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| Hiking | 5.50 Miles |
1,430 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.50 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 1.83 mph |
| 1,430 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | On a moonlit monsoon night, Chapman came up to the Pinals from Phoenix to join in our annual Labor Day weekend campout.
When Saturday noon came, it was time for a hike. We started at the Icehouse Trailhead and headed down through the forest on Telephone Ridge. The old road was quite primitive, and made an excellent trail. A little steep and slippery in a few spots, but not too bad.
We got down to the area where Telephone Ridge flattens out a bit, expecting to find the Telephone Trail any moment. It was now quite hot, and after not being able to find the Telephone Trail, we started back up the ridge. After taking a short lunch break and studying Fritzski's topo map in detail, we came to the conclusion that the Telephone Trail junction must have been further down. Back we went down the ridge. We soon found it, at the 6400 foot contour. There was a collapsed cairn, but no signs marking the junction.
We headed down the Telephone Trail, thankful for the ever increasing shade. After a while, fir trees began to appear, and the hike just got prettier and sweeter. We stopped to examine the sawmill site before heading back uphill on the Sixshooter Trail. That 0.9 miles (straight up, it seemed) to the Ferndell Trailhead at the top was a tough stretch. 
Once on top, it was a leisurely walk back on the 651 road to where I'd parked my truck on the 651M road. As is my usual luck, I got my 2wd truck stuck the second I tried to turn around (hmmmm...let's see, is that 20 times so far this year?  ) Many thanks to Chapman for helping to pile rocks in the back of my truck to get us out. 
It was a great and memorable hike!  |
| _____________________
| "…you never know when a hike might break out" -Jim Gaffigan |
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