Sunday, October 16, 2011

Telegraph Pass, Yuma, AZ

When I was diving to Antelope Hill, I saw a bunch of people hiking Telegraph Pass. I did a little online research and found it to be a pretty popular Yuma hike. What I didn't realize is how steep the road was.

I headed to the trailhead shortly after work on Friday. From what I read online, it should take a fit person about 2 hours round trip. So I thought I could make it before sundown, unfortunately this meant it was a bit over 100 degrees.

When I arrived there were only two cars at the parking area. I saw a few trails so I headed up the one that lead up the wash to the left. I failed to follow the turn to the right at first and lost the trail off to the left. I back tracked and found the main trail. After I got back on the established trail it was pretty easy to follow, to the gate for the road to the top. At the gate I passed two guys on there way down, and saw a guy not too far ahead of me.

It took a while to realize how steep this paved road got after the gate, it doesn't happen right away. The road starts off following a wash that isn't very steep, then it hits an S curve. From there on it is steeper than I expected. Even with a few stops for photos, I caught the guy ahead of me by the time I reached the top.


The view from the top was pretty good. I couldn't get a good photo of Yuma, because the sun was directly behind it. I put my name in the summit logbook, got a few pictures and then headed back.

West -Yuma
South
East -Antelope hill and Wellington
Once I got back to the bottom and off the road and onto the trail, I started to see a lot more people hiking. It seems I was about an hour or so ahead of the crowds.


My iPhone finally cooperated, and produced this map for me.

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