Saturday, May 13, 2023

Hot Shots Memorial Hike

May 7 is National Fallen Fire Fighters Day. Papa and I honored the day by hiking the Granite Mountain Hot Shots Memorial Trail in Yarnell. Weather was absolutely perfect with sunshine, temps in the 60s, and a refreshing breeze.
We arrived around 8:30 am, easily found a spot in the limited parking lot along Highway 89. Top photo: our car, Betsy, in the parking lot when starting the hike. 2nd photo: The parking lot far below; we are only about a quarter mile up.
The trail wasn't crowded yet enough people were hiking so we had help, if needed. A ranger, clearing over-grown vegetation along the trail, was helpful. He shared how the Hot Shots protected the town of Yarnell.

He also encouraged us to utilize the four benches along the trail to rest in the shade. These are well-placed to provide a rest before starting another steep incline on the trail. A close-up showing detail on the benches in lower right.
The trail is well-maintained with solid stone 
steps in many places. Flowering plants provide interest (photos below). Lizards frequently scurried across the trail. We hiked slowly, enjoying the beauty and cautious of Papa's knees. Face it, we aren't kids. At the third bench, we met a nice, young couple who described the trail ahead; they hiked it before. They hiked faster than us!
Being a memorial trail, there are signs/memorials for each of the 19 hot shots spaced along the length of the trail. Each sign is engraved with an image of the firefighter and brief bio. Plus mile signs are prominent and helpful in gauging both endurance and water. The humorous, but truthful, sign is at the halfway point. Truth, you better have water. Humor, the boulder looks like a dog’s nose
The fourth bench features a sign with the details of the fire. The facts were presented well and made sense. Then you look up. The sobering site of the fatality circle honoring the fallen is visible hundreds of feet below.
Not far beyond the fatality circle are the homes of Yarnell. Those homes were saved in that horrific fire that happened almost 10 years ago...June 28, 2013. Our selfie is taken facing the fourth bench with the view from the sign behind us. The yellow arrow indicates the fatality site. What a sobering and informative hike! If given the opportunity, this is an excellent hike.

We did not hike beyond this point. We saw what we came to see and, as I mentioned, we aren't young kids! This hike, including down to the actual memorial is estimated to take four hours (7 miles/1700 ft. elevation total). It took Papa and I four-and-a-half hours to hike 5.25 miles/1200 ft. elevation. That's an average of 48 minutes per mile. It is steep and we took several breaks, including a long one at the overlook point. That young couple we met at the third bench? We saw them again, at the base of the stairs near the parking lot. They hiked all the way down to the memorial and back. 








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