Portal Rodeo Hiking Club - November 12, 2010

This weeks hike, in honor of the Gypsy Carpenters, was up Silver Peak in the Chiricahua Mountains.  Started at 8:00 AM with 2 others from the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club while the main party started at 9:00 AM from the Silver Peak trail head, trail 280, just beyond the Forest Service visitors center in Cave Creek Canyon.  It was a cool morning in the canyon and on some of the north facing slopes there were small patches of light frost on the ground.  We took a break at the overlook about 1000' from the top and regrouped for the final push to the summit.  The hike involves 3000' of elevation change along the advertised 4 1/2 mile trail and was in good shape.  At the top we ate lunch on the old fire lookout station foundation and Chiricahua Sky Island, Rodeo went hunting for benchmarks to record.  Then back down the mountain.  Below is a screen shot from Google Earth of the trail route and the interactive map is in the sidebar or here. 

Screen shot of Silver Peak trail, trail 280. Click on photograph to enlarge image.

Lunch on the old foundation of the old fire station lookout.