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| Hiking | 4.40 Miles |
838 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.40 Miles | 1 Hour 38 Mns | | 2.69 mph |
| 838 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Many significant things happened on this usually routine hike, which started off as nothing more than my normal daily ritual. This is my 9th time doing this trail.
At the Gateway Saddle 2.2 miles in (going clockwise), while a podcast was blaring away in my ears, I detected movement close by. My first irritated thought was that someone was violating the park's closure of the short walk up to the summit of the unnamed peak that Gateway Loop circles. Curious, I took a few steps for a better angle.
A deer walked out and stared right at me.
It was maybe 20 yards away. Stunned, I yanked the earbuds out, took out my iPhone, and began recording video (to be uploaded later). The deer looked unconcerned with my presence for a few seconds, before deciding to head away. I got a few decent photos. About a quarter mile later, I spotted it again since it was walking in the same direction as me. I pointed it out to a few other trail runners and hikers.
My fellow hikers reading this will recognize the almost spiritual impact that such an encounter can have. Here I was, obliviously pounding away at the trail to try and set a meaningless personal speed record, listening to some HBO tv show podcast on my iPhone, crossing paths with multiple runners and mountain bikers (also with earbuds jammed into their heads), thinking to myself that this trail was really just a glorified neighborhood stroll for me, when this little fellow with antlers shattered the illusion.
Today marks the day I've hiked more miles in any single month since my record-keeping on HAZ began in 2008. That's not saying much given my feeble track record, but it's a milestone that will now forever be marked by my meeting this new friend of mine. And it strikes me that the last time I ever saw large wildlife during an actual hike was when I spent a summer living, working and hiking in Alaska in 1999, which was the last time I was truly a fit and active hiker/backpacker. Was this nature's personal reward to me for getting back into the spirit of things and sticking to it? Intended or not, that's the effect.
That's not even all. I got married this past December and moved up to this area from my beloved former home in downtown Phoenix. I miss living downtown terribly. The human creatures that mostly inhabit North Scottsdale are a lot stranger than the hobos and hipsters one meets on a typical First Friday along Roosevelt Row. But everything in life involves trade-offs and I do also appreciate the beauty and serenity of life in this suburb. After seeing this deer today, just 2 or 3 miles from the front door of our house (it takes literally 2 minutes to reach the trailhead by car), it suddenly dawned on me that I don't want to ever leave. Who in their right mind would? Downtown's always just a short jaunt down the 51 freeway, right? 
The video: http://youtu.be/in-acb7RFBE |
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| "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
