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| Hiking | 13.10 Miles |
2,770 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.10 Miles | 6 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.50 mph |
| 2,770 ft AEG | 1 Hour 8 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | After my recon by 4x4 and on foot on 2/13/12 we couldn't wait to get back out there and hike at least part of the new AZT#16 passage south from the new AZT#17 TH.
As cold as it turned out to be we weren't in too much of a hurry to get started but still ended up at the trail head by 9 am. With temps in the low 40's and a stiff breeze we wasted little time donning our extra layers and setting off southward along the new AZT#16. Not being AZT purists the fact we were 'hiking the wrong way' on the AZT never entered our minds. Besides, we were doing and out-and-back hike just as far as the point we reached northward on AZT#16 a month ago.
One thing nice about heading south was that most of the hike was downhill. Previously we'd only hiked a portion of the old AZT#16 route over by White Canyon and enjoyed the scenery, but with so much of this portion high up on slopes looking down I have a feeling this new route provides more scenic panoramas.
Although our planned turnaround point was only 2.1 miles as-the-crow-flies, the actual mileage was over 5-1/2 miles, so there were plenty of switchbacks. At one saddle we were only 800 feet horizontally from a lower part of the trail yet it took over 2 miles to get there. On our return trip we debated climbing vertically up the 400 or so feet to save that 2 miles. And due to so much up-and-down, it would have saved almost 300' in elevation gain. But by this time Tracey wasn't into off-trail scrambling so we stuck to the trail.
At our turn-around point we headed off east to do some exploring for another future hike before heading back northward. It was steady climbing now, gaining more AEG in the first few miles than we did on the whole southward leg and Tracey was already into whining mode. But once we made it back over the highest saddle it was mostly downhill so I was hearing none of it. Although the high temp for the day was only 56 degrees, it was great hiking weather!
Once back to the end of AZT#16, Tracey took the GPS and continued on the first part of the new AZT#17 passage while I hiked back up to the Samurai to drive down and meet here at the point where the old and new parts diverged. We did this to provide an accurate route for the new AZT#17 passage. When I got home I took the northern 90% of Bruce's 1/8/11 track and merged it with the new portion and posted it.
http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=11567
Tracks for the driving route to the AZT#17 TH are here:
Part 1 (stock 4x4 accessible): http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=11568
Part 2 (ATV or very capable 4x4): http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=11569
Proving the need for the second part vehicle requirement we had a bit of a moment on the steepest hill driving back out and it took a very carefully planned second attempt to make it, which was good since there was no place to hook the winch cable to if we didn't.
I posted only 50 photos on HAZ, the full set of 115 photos is here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/album.php?id=45
I posted a short video here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=46
Great hike and 4x4 trip! |
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