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| Hiking | 13.20 Miles |
800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.20 Miles | | | |
| 800 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Joined Sirena for another piece of her AZT Trek, this time a day hike heading down the northern slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains on Passage 12 - Oracle Ridge. I met Bill Bens at 6:30am at the American Flag trailhead and we drove up to meet Sirena in Summerhaven. We started hiking at the Oracle Ridge Trailhead at around 9am in colder-than-expected temps. Beautiful day every moment - the three of us do seem to be blessed with good weather when we hike together!
I'd hiked the top portion of Oracle Ridge before, so I knew what to expect at first - well built but rugged trail through burned pine and oak forests with far-reaching views. Below Dan Saddle it continued with more of the same, only rougher and wider views. The climb from Dan Saddle up to the shoulder of Rice Peak seems to take forever, though I'm sure it's really not a big climb in the grand scheme of things. The portion of the trail which follows the old roadbed is rough, loose and steep - completely un-fun. It's the perfect example of why roadwalks are pumpkin.
Views from this area are unreal, however. We kept stopping for geography lessons: Mica Mountain, the Chiricahuas, Dragoons, Dos Cabezas, Galiuros, Bassett Peak, Santa Teresa Mountains, Picacho Peak, Four Peaks and even the Weaver's Needle were visible as we threaded along the ridgelines. It was also fun to look back at the Canada del Oro and Red Ridge where Sirena and I hiked last year. The forest may be burned and a bit sparce throughout this hike, but it's only helped these incredible views!
We stopped for 4 short sit-down breaks, during which I evidently never ate quite enough. By the end of the day I felt like I was pretty calorie-deprived, in the no-food-no-fuel situation. But, after 12 miles of hoofin' it, I was still able to enjoy our brief stop at the Hi Jinks Ranch in Oracle. It's a great historic property, made all the better by the enthusiasm of the current owners to share with hikers and visitors alike. We poked around the ranch house and property a bit before heading out for our last mile to the car.
Then is was back upthe Control Road to Bill's car, then down again - this time on the paved road down the south side of the mountains and back into town. 16 hours later I'm back home - tired but completely happy to have spent a beautiful day in the Catalina mountains...
oh, and I got one more checked off that list. Only a few more trails to 100% completion of the trails in the Santa Catalina range! |
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Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.- Barack Obama |
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