On top of Mt. Ellen

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Mt. Ellen - Garfield County- 11,522 ft. - High-Point Rank: 12th
The Henry Mountains were the last mapped mountain range in the lower 48 states.  They are said to be extemely remote and many websites warn to take precautions for your own safety.  The only precautions we needed to take were earplugs for the hoards of ATV’s passing our camp until long past dark only to start again before daylight.

Apparently the Henry Mountains are one of the Country’s premier hunting locations.  They must have just released the deer hunt draw results because those mountains were packed with 4-wheelers, Rhinos, camoflauge and spotting scopes.  We were definitely not alone.  We saw many deer and there was surprisingly a lot more bucks than does...and they weren’t just small bucks either.

The next morning, we drove the rest of the way over to the trailhead.  Before heading out, we went to sign the trail register.  As my brother lifted up the wooden lid that covered the paperwork,  he immediately let it fall back down and jumped back a few feet.  Nestled in one of the corners of the wooden box was a cluster of black bees who must have spent the night there.  Needless to say,  we didn’t register.

The walk up was gentle compared to previous hikes, there were wildflowers everywhere and several other hikers on the trail as well.  We reached the top after a short while and as we were looking around, we determined we truly hadn’t reached the highest one yet,  just a different rise that had tricked us.  We continued walking and once again celebrated our climb on the next hilltop........only to realize we had been tricked again.   We finally made it over to what we assumed was the correct peak thanks to the mailbox and stack of rocks.  There was another group that arrived soon after we did and we all marveled at the large buffalo herd further down the slope.  The Henry Mountains is home to one of the few free-ranging buffalo herds left in the US and we had the privelege of watching them for a short time.

It was an easy trip back to the truck where we loaded up and continued heading west to try and reach Boulder Top.  
 

 

 

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