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| Hiking | 8.25 Miles |
2,457 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.25 Miles | 5 Hrs 22 Mns | | 1.93 mph |
| 2,457 ft AEG | 1 Hour 6 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | This one has been on my "to-hike" list for a long time so I decided this would be my Opt Outside hike on Black Friday this year.
The trailhead is a bit hidden because it's a bit tucked away, so it took us a few minutes to find it even though there is a big Arizona Trail sign pointing right to it. But once we found it, we were off. And up. And up. And up. That first 1.5 miles is steep and long. Then, it levels out and you look around and realize what incredible views surround you. Of course, you can see Roosevelt Lake at the start of the hike, a great view of the Four Peaks, then a great view of the dam, and further in, you can see the Salt River surrounded by mountains. We hiked along, being awed by everything we could see. We were fascinated by the rock slides and lava flows we could see on the surrounding mountains. Moving past the volcanic activity, we made our way down to a grassy area, where eventually we intersected with a forest road.
We stopped here for lunch and made this our turnaround point, as the weather was still pretty warm and there is not much shade on this hike. As we were headed back, we noticed a few different spots where wildlife had clearly bedded down, so we theorized that we saw a deer bed and a coyote bed (the coyote left some fur behind). I bet that there is a lot of wildlife in this area, since it's close to water and not very populated. We had the trail to ourselves with the exception of one twosome we saw as we neared the trailhead on our way back. As we were making our descent back to the trail head, I felt validated at the number of breaks I took on the way up - that incline is steep! This is a great hike with a lot to offer. |
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