge hike was fun and easy terrain. We hiked the ridge all the way down to the intersection of Highway 158 and the dirt road which runs up beside Deer Creek. From there, we hiked beside the road back to our cars. The total mileage for the hike was around 3.75 miles.



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