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| Hiking | 5.15 Miles |
700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.15 Miles | 3 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.58 mph |
| 700 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Off to a cold start this morning. I pulled in to an almost deserted parking lot at First Water TH and got going by 0730. It was a clear morning, the sun still out behind the Mountain somewhere. Almost no wind so at this early hour, I could see my breath as I walked down the trail. Just before the signpost, there was a few mud puddles, and they had ice on them  I crossed First Water Creek, stepping on exposed rocks to keep the shoes dry.... great to see water flowing here again 
It was a beautiful morning and the sun finally rose as I was entering Garden Valley to views of frost on the short sprigs of green grass and the standing water was everywhere. I made a big loop around the East side of the trail trying to keep out of the mud, but quickly realized that I should have tried the other side of the trail. I had hoped that the frost would keep the ground hard enough to keep my shoes dry but that didn't work and I was trudging through mud again ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") I'm sure this quagmire will get much worse once the sun warms things up.
Made it through the Valley and dropped down to the saddle then veered off to head down to Hackberry Spring area. The views of Four Peaks along the way were awesome, they had picked up some snow cover from the rains so they were wearing a white blanket on the peaks in the days first light. Down in the Hackberry area, you can hear the creek splashing through the boulders well before you get to the banks. Once past the campground areas, I was trying to keep the shoes dry as I worked my way through the narrow gorge area and ran into a noisy bunch of about 25 hiking seniors  my first encounter with other hikers up to this point.
I left the creek at the old corral and headed up past the windmill to the road and when I reached the TH parking lot around 10:00 it was full and already cars were waiting for me to leave so they could take my parking spot. Great morning to be out now that the sky's have cleared up but be aware of all the water and lots of mud puddles to contend with.
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Wildflowers Observation None
Nothing's blooming yet but the recent rains should help make for a colorful display later. |
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Hackberry Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Still just a light flow coming from the pipe but be careful crossing the creek to get there. | | _____________________
| On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip. |
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Route Editor
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