I'm going with the mileage taken from the City of Scottsdale maps, which said 11.1. My GPS odometer said 10.6 and after the track was saved it said 10.0, which seems way too short.

It appeared that I was going to get soaked on the way to the TH as there was a downpour during the majority of the drive there. 128th St. is just a dirt road and pretty primitive. A high clearance vehicle is definitely recommended, although I did see at least 2 regular cars there, so it's not impossible.

When I started the clouds were pretty heavy but by the time I finished the sun had started to come out. I started out taking the Tom's Thumb Trail from the North Access Area TH. My original plan was to go straight to The Lookout and then proceed to do the loop counter-clockwise. But since the clouds were so dense, I decided to go clockwise and took the East End Trail once I got to that junction. From there I took the Windgate Trail to the Tom's Thumb Trail, up to The Lookout and back to the TH. Ascending up the Tom's Thumb Trail there were alot of fallen saguaros visible. I hiked back into the clouds towards the top of Tom's Thumb Trail and then along The Lookout Trail. It started to clear as I got to The Lookout and then cleared even more as I made my way back to the car.

The wind and clouds made for some different scenery and kept the temperatures cool as I hoofed it up through the switchbacks.