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| Hiking | 7.21 Miles |
1,001 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.21 Miles | 3 Hrs 25 Mns | | 2.22 mph |
| 1,001 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Our first AZT of 2018 was broken up over two days as a few of us are just not in the best of shape. This worked perfectly altho the drive to get to the shuttle point was a bit of an adventure. Once we got that figured out we thot we were good to go until we discovered, after our complaining about the trail maintenance or lack thereof, we were following a cow trail and had missed a turn  .
We hiked down into Pauline Canyon and then up above it. The wind was a blowin' and the sun would come in and out but the trail was in pretty nice shape so we continued in a north and westerly direction it seemed. We conquered the first elevation climb with relative ease but the big one out of Middle Canyon was more of a challenge. However, this day I was feelin' it so I led the way  . It actually got chilly enough that my covered arms were cold for a bit. If the wind hadn't been gusting it would have been a perfect day.
The views with the changing clouds were fabulous but especially to the NE so we took the opportunity to stop and take it all in with a photo or two. We were glad to finally be on the ridge for a bit and then to the lee side to avoid the wind. Soon we were heading down the mountain and that was a little slippery as to be expected. At least we were going to eventually be out of the wind when we hit bottom.
We drove back to get some things out of Shawn's truck and as soon as we were there, the weather started to let loose. It was really getting chilling and a light rain started to fall. We made our way to Whispers Ranch BnB around 6ish where we would be staying for the night, thank goodness. We checked in and then had to drive 1/2 hour back to Sonoita to have an awesome dinner at The Cafe (and if they're serving the Like a Ball and Chain wine, you must try some). On the drive to and from Sonoita we saw a couple owls fly off the road.
Here is some video from Day One:
FR4749 to Middle Canyon [ youtube video ]
Middle Canyon to Passage 2/3 TH [ youtube video ]
PS a note about our shuttle. First of all, here is the link to the topo and if you change it to FS it shows the FR [ Route Editor ] (the green is the route, the red is the route we tried, the black is from AZT 2/3 TH over on Canelo Pass).
Both Tracy and I had researched the route to get to our shuttle point (based on the coordinates from the AZT Day Hikers Guide (FYI, the written directions are incorrect) and basically you were supposed to take Canelo Road (FR 4636) off of the 83 (Old Sonoita Hwy) to hook up with FR 4749. When we got about 2 miles in we encountered a No Trespassing sign. We debated what to do and decided to retreat and then we decided to turn around and try it.
There was a rancher feeding his cows so we stopped there to inquire about our destination. He said you couldn't get through that way up to Silver Tank but to go back and take the road just after the wash and follow it up on the ridge to the tank (He was familiar with the AZT). He insinuated the road was hard to follow the direction we were initially planning. Whether or not that is true I don't know. I also don't know if you are allowed to ignore No Trespassing signs on numbered Forest Roads.
We were able to get to our destination but just not via the directions we had mapped out. The AZT Day Hikers guide uses the coordinates for FR 4749 to get to Silver Tank but doesn't have the directions on how to get to FR 4749. I did see another option to get to FR4749 coming off of 83 toward Fritz Tank but it is unnumbered.
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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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