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Goldfield Mountains
December 15, 2018
by Debbie Rowray
 Trailblazers at Dome Mountain Trailhead. [photo by Bill] |
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Fifteen hearty hikers set forth on an excursion into the Goldfield Mountains early on a brisk and windy Saturday morning, with a multi-colored sunrise in tow. |
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 The rosy fingers of dawn. [photo by Debbie] |
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 Sunrise (well, cloudrise, anyway) over the Superstitions. [photo by Lin] |
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 Four Peaks are cloud-topped. [photo by Debbie] |
 The Four Peaks rise majestically in the northeast. [photo by Yanis] |
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The summit of Dome Mountain waiting in the background, we hiked up a Jeep road to the trail, barely noticeable on the northeast end. As the trail slowly ascended, the variant hues of bright green, brown and tan began to surround us, with caves decorating the mountain cliffs. Once at the saddle, views of Four Peaks and Mt Ord along the mighty horizon of the Mazatzals came into range. The vibrant sky filled the entire hike with many patterns in the clouds that enhanced the beauty of the mountains around us. Once past the saddle, the climb to the top was a trail filled with slippery rock and some exposure, with vast views. |
 Steve, Chip, Bill. [photo by Debbie] |
 I’m such a pretty, pretty bee! [photo by Lin] |
 We’re almost there. [photo by Bill] |
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At the summit we congregated for a bit to catch our breath and take in the 360 degree view, and then ventured down the west side of the mountain off-trail to the Camouflage water tanks for lunch. |
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 Western Camouflage Tanks. [photo by Gary] |
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 The tanks are sure different from the way they looked in 2003. [photo by Gary] |
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After refueling, each hiker made their own path back to the original trail; fighting catclaw, cactus, and slickrock along the on the east side of the mountain. There was notice of poppies and other wildflowers still sharing their existence along our hike, a true sign of October’s generous rains. |
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 Hmmm, this seems to be the way. [photo by Yanis] |
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 What a great view from the top! [photo by Tom] |
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 Watch your step on that slickrock. [photo by Lin] |
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 A’down we go. [photo by Tom] |
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I want to thank everyone for joining me on such an invigorating and lovely excursion. A mighty thank you to Chip, for helping me out. I cannot wait to explore more of this unique mountain range! Thank you, Tom, for our statistics: 7.6 miles/5 hrs 38 min/1990' accumulated elevation gain. |
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Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Phoenix, Arizona
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updated December 18, 2018