How.much Money To Hike Granite Mountain Memorial

At Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park in Yarnell, a ring of 19 metal mesh containers, known as gabions, marks the site where 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots died in 2013.

I'm not a fan of writing trail descriptions in the first person. The starring characters of Arizona trails are the terrain, waterways, scenery, wildlife and plants. That I happened to hike a detail trail is not part of its theme or the influence it will have on other trekkers.

When budgeted a trail, I program for the worst and hope for the best while the mantra "suck information technology up, buttercup" bounces around in my skull. Normally, I subdue my writing voice and then my personal biases won't dilute a trail's graphic symbol or unwittingly seed expectations. Why rob hikers of the joy of discovery?

Merely occasionally a trail is so steeped in emotion that all I can muster is a stammering, beginning-person account. The Hotshots and Journeying trails at Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park near Yarnell embody that spirit.

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My first impression of this remote and incomparably vertical destination was 1 of awe and confusion. Equally State Road 89 approaches the site, the imposing Weaver Mountains ascension over the desert in sheer, granite heaps. I wondered how the heck does a trail get up those hills?

The answer came at the trailhead, which is merely a tiny pull-out along the highway, its fresh paint and bright new data kiosk bolstered by neon orange route barriers. A metal staircase hoists hikers up an insurmountable cliff confront to connect with the trail. From this point, the hike is a whole lot of upwards with a few short stretches of flat in between.

Epic views of the Date Creek Mountains and dry-wash-riddled valleys appear immediately. These wildlands give us so much. Fresh air, peace and quiet, natural resources and recreational opportunities. Peering out over landscape, the random remains of torched trees remind i that the wildlands also take.

In June 2013, the Yarnell Hill Fire blazed through this rugged territory, taking the lives of xix fire fighters. These brave men are memorialized with plaques placed roughly every 600 anxiety forth the Hotshots Trail. Additional signs near benches at breathtaking lookouts give information nearly firefighting and the timeline of the Yarnell Hill Fire.

The outset plaque shows up subsequently a few hundred feet of hiking. It's mounted on a gigantic, pyramid-shaped granite bedrock and sets the phase for an emotional 2.85-mile journey of remembrance. This hit me harder than I thought it would. I didn't know any of these men or their families, so why was a hurting in my gut working its fashion upward to my throat?

"I'm non gonna cry. I'm non gonna cry. Suck it upwardly."

A burned tree lines the Hotshots Trail at Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park in Yarnell.

As I approached each plaque, I stopped to read the curt paragraphs nigh each homo's life. They were and then immature and defended to their work and families. It occurred to me that the nature of their piece of work likewise made them elite hikers — kindred spirits for those of united states who aspire to trek for miles in horrible conditions packing 50 pounds of gear and withal have enough energy and courage to adventure life and limb to protect others.

"Middle be nevertheless. Own't gonna happen. Suck it up."

Only beyond the final plaque, the trail makes a long traverse on a ridge overlooking the fatality site. Iv hundred feet below, a Stonehenge-like circle of 19 gabions (big metal mesh baskets) surrounds the place where the men perished.

At the trail's high point, an ascertainment deck marks the beginning of the Journey Trail that traces the hotshots' final trek. Here, I met a grouping of people wearing T-shirts and hats emblazoned with various fire department logos. They came from Phoenix, Prescott, Flagstaff, California and Canada in sort of a pilgrimage of brotherhood. There's a sign at the deck with color photos of the 19 and a summary of the fire's progression. When viewed from but the correct angle, the portraits align with the fatality site beneath.

"I'm not gonna cry."

Decision time. Should I go downward the 0.75-mile Journey Trail to visit the terminal memorials? To farther mess me up, correct at this juncture, a flock of ravens appeared on the air currents to a higher place, their vocalizations morphing from "caw, caw" into "get, get." A psychic in Sedona once told me that the raven is my animal totem, and so I went.

The sensation was a maniacal elixir of exhilaration and numbness. I didn't know quite what to experience. Was this a taking sort of voyeurism or a genuine giving of respect? It's hard to discern when distracted by conflicting moods and egged on by astonishing beauty and utter disaster.

The fatality site sits at the mouth of a yawning canyon a heartbreaking half-mile from a ranch. The ugliness of the burn has more often than not disintegrated and fresh sprouts are emerging from the bases of resilient shrubs that were here, then gone and here again.

At the eastward terminate of the memorial circle, somebody left a scorched Granite Mount Hotshots T-shirt. That'due south where I lost it. Heaving sobs for people I don't know in a place I had never been, I approximate this trail was a little bit near me afterwards all. And it'south nigh you, too. We alive, we love, nosotros hike, we win, nosotros lose and information technology all ends upwardly in a big circumvolve — kind of like the Tone that rolled out before me at the base of operations of Yarnell Hill.

Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park

What: The Hotshots and Journey trails commemorate the lives of the 19 men who died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.

Length: seven.2 miles round trip to complete both. The Hotshots Trail is two.eight miles and leads to the 0.75-mile Journey Trail. The elevation gain is 1,200 anxiety.

Rating: Moderate.

Elevation: four,318-five,061 feet.

Getting there: From central Phoenix, take Interstate 17 north to State Route 74 (Carefree Highway). Head 30 miles west toward Wickenburg and turn right (north) on U.South. lx. Continue on U.S. 60 to the traffic circle at the Hassayampa River bridge, veer left and go north on State Route 93 to SR 89 (White Spar Highway). Follow SR 89 toward Yarnell, go left at the split up, caput up the winding mountain route and turn left at the sign for the park. All roads are paved. There are 13 parking spaces and temporary restrooms at the trailhead.

Details: azstateparks.com/hotshots.

Source: https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/hiking/2017/03/20/granite-mountain-hotshots-park-hiking-trails-yarnell/99263496/

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