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| no partners | | I was sort of bored Friday so decided to do some exploring in Rainbow Valley on the west side of the Sierra Estrella Mountains. I did the hike to Quartz Peak in the fall of 2009 and drove in from the south approach, as described here on HAZ. The first few miles after you leave SR238 are sort of gnarly in spots, along with two gates to pass through, so I was looking for another friendlier approach from the south to the access the hike to Quartz (or nearby Estrella Peak).
I drove beyond the turnoff at MP35 and hung a right on 91st Avenue by the landfill sign. This paved road curved around to the west to the entrance to the big landfill. Just before going into the landfill I made a right turn onto 99th Avenue and headed north as it skirts by the landfill area. It becomes dirt (actually nice, easy-on-the-tires sand) after the landfills. So far so good. Next obstacle was when I reached the Mobile Airport (privately owned and used for flight training by Lufthansa from what I found on the internet). There is a road that takes you around the west side of the field to a T intersection. Right turn here and followed the road east until I reached another T intersection. Left turn (northbound) here, as this is most likely a continuation of 91st Avenue. I was aiming to get back to the power line, as the road to the hiking spots follows that. Sure enough, my road intersected the power line road at a diagonal and I was back in business.
The nice thing about this route is you bypass the rough rocky sections and the two gates along the west side of Seven Mile Mountain. 
After driving in to the Quartz Peak TH, I continued north along the power line passing the interestion with Riggs Road (the way in for Phoenix folks headed for hikes out here). After a couple of miles I got to the spot where you would park to do Estrella. I hadn't been there since the early 1970's, but it still looks about the same out there.  I remembered way back then we would turn off of SR85 by the Liberty School and head south on Jackrabbit Trail/Rainbow Valley Road to get to Riggs. Most of that Rainbow Valley area is pretty flat and sandy with lots of abandoned agriculture artifacts. The biggest thing you have to worry about out there is maybe getting stuck in sand. Otherwise it is pretty mellow with plenty of desolation.
Next I drove west on Riggs Road through the sand until I hit pavement at Bullard Avenue. There is a slight realignment of Riggs Road there, and the rest of the way west on Riggs is paved to the intersection with Rainbow Valley Road. You are getting back to "civilization" by then. 
Drove back to the power line road, since I wanted to follow it out to SR238 at the Pinal County line (yup, still rough like I remembered it). Stopped at the Walmart in Maricopa to get a few things, then back to Casa Grande for dinner at one of my favorites there (Eva's on Sunland Gin Road).
It's amazing to me how much Casa Grande and Maricopa have grown over the years.  |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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