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| Hiking | 6.35 Miles |
1,417 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.35 Miles | 3 Hrs 52 Mns | | 1.89 mph |
| 1,417 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 28 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | On Sunday morning, I hiked the Pine Creek Trail to the Ballantine and then did an out-and-back on part of the Ballantine before finishing the Pine Creek Loop.
The trail is in good condition despite the recent monsoon rains. Some of the diversions to avoid the rutted trail on the south side of the Pine Creek Loop have vegetation growing in them now and a few of them were hard to follow - there was one point where I ended up bushwhacking a short ways to get back to the original, rutted trail because I got lost while following one of the diversions.
The Ballantine Trail is also blocked in another spot by yet another fallen saguaro. I didn't go far enough to see if the other one that I noticed on my previous trip had been cleared or not. This new saguaro-fall seems to be recent; the trail was damp near the saguaro with seepage from its fall.
I saw a Western Diamondback rattler on the way back. It was asleep in a rut in the trail. I spent a long while taking photos, chimping them, and then taking more when I noticed that I didn't really have a clear view of its head. I finally got one that was satisfied with, though when I got home, I saw that I missed the focus on the head. I guess I should have taken even more.
I saw several agave blossoms; I've included a two shots of one of them in my photos.
Actually - there were a lot more flowers than I expected to see.
It was a good hike with plenty of solitude. Temperatures were not-too-warm when I started, though it was warm, bordering on hot when I finished. I drank all of one 3L reservoir and had started the second just as I was finishing up. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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