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| Hiking | 10.26 Miles |
1,863 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.26 Miles | 4 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.37 mph |
| 1,863 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Rather than following the initial route south, I cut straight across AZ 87, using the culvert just north of the Pine TH driveway. Didn't need to crouch. After checking out the memorial I had noticed, I bumped across two dead elk. The first somewhat scattered, the second unfortunately not scattered. It was gross. And it smelled. 
Trail #16 west was okay. Nothing special. A bit rocky. Nice view down Oak Spring Canyon towards Arrowhead Canyon Estates and AZ 87. Might have to hike that sometime. It eventually empties out at Tonto Natural Bridge. The intersection with Walnut Trail #251 is obvious, but only the southern segment, along the AZT. Despite at least 10 minutes searching I was unable to find the northern segment, up canyon.  I settled for going straight up the creek bed.
After a few hundred yards, I found the trail, which crosses the creek many times in the two miles to FR 428. It's a nice trail surface, cairned, plenty of shade, and pretty too. 
Pine-Strawberry Trail #15 has been realigned in many places from what is on FS Topo. (The correct/new alignment is reflected in the official route.) It's enjoyable as well, with nice views east along the Mogollon Rim. I was hoping for some MTB action, but it was not to be.  Might be worth hauling a cooler of beer up to several points to watch next weekend's races.
Found some obvious bear tracks near Cottonwood Spring -- which, despite 10 minutes searching, I was unable to locate. (The spring, that is, not the bear.)
I engaged in blatant cloud pr0n. 
At one point I went to sit on a rock, but some critter had already pooped on it. I had a Johnny Cochran moment: If the rock has ****, I cannot sit. 
I'd measured the hike at a little over seven miles, so I figured it would actually be eight. By the time I finished, I had over 10 miles under my belt. Unfortunately, the only beer I had to greet me was that awful "Go To IPA".  I ended up pouring half of it out for my dead elk homies.
The sun came & went all day, but I never did get rained on. Caught a few sprinkles heading south out of Payson. It must have poured earlier, as there were puddles in spots on AZ 87 near Mt. Ord. Lots of cops out. Traffic backed up 50 cars at the casino light, heading into Payson for the holiday weekend "getaway". 
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Pine 2 Strawberry Video: youtu.be/n1h_1GjnpE8 |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
99.9% of the flowers were these small yellow things. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
