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| Hiking | 6.10 Miles |
569 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.10 Miles | 4 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.82 mph |
| 569 ft AEG | 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Southbound via the Vineyard Trail since previous plans were nixed due to logistics, Ambika came up with finishing off #20. We met up at Wendy's in Fountain Hills for the caravan to FR 341 as the base for our TH. (Shawn came up with that idea to add a few miles to make it a little longer hike and get a start on shortening some of Segment 19.) Once past the manufactured home community the road gets a bit dicey, at least for Tonto Jr, but we powered up the rocky hill. It was a good challenge though short. We piled in Shawn's truck for the journey over to Mills Ridge TH for our hike.
It was a lovely day.
The views of the Four Peaks and both lakes were outstanding  ; hard to beat!
- The surprise - LOTS of wildflowers including Fairy Duster, brittlebush, poppies, chia, flax, fleabane among others,
The giddy delight - blooming hedgehog alley. 
The trail - great shape with the only tricky part coming down off of Inspiration Point to the bridge.
The consistent - the bridge is always striking.
The unexpected - the view of the dam and bridge together from high above, seeing the Apache Trail from time to time.
The duel - between the prickly pear on one side of the trail and the saguaros on the other for about 1/2 mile. It was like a standoff to see who was going to cross over the trail first.
Trail sign work - limited as not many trail signs.
The pain - my camera finger  .
The views - in case I can't emphasize enough, the lakes and the Four Peaks and the distant mountains as well.
The  moment - the interpretive sign placement up from the bridge.
Only encountered two other hikers on this part of our hike. I highly recommend this hike; it is 
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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