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| Hiking | 14.32 Miles |
1,579 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.32 Miles | 7 Hrs 29 Mns | | 2.24 mph |
| 1,579 ft AEG | 1 Hour 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Time to do a little hike with the Arizona Trail Volunteer Coordinator so I drove down Sat nite where I camped at Wendy's house. We were going to do a backpack but you know.... the temps were just a bit nippy.
I had done the usual Rx including drive time to the Trailheads. Somehow I messed up on the Oak Canyon TH so it took us two tries to finally get there. The canyon is aptly named.
We finally got going about 45 minutes or so later than planned. So up the hill you go until you have a visual north all the way to the Rincons. There is a great ridgeline (includes Weigles and Harts Butte) off to the left (west) which is in our sight for quite a bit. And many times if you look back, you got to see the sun highlighting the snow topped Mount Wrightson, Santa Ritas which we took many pics of when we would get atop a rise.
Almost immediately you are hit with the sound of gunfire. This would annoy us for several miles off and on in the first 9 miles or so. And then there was the sound of a canon going off... you know, a KABOOM. It went off 4 times every twenty minutes. Wendy had mentioned that they were thinking of putting up some sort of signage to alert the shooters (there were three areas where the gunfire was coming from) where the Arizona Trail is so that they could be careful not to shoot in that direction.
We crossed several roads and thru several gates and thru several little canyons including McCleary, Scholefield, Papago and Mulberry (which we think should be named hackberry for some of those giant trees in the canyon), some with a little running water. There were two hill climbs but nothing bad. The infuriating thing with the AZT is it seems like there are so many times when you go opposite the direction you're heading. It makes for a nice grade but sheesh; all the extra mileage. We did pass by the Hidden Valley Ranch (not so hidden with all those solar panels).
Professor Lotze covered some flora lessons with me, mostly about acacia trees. The flora was constantly changing but the star today was the many ocotillos on the some of the hillsides near and far. I love the golden grass as well and of course some of the cactus are huge here in southern Arizona. The weather was windy most of the day and there were many times when we would have liked Mr. Sun to join us but he preferred to be hidden. However, making up for its absence were some pretty cool-looking clouds off and on. The views to the east are fabulous as well including the Empires, Whetstones, Mustangs; we could see as far as the snow-capped Huachucas.
The trail for the most part is in great condition and we could see where there had been recent work on it both the tread and trimming. However, there were two slippery sections that could use some work and a couple areas where the invasive plants need to be grubbed out. There was also one downed tree, an oak. I did like the hilly part rather than it being totally flat.
We saw one bike rider, one backpacker (Zimmerman TH to Patagonia), one hunter, two day hikers and a few cattle. As usual, the last couple miles take forever but we finally made it to the carsonite and hiked the road to Tonto Jr who was holding our beers and snack. We shuttled back to Tamale and drove this slightly challenging road back to the highway. We really enjoyed Passage Six of the Arizona Trail.
Pictures are done, movies in production. March 14
to about mile 3 1/3 [ youtube video ]
3 1/3 - 5 1/2 miles [ youtube video ]
5 1/2 to almost 8 miles [ youtube video ]
8 - 10 1/2 [ youtube video ]
from 10 1/2 and Oak Canyon [ youtube video ] |
| _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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