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| Hiking | 1.00 Miles |
425 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.00 Miles | 30 Mns | | 2.00 mph |
| 425 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | After getting through the Coon Spring Trail hike with a gimpy back, we got the "trailhead" for this short hike and my back still felt ok. It had tightened up just a little bit during the short ride over, but I knew I could handle it. When we arrived, there was already a black Toyota SUV parked there.
We followed the GPS track I downloaded from HAZ, which basically follows the wire fence from the corral. After a while, you can see the trail. There is an actual trail, by wilderness standards. It's pretty faint, but it definitely is there. On our way out we scaled our way down from one of the ruins and it became obvious very quickly how much of a difference it makes when there is no trail. As you approach the ruins the hillside gets steeper and full of loose rock, prickly pears and century plants. Having even a faint trail in this area was a blessing.
When we got to the ruins we met the people who came in the Toyota. It was fellow HAZers Johnnie, glutz (Greg) and Joel. They had already explored most of the ruins and had even found a way to get to the upper rooms. I was lucky to get as far as I did today with my back, so trying to climb up the vertical, crumbly walls was NOT on my itinerary.
Thankfully, the bee hive written about in previous triplogs seems to be no longer. Johnnie said that he saw what looked to be ringtail droppings and a bit of blackened honeycomb in one upper room. So it looks like the ringtail had a nice meal and helped the hikers out. Johnnie and Greg said that they saw a couple rattlers but thankfully we didn't run into them, either.
The views from here over Coon Creek and all the green were amazing. It's a huge contrast to the layered sandstone and red rock you see along most of the trails. After checking all the lower ruins, we bushwhacked our way down to the trail, which for me was even harder than usual. Bringing both my hiking poles was definitely the right move today. Perfect day for hiking and it was really nice to get this side trip in and check out these ruins. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
