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| Hiking | 16.40 Miles |
4,400 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.40 Miles | 7 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.34 mph |
| 4,400 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I've been wanting to finish this segment for over a year! Last year, my family and I hiked the bottom 5 miles - from the Cross-F connector trail down to Highway 87 - the day the Sunflower Fire started!  As we were finishing the hike, we saw the smoke, planes, helicopters, hotshot crews - the works! Pretty amazing.
Anyway, now that that road to Mt. Peely has been opened, off we went. My oldest son went with me, along with - ready? - my youngest son's best friend's dad. He drove his Jeep, and parked it at the Cross-F trailhead, and piled into the Suburban for the drive to the Mt. Peely trailhead.
The road is very nice - good enough for my 2WD Suburban. We arrived at the trailhead at 6:30, snapped a group picture, and off we went.
WARNING! Unless you have a GPS or are very good with a compass and topo map, I'd suggest you do NOT hike this segment until the trail has been repaired. In several places - 100-400 yards each - the trail has been completely washed away because of the floods. This makes route finding difficult at best. We had a GPS and used the track from the AZT website.
Other than those washed out sections, the trail was very clear and easy to follow! Good signage or rock cairns at the appropriate places.
I was amazed to find green "islands" in amongst the burned areas. They were so cool and refreshing after hiking in the sun, especially Thicket Springs. Tall Ponderosa pines, lots of cool running water. Very nice, indeed.
As late as it is in the season, I couldn't believe the amount of water we saw. Everything from small seeps to large streams.
We passed two groups, the first was 2 men - through hikers, one in SHORTS! We had a nice chat with them. The second was a husband & wife. They had parked their SUV at the Mt. Peely trailhead the night before, and were hiking up to it.
Halfway through the hike I sat down, took off my boots and socks, checked my feet, and added gauze pads and duct tape where needed. As a result, I had only tiny inconsequential blister.
I started off with almost 2 gallons of water, and ended the hike with about a half gallon. I did share some with my son. I've learned my lesson - always take too much water!
A HUGE thanks to my sweetheart for overcoming her fears, and driving the Suburban down off the mountain. Thanks, sweetie - just like your mom, you are a gem!
AZT by the Numbers:
Miles Hiked: 81.4
Miles To Go: 718.6
Percent Complete: 10.18%
Segments Hiked: 4
Segments To Go: 38 |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of flowers all along the trail. Very pretty. |
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Route Editor
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