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| AZT #15 Loop & 96 Ranch, AZ | |
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| | AZT #15 Loop & 96 Ranch, AZ | | | |
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AZT #15 Loop & 96 Ranch, AZ
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| Hiking | 13.40 Miles |
1,706 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.40 Miles | 5 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.68 mph |
| 1,706 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | I wanted more information on the area south and east of Florence plus Tracey sought a 10+ mile hike, it all came together wen she asked Why not hike part of the Arizona Trail?
Ok, so will it be Passage 14 or 15? I chose 15 but since neither of us wanted a simple out-and-back hike, I pored over Route Manager long enough to come up with a number of loop options, from lasso to complete loop, 10 to 12 miles in distance with opt-out shortcuts if required.
The forecast was for a clear day, a high of 53 and 15-20 mph winds with 30 mph gusts so we planned our dress accordingly.
We took Florence-Kelvin Highway to Barkerville Road and took that south to Freeman Road, which led us to the AZT#15 trailhead. Wow, the parking lot was huge! As we were gearing up
I glanced toward the map kiosk, drop box and more so decided to take some time for a few photos before we set off. When Tracey opened the drop box we were greeted by one big mess... empties strewn among full and half-full bottles. One of the 2.5 gallon jugs had been squashed and although not yet opened, it was down to less than a gallon due to a leak where it was crunched.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
So, our first order of business was to clear out all the empties and the tons of tear-tops of bottles... there were enough to equal at least three times as many bottles as were there. C'mon people, is it that big a deal to take them with the empties?
After loading 13 empties into the Jeep, transferring what was left of the 2.5 gallon jug and general clean-up we deemed it fit and set off northward.
The trail was in good shape and easy going, and upon seeing the tread of bike tires Tracey mentioned she wouldn't mind mountain biking it. Although most of the trail is wide enough for hikers not to get caught by the odd thorny bush sticking out, it could catch out some bikers, particularly on turns, so I used my garden clippers and removed the biggest offenders along the way.
When we set out we remarked there was none of the forecast high winds and it doesn't feel that cold, which lasted for maybe a couple miles. Of course that's when the wind picked up and it wasn't long before the 30 mph gusts hit. The rest of the hike became a balancing act to keep warm when the winds picked up, yet not too warm when in hollows somewhat protected from the wind.
Early on we came upon a number of broken AZT signs, seemingly cut perfectly horizontal, but upon giving it more thought, these were the older plastic-looking single curve sign, so for instance, if a cow brushed against one it makes sense it could break straight across. Whatever, we did the best we could and were able to jamb all but one back into place. Unfortunately, I didn't think to set waypoints for the broken signs. Looking back on the track and photos I believe the first broken sign was at .6 mile out from the TH, the next two were at road/trail crossing around 2 miles out and the last was right at mile 3.
At some point over 5 miles out we turned off the AZT and set about a general wandering with the end result being a 13.4 mile hike. Although we only covered the first half-mile twice, the scenery was no different than if we had continue on AZT 15. Not much to get excited about, flat, lots of ugly gray brush (primarily cat's claw), some cattle, the odd group of boulders here and there... if we were to return, it would be to bike it.
After the hike we took Freeman Road back to Barkerville Road then took 96 Ranch Road out to AZ 79 so we could stop at the ranch for a more in-depth exploration than I did when peak-bagging last week. Although the majority of the old ranch was in shambles, there was enough of interest we spent close to half-an-hour exploring the remains. I didn't count yet but I probably took more photos at the ranch than on the hike. |
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