DESTINATION Generic 46 Photosets
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| Thunderbird Park H3 H1, AZ | |
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| | Thunderbird Park H3 H1, AZ | | | |
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Thunderbird Park H3 H1, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.70 Miles |
790 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.70 Miles | 1 Hour 58 Mns | | 2.27 mph |
| 790 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| Partners |
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none
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| no partners | | | Swore after my last hike here in February of 2012, I wouldn't come back. Together, H1 and H3 constitute a loop trail around a barren-looking hill with too much lava rock and Teddy Bear cholla, few trees and encroaching housing development. But then this morning I remembered the brittlebush and how it had covered the hill's entire north side and that here it was a year later at the height of brittlebush bloom season. I imagined a sea of gold awaiting. So I dragged MJ along with her bad knee, telling her it was a short, easy hike and that the golden brittlebush would knock her eyes out. So off we went, going clockwise on the H3's drab south side only to soon realize that up here in the northwest part of the Valley, the brittlebush season had peaked and was on the wane. Then we rounded a turn and there it was, like entering another galaxy, acres and acres of yellow brittlebush poking up through blackened rock, bushes that maybe a week ago really would've knocked your eyes out. But even now it was impressive as was the view coming down on the northeast from the rocky high point at an el of 1,808 feet. The hike was longer than I thought, and it was dark as we hooked up with H1 on the eastern corner and headed back to the parking lot in darkness, the last car to leave the lot. But it had been worth it to see all the glitter. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Patches of phacelia and fiddlestick along the north side leading up to the summit. |
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