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| Hiking | 53.44 Miles |
9,735 AEG |
| | Hiking | 53.44 Miles | 23 Hrs 51 Mns | | 2.69 mph |
| 9,735 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 57 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | The Highline ... something I've done many parts of but never done the whole thing, start to finish. Finally, it was the time to check it off the list. What's more, every time I have hiked the Highline, I have been rained or hailed on...this time was no exception. Took a friend with me who also wanted to do it.
Day 1: Pine TH to Bray Creek
Started out in the afternoon, leaving Pine TH about 2:15pm. Shortly after starting, we ran into Rob, the first of 2 AZT through-hikers encountered on this trip. Rob had started in Mexico on Mar. 4. Made our first and only wrong turn early on here, accidentally getting on the Donahue Trail that heads up to Milk Ranch Point. Didn't lose a lot of time, maybe a mile. Passed Geronimo TH at 6:15. Later in the afternoon, before dark, saw our first deer and elk. We wanted to camp at the East Verde by Washington Park TH, but our late start prevented us from getting there. Little slow going, my friend was nauseated, but we figured a good night's sleep would cure it. We finally made it to Bray Creek about 8:30pm with our headlamps and decided to settle for it. Bray was almost dry, just a few shallow puddles, but there were two black pipes running from up the creek, paralleling it, rushing all the water downhill for someone else. It's odd to be right next to water flowing so strong you can hear it flowing in your tent, but because it's in a black pipe you can't get a drop of it. Finished Day 1: 13.12 mi, 2820aeg, 6hr 15min, 1:09 break.
Day 2: Bray Creek to Hatchery TH
Started out from Bray Creek at 7am, made it to Washington Park TH by 10:10. Interesting, found a nice, new 6pt elk antler sitting on the trail. Between Dude and Bonita Creeks we ran into two surveyors with VOAZ (Volunteers of Outdoor Arizona). Really nice guys. They said they live in Scottsdale but drive up every week to do this surgery work, as they are looking for ways to improve the trail and its route. Apparently their organization has been doing this for a while now (you can read about it by going to www.voaz.org and under "Get Involved" you'll find the "VOAz Highline Project"). There is even info there in case you want to help volunteer with part of the project. They have already pretty much finished work from Hatchery TH to 260 TH, and this day wanted to do work between Dude Creek and the 144 Control Road. It turned out to be a blessing that we ran into them, because we left them and by the time we made it to the Control Road, where their truck was parked, my friend was ready to bow out. He'd been feeling sick again most of the day, and decided to hang back and beg for a ride out. We made a contingency in that, if he couldn't get them to give him a ride out, that he would hang out at nearby Perley Creek until I finished the Highline and could come back for him the following day. Wasn't crazy about the idea, but there weren't any other decent options, we were kind of at the ½way point, his truck was at Pine TH and mine at 260 TH. With that, I decided to head on to Hatchery TH, our intended destination for the night. Speeding it up and without taking as many breaks, I made it to Hatchery just after dark at 7:20. Just before dark, I ran into another AZT thru-hiker, who had started in Mexico in February and had decided to detour from the AZT to do the entire Highline and was on his way back, nice guy. Ran into several more deer and elk and even an owl near dusk. Finished Day 2: 22.09 mi, 3805aeg, 12hr 22min, 2:40 break.
Once I arrived at Hatchery TH, I realized there weren't really any good options for pitching a tent, but I pitched the tent here anyway in some thick grass next to the parking lot anyway in case my friend actually did get a ride back to his vehicle and showed up. About 45 minutes after I had pitched my tent and was eating a dinner of Pringles and peanut butter (oops, he had the stove) ... he drove up. The volunteer surveyors did have compassion on him, plus he offered them $40 for the ride to treat them to a nice dinner before heading back to Scottsdale for the night. Now that he had a vehicle, and I had put 22+ miles in with a heavy backpack, I wanted more protein than my Mountain House had to offer, so he drove us into Payson for a late night Arby's run. Ahhh...chicken cordon bleu! Hearing that a storm was rolling in at midnight, I decided to ditch the tent and just slept in the truck.
Day 3: Hatchery TH to 260 TH
Woke up about 5:30am, tossed out the idea of having him join me for part of the conclusion of the hike (Hatchery to See Canyon, or See Canyon to 260), but he was done done. He was not wanting to push it again, plus he was concerned about the trail being muddy and the threat of the storm ramping back up for the day, mostly by 11am. With 17 miles to go, I decided if I just ditched my gear, I could run it and beat the storm. So he graciously brought my gear back to Tucson while I took a 1 liter Gatorade bottle with water, an umbrella, my GPS and my SPOT and took off, at 6am. The morning was fabulous. It was a little muddy but not bad. Hatchery to See is the best section of the trail, if you ask me; love this section. Made it to See Canyon TH by 9:10am, the only place I saw someone else today on the trail, a guy on a four wheeler at the trailhead. Once 10am hit, with 4 miles to go to the 260 TH, the rain started and quickly turned into hail. I thought to myself, how ironic. It was on this same segment of trail 8 years ago while doing the Mogollon Rim Vista Loop that I was in my most dangerous situation ever on a hike [ triplog ] , a monsoon hailstorm with lightning popping everywhere, and not having the gear to protect myself. After about 15 minutes, once I had had time to reminisce the last hailstorm, it let up, and I had clear skies the rest of the way to the end. Made it to the trailhead at 11:15am, with the storm kicking in 10 minutes later. Finished Day 3: 18.23 mi, 3110aeg, 5hr 14min, 0:08 break. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
mostly from Hatchery TH to 260 TH. |
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Bray Creek @ Highline |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | mostly empty because two black pipes upstream are taking all the water and flowing it downhill |
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Pine Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | along the ground, ground wet but not easy to get water |
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Red Rock Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | dripping but cement tank full, water clear and good | | _____________________
| "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." — Henry David Thoreau |
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