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| Hiking | 8.74 Miles |
918 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.74 Miles | 3 Hrs 36 Mns | | 2.80 mph |
| 918 ft AEG | 29 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | I-40 to 303 and back Kelly and I had discussed doing a weekend up in Flagstaff, it was just a matter of when. Kelly thot with the good forecast we should do it now. This was Thursday. So I did some Rx for lodging and on other hiking options for Sunday. Around 9 on Saturday, after Kelly got off work, we headed up to the cool country to the northern terminus of AZT31, a section I needed to complete due to blisters interruption (learned that the lighter socks rub my feet wrong) when I was hiking with others last year. I told Kelly it was pretty mundane territory; especially for an out and back but she said that was fine.
We got started a little after noon. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and poofy clouds and a slight breeze. We made pretty decent time even as we stopped to admire and comment about the landscape. As we got into a more treed area we were surprised at the elevation gain as we hardly noticed. We enjoyed the fabulous views to the SF Peaks, change of topography, lots of flora (mostly purple loco), a few oak groves, going thru the different gates, seeing the various signs, noticing other trails and roads among other things.
We got to the 303, checked out the kiosk, had a quick snack and then headed back. We were surprised we missed this one area that had huge mullein but then again we were coming at it from a different direction. We also were in the area of the tall and mostly naked ponderosa trees that had our attention.
The trail itself is in pretty good condition though pretty narrow in parts. It's not very rocky and it looks like they're doing a minor re-reroute though we can't figure out why as it's just off to the side but it is more in the trees. We did some trash pick up and hiked all the way to the underpass to make sure my routes connect.
We enjoyed our beers and some Fritos before heading to town and dinner and our second hike of the weekend. Thx Kelly for helping me get 'er done and congrats on your first official AZTing. I think you'll enjoy the rest of it just fine.
Frontage Road to FR303 - [ youtube video ]
FR303 to Underpass - [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Purple Loco |
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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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