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| Hiking | 5.33 Miles |
1,160 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.33 Miles | 2 Hrs 42 Mns | | 2.33 mph |
| 1,160 ft AEG | 25 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Like Thunderbird Park, the PHX Mtn Preserve is not a place I'd reserve for a weekend trip or day off from work... but to have places like these to escape to at the end of a workday really makes life sweet! I've never been a city person but must admit, part of me feels like I've missing out on life living in rural, Southern AZ.
At any rate, today's objectives were Shaw Butte and North Mountain, loop style. Since I've bagged North Mountain before, I decided to start with Shaw Butte. It was only my 3rd hike back since having undergone stem cell at the end of March, and the previous day's 9+ miler exceeded expectations. Any amount of mileage today was icing on the cake.
I actually fared pretty well but decided to go with just Shaw Butte since my hamstrings were mildly sore [which is typical for me after taking time off]. Not in any rush, I took my time to enjoy things, including scampering up several minor "peaks". Toward the end of my loop, I was making my way along a "ridgeline" of craggy rocks. It was off-trail but extremely well routed. I made my over to the 1st of the two highest crags in question and then over to the 2nd. I was planning to continue off the other end and then loop back to the trail; however, just as I reached the 2nd one [approximate location: lat:33.58989338814276 lon:-112.08292232327881], I noticed a person and a dog either living [or camped out] among the some of the crags, a short distance ahead, [directly where I was headed]. I'm guessing it was a homeless person from the quick glance I got; his clothes looked tattered and the shelter he was sitting under was not a typical one I've ever seen for camping out; it consisted of what looked like a large blanket tied to the top of wooden sticks/post, just in front of a boulder that was jutting out. Part of me felt bad and wanted to help... but another part of me was freaked the F*** out! I wasn't going to take ANY chances and immediately fetched my gun from my hiking pack and then aborted the mini-ridgeline of craggy rocks by heading straight toward the trail [which was only one to two 10ths of a mile away if I had to estimate]. I'm not sure if the guy ever saw me, but the dog that was with him was leashed, and neither approached or acknowledged my presence. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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