Iron Moutain/Cone Peak Loop 7/23/2021

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JBG
Posts: 32
Joined: June 21st, 2021, 7:01 pm

Iron Moutain/Cone Peak Loop 7/23/2021

Post by JBG » July 26th, 2021, 8:20 am

N.B. We had our other planned hikes canceled because of fire activity, so call ahead to check what's open!

We started out on Friday mid-morning at Tombstone TH. Great weather; sunny but still cool. The TH has been moved to the end of the parking lot and the first part has been groomed with wood chips. It was like walking on clouds.
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We moved up through the early meadows and forged on to the steep summit climb.
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Beautiful day, few clouds, a few wisps of smoke. It's very exposed up top. No shade, not a great place for lunch.
The little viewing deck up top is one of those great 360 degree views.
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One of the trees was being swarmed by these dark bugs. I have no idea what was going on here. Anyone else?
https://youtu.be/9vhBFNA28wg

The descent on the far side is gradual and moves from rocky exposed areas to cooler shade and expansive meadows. Most of the flowers seem to have already done their thing during this year's early summer.
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We stopped in a small glade for a rest.
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One section of meadow seems to have been mowed?!
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Final view of Tombstone prairie as we returned to the TH
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It only got up to the 80's while we were there.
Bug Report: None to speak of. I was wearing permethrin treated clothes, but my friends weren't and we weren't swarmed or even bothered on our stops.
Water: Unless you can squeeze it from a stone, bring enough for your trip. We did encounter some damp mud at one point.
Traffic: Ran into a number of people on the half mile or so of the trail that leads to the summit and there were a couple of hiking groups at the top. The loop before and after we didn't see anyone.

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