Backpacker – September 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

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feet from the parking lot (marked by
an old windmill) through arroyos
lined with green stone and dense
stands of ironwoods and foothill palo
verde. The vegetation thins to low-
growing jojoba bushes as you hike the
increa singly steep slope. Keep a n eye
out for bighorn sheep on the upper
saddle, where a rainwater guzzler is
maintained for them (BYO drinking
water). From the solitary summit, the
scr ub-dotted Avra Va lley stretches
out to the east and Ragged Top’s
molar-like formations protrude to
the north.

COOL OFF
After a long day in the sun and dry
deser t heat, head down to Avra Va lley

to the classic bar and grill Circle S

Saloon. Try a specialty cocktail (like

the Sex y Gator) or coffee drink ( per-

haps a Hot Chocolate Turtle?) and

satisfy your hiker appetite. “They’ve

got good hamburgers,” Borax says—

and on Mondays, you can build your

own. Other specials throughout the

week include Wino Wednesdays a nd

Taco Sunday.

TRIP PLANNER

SEASON October to May for more

moderate temperatures and weather

(but most peaks are under voluntary

closure during bighorn sheep lambing

season from January to April) PERMIT

None CONTACTS ironwoodforest.org ;

blm.gov/visit/ironwood

19

Bingeing to prepare for winter (hyperphagia, in

science talk) is one strategy animals employ to

store enough fat to survive until spring, when food

becomes plentiful again.

BULK UP.

5

We don’t recommend this for

mammals with puff y jackets and

cook stoves, but fattening up

works for these big gainers.

Arctic ground squirrel

Party trick: These deep, deep hibernators deploy

a sort of internal antifreeze, which lets their body

temp drop as low as 27°F during periods of the 7 to 8

months they spend in the freezer.

DEEPEST CHILL

100% WEIGHT GAIN

Grizzly bear

All you can eat: In the 2 to 4 months before

hibernation, grizzlies can put away 20,000 to

100,000 calories per day, leading to a daily gain of 3

to 4 pounds. Sometimes, they eat around the clock.

MOST GLUTTONOUS

70% WEIGHT GAIN

Yellow-bellied marmot

Jammies all day: Marmots are decried for their

laziness, but they’re just misunderstood. If you

see one lounging, it’s working hard at energy

conservation. They max out their fat reserves at 50

percent of their body weight before burrowing down.

BEST LIFE

50% WEIGHT GAIN

Little Brown Bat

Waste not: Bats don’t just tap the brakes on their

metabolic processes, they stomp on ‘em. Even

without a huge binge, bats can survive up to 6 months

on a few grams of stored fat. Their heart rate drops

97 percent to 10 beats per minute.

MOST EFFICIENT

0% WEIGHT GAIN