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| Hiking | 8.28 Miles |
1,411 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.28 Miles | 3 Hrs 46 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
| 1,411 ft AEG | 19 Mns Break | 28 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | For Friday's hike, I hiked Dixie Mine to Sonoran and followed it until the boundary between McDowell Mountain Park and the Fountain Hills McDowell Mountain Preserve. From there, in the Preserve, I hiked the recently added lower (eastern) section of the Sonoran Trail until it's intersection with the Promenade Trail. I considered going on to do the Western Loop Trail, but it was just hot enough and humid enough for me to decide otherwise. I went back along the upper (western) section of the Sonoran Trail, reentering the Park. From there I returned via the Park's segment of the Sonoran Trail and then the Dixie Mine Trail. I hike a short ways toward the mine prior to turning back just to make sure that I went over 8 miles for the day.
This was my first hike on the lower segment of the Sonoran Trail since its completion. Bill Craig, who laid it out and led its construction, showed it to me last Spring just a few weeks before it was finished. According to my watch, this new section is just over two miles in length, gains 374 feet in (accumulated) elevation, and descends 344 feet.
The upper section which has been in place for several years is somewhat shorter, about 1.8 miles in length.
Both segments of the Sonoran Trail in the Fountain Hills McDowells Mountain Preserve start and end at the same location. The northern endpoint is at the boundary between the Park and the Preserve. The southern endpoint is at the Promenade Trail (which provides access to several other trails in the Preserve). There are two cut-thru trails along the way which connect these segments. These connector trails allow you to either shorten the loop or make figure eights if desired.
Both trail segments of the Sonoran Trail are in good condition, though I didn't observe any signage yet for the newly constructed segment. When I asked Bill about the name of the new trail that he and his crew had constructed, he told me that it would be part of the already existing Sonoran Trail. It's possible that he revisited that decision and that it will be named something else. In any case, I enjoy having this new segment of trail because I like doing loops (or even partial loops) better than out-and-back hikes.
I saw a snake as I was hiking back along the upper segment of the Sonoran Trail. There was a tense moment in passing it since I decided to stay on the trail (which was cut into the side of a steep hill). Going off trail to get around seemed less safe to me. I thought I heard it rattle just after I passed it, but when I looked back, I could not detect any change in the snake's position or demeanor.
Temperatures were in the mid-eighties when I started and in the mid-nineties when I finished. I drank all of the water in one of my 3L reservoirs and had started on the second just prior to finishing. Even so, weighed 4 pounds less at the end of the hike.
I was surprised to see a shirtless and hatless guy starting out on Dixie Mine just as I was finishing up. I think he had just one water bottle with him. About two hours later, the ranger contacted me to make sure that it wasn't me who needed rescue in the Dixie Mine area. (I don't know anything about it beyond that, nor am I certain that it was the guy I saw who needed the rescue.) |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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