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| Hiking | 13.40 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 13.40 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.98 mph |
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| no partners | | I was surprised that there is not a Hike Description on HAZ of the Charles M. Christiansen ("CMC") Trail since it is the major trail across the Preserve. The current description by HikingBob is only for the Eastern Third of the CMC, so I set out with the Goal of a round-trip thru-hike it so that I could write a Trail Description for HAZ.
Very few people thru-hike the entire CMC. Most Hikers choose a section and choose how much they want to hike. This is a great trail for beginners, families, pets and everybody. If you hike the entire trail it's an "A" hike. The entire CMC is approximately 21 miles round trip with just under 2,000 AEG. This is Rim-to-Rim distance but with only 1/3 of the RtR AEG.
There are 5 major Trailheads and numerous minor Trailheads to access the CMC.
I think of the CMC in "thirds": 1) Eastern Third (Dreamy Draw TH to Tatum TH), 2) Middle Third (Dreamy Draw TH to North Mountain Visitors Center TH) and 3) Western Third (North Mountain Visitors Center to Mountain View Park TH). Most people hike the Eastern Third from the Dreamy Draw TH to the junction with the 40th Street Trailhead through the main section of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. The mountain bikers like to park at the 7th Street Visitor Center and bike the western section of the Middle Third from 7th Street to Cave Creek.
My Plan today was to start at the Dreamy Draw TH and hike west to the Mountain View Park TH. Fill up with water then hike back to Dreamy Draw, fill up with water, hike to the Tatum TH and then back to the Dreamy Draw TH.
The plan started out great. Got to the Mountain View Park TH. Numerous interesting "urban campers" at this park. (Calling them "homeless" or "bums" just seems so harsh, judgemental and uncaring  ). I had never imagined that one could make such a great tent out of broken umbrellas. I had to crop the picture of the CMC plaque to remove "inappropriate artistic expression" (aka graffiti). The restrooms are closed because of vandalism.
Headed back to Dreamy Draw. Got to Dreamy Draw with all-systems go until I went to the water faucet. I have seen better water pressure from springs in the Superstitions in the summer than I saw at this water faucet today. If this was water that I needed to get back to a trailhead, I would have patiently filled up. Since I did not have the patience to spend an hour filling up water, and the temperature was rising rapidly, I cut the hike short today. Next time, I'll cache the water in my 4Runner and not bank on the faucet. I'll probably fill up with water at the North Mountain Visitors Center so that I don't spend any extra time among the "urban campers". |
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Anybody can make a hike harder. The real skill comes in making the hike easier.
life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. Andy Rooney |
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