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| Hiking | 15.82 Miles |
2,275 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.82 Miles | 6 Hrs 39 Mns | | 2.88 mph |
| 2,275 ft AEG | 1 Hour 9 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We decided to knock out some sections of AZT over the holiday weekend and do some car camping as well. After Friday night car camping near the beginning of Mount Elden AZT #32 we set up key swap with part of crew starting north end Schulz Pass while we started south end at I-40. We started hiking just on the south side of I-40 immediately passing through the tunnel under I-40 and the railroad. Once past this the AZT heads west and stays close to the railroad grade for about 5 miles. Not the most exciting section of trail but the trains were cool to see.
Eventually we passed through a large meadow with decent wild flowers near Wildcat Hill about the 6 mile point. Just passed Wildcat Hill is Rio de Flag which was definitely the highlight east of Hwy 89. Soon after crossing Rio de Flag we approached Hwy 89 were AZT crosses under at Townsend Rd. Once under 89 the hike definitely changes for the better. Lots of cool meadows, wild flowers, and Mount Elden. Also most of the elevation gain is between 89 and the end at Schulz Pass. About mile and half past 89 we ran into the crew of Shawn, Tracy, Ambika, and Angela for the key swap. We had a nice extended break/lunch in the meadow enjoying a cool breeze and shade from the large ponderosa pines.
Parting ways until later we continued on towards Schulz Pass. The trail meanders through a series of low hills and generally traverses the bottom of Mount Elden. As the trail climbs things become more alpine-ish with mixed fir trees and ferns. This continued at least until we hit the burn area from the Schulz Fire of a few years back. Some areas were scorched pretty good but it doesn't last long. The forest returned as we approached Schulz Tank. Decided to check it out and took a short break at the tank watching some ducks swim around.
After the break we headed for Weatherford TH and the end of this AZT section. Unfortunately the track I had ended at Sunset TH which is 1/4 mile further so we had to backtrack to Weatherford once we realized our mistake and noticed that the vehicle was no where in the Sunset parking lot.  We then headed back to meet up with the crew and enjoy another night of car camping. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
lupine, sunflowers, indian paintbrush, and many others |
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Schultz Tank |
26-50% full |
26-50% full |
| | | Decent looking water. Would filter if needed. |
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Tip Tank |
1-25% full |
1-25% full |
| | | muddy water | | _____________________
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