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The Hikers Union

3/21/2016

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After 3 days of hard rides I needed a rest day so, hooked up with a group to hike one of my favorites, Elephant Head in Madera Canyon.  There it is, behind Deanna, one of 5 in our little group. The forest service road to the trail head is brutal and a high clearance vehicle is needed to navigate.  This required car pooling, which generally I avoid because...
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.....once the hike is finished, I'm not getting out until the last of the group finishes the hike.  Oh boy, right off the bat I had bad vibes and my sense was confirmed when, after completing the first 1/3 of the route the latter part of which is a 700' descent into a gully, the group stopped to rest and refuel.  I paused, walked up a ways to take a pic, thinking this might spur them to movement and then took off.  I'd rather break at the summit and enjoy the views then in the gully.
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After climbing the 800' out of the gully, the views are wonderful, including the observatory at the top of Mt Hopkins, center right.
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The irregular landscape to the south is fantastic viewing too and after working my way through numerous obstacles I reached.....
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....the summit where the shrine for elephants is located.  Not sure why there is a giraffe in there too.  I sat, watched, drank, ate an apple, checked my Garmin many times and after 40 minutes.....
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....here they came at last.  Each seemed really fit but they just liked to stop frequently so I thought maybe they belonged to a hikers union and work rules required numerous breaks?
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Some of the adjoining peaks.
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The gully into which I must descend on the way back.  My legs were fatigued and I was not looking forward to the return.
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We refueled, spread on more sunscreen and off we went.  I soon had a good gap and kept going, reaching a saddle prior to dropping into the trail head and there sitting in the shade were.....
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....two mountain bikers.  Had a nice talk before they hiked a bike up an alternate trail.  I sat in the shade, 88 degrees but a nice breeze for 30 minutes before I could spot my colleagues in the distance coming down trail.  I got up, walked to the parking area, waited another 30 minutes and then here they came.  Finished with 7 miles and quite a bit of climbing. 
        
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    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

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