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| Hiking | 10.80 Miles |
2,635 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.80 Miles | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 3.16 mph |
| 2,635 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 5 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Some of my hikes are rather short, when I'm looking for benchmarks. I spend more time, once at the benchmark area, than I do hiking, so I needed some "good ole exercise" and distance.
I have done every part of these two trails before, on other hikes, but never as a loop, so off I went clockwise. Again the hike was mostly for exercise - Just put my head down and move, and that's exactly what I did except for a rather time consuming off-trail search for an Azimuth benchmark.
About 2 miles into the hike, on Windgate Trail and abeam Drinkwater Pk, I went off trail to the east, all the way to the start of the vertical rocks. If I went any further east, I'd be going up a drainage to Drinkwater Peak. I was weaving back and forth on an imaginary line (the line was on my GPS), looking for any signs of an Azimuth benchmark. All I found was an old rancher's fence. I then weaved my way back to Windgate, going back and forth on or near that line.
Hopefully, nobody saw me weaving all over the place, as they might think I was seriously deranged. HA ! Maybe I was !
Once I got back to Windgate Trail, I did the same thing, off trail to the west, all the way down to a large wash and what looked like the remains of mining activity. No benchmark was found. It was a long-shot anyway.
My track is very accurate, even though the off-trail portion looks like either my GPS had a fit, or someone's "EKG" reading went wild.
What I did find (see) off trail, was the largest barrel cactus in the whole world. Well, the largest barrel I have ever seen, anyway. It was at least 8 feet tall and very fat and healthy. That was worth the off-trail excursion in itself.
After photos of my largest barrel ever, I got back on the trail, put my head down and finished my "exercise hike". It was a great day for a hike, and as it turned out, I must have been the only person with that opinion. I was a crowd of one, once I was 2 miles away from the trailhead.
It felt like I was on one of my ....... "Why would anyone hike there?" .... hikes.  |
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
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