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| Hiking | 8.90 Miles |
1,300 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.90 Miles | 4 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.32 mph |
| 1,300 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 5 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I hadn't been hiking in a few weeks, so I was itching to escape to cooler weather for a nice hike. I'd never really hiked in the Prescott area before, so this sounded fun. I was surprised that this trailhead was barely 5 minutes away from downtown Prescott. I'd be up here all the time if I lived in Prescott. Got to the trailhead and started our hike at 10am. Trailhead parking was full but we got the last spot. Temps were in the low 80s. Felt more like 90 in the sun, but there was intermittent cloud cover and wind all day.
The first mile or so of the trail is a nice stroll through the pines with a good amount of shade. Nice, but fairly uneventful, with some mild climbs in elevation. You soon come to the Bannon Creek area, which is a little more lush and green. Not a drop of water to be found, but that was expected. We spotted a deer in this area about 100ft away. Didn't have a camera good enough to get a photo, unfortunately. The trail is fairly uneventful again as you reach Lower Goldwater Lake. You can just barely see it through the pines.
For a bit it seems like the trail is going farther and farther away from the lake, especially as you leave the pines again and the shade is gone, but eventually you u-turn and head straight down to the lake. The whole way to the lake we saw maybe a handful of people. The spur trail down to the lake is not really marked but is pretty obvious. The lake was a little crowded but was still pretty laid-back. We walked around the lake and relaxed for a while, having a snack and taking in the views. Nice little lake tucked away in the mountains.
Heading back we saw a lot more people, including a group of 8 mountain bikers. My legs were getting very tired by the last couple miles as I hadn't been hiking in a while. This hike ended up being longer than I expected, but I'd say we added on a good mile or so exploring the lake area. The AEG is very spread out with several long but slow climbs. Not a bad first hike for the Prescott area, and I'll definitely be back to explore some more. I'm jealous that Prescott residents have this so close-by... not even South Mountain is this convenient! |
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