A visit to Arizona's newest state park, which memorializes the 19 fire crewman who were killed by the Yarnell Hill Fire in the summer of 2013
1 GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS TRAIL
2 This new state park south of Yarnell has been open only three months
3 It memorializes the Granite Mountain Hotshot disaster, in which 19 men in one crew were killed
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5 Because the parking area is incised into rock at the edge of Hwy 89, a stairway runs up to connect to the trail
6 This granite terrain is very different fromthe places we normally hike
7 The highway is already far below
8 Each of the lost firefighters is memorialized by a plaque adjacent to the trail as we climb
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10 A large feedlot is visible on the flats below the highway
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14 A glance bac. Our starting point is just around the corner on the upper (southbound) road
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33 Nearing the top of the ridge
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36 A brief break at the first saddle
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39 From here we can see across to ranches below
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43 Because this memorial trail will be used by many peope not used to hiking, there are several benches
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50 At the top of the ridge, we follow it along to an obervation deck
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53 Now the town of Yarnell comes into view
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58 We can now see the fatality site, marked witha cicle of gabions, 400 ft below the ridge. THe open end of the small canyon leads to a ranch (sandy area) and Yarnell
59 The fatality site and its memorials, a gabion and center cross for each man
60 This observation deck is at the end of the ridge, overlooking the fatality site
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62 At the time of the fire iin 2013, the brush was up to six feet high
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64 At the fatality site, people and organizations leave mementos
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75 Back atthe observation deck...
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77 ...we have lunch. This point is 1400 ft above the trailhead.
78 Those were high bushes before the burn
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80 As we start back, some of the first flowers of spring
