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| Hiking | 16.00 Miles |
2,448 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,448 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Saturday November 28, 2015
This is an excerpt of our first adventure working on the final couple miles of Passage 15 from the FKTH to the Kelvin Bridge....
The Arizona Trail Section 16 Gila River Canyons, actually starts at the end of the Florence Kelvin highway at the Kelvin Bridge. Our plan of attack started at the Florence Kelvin Trailhead actually located inside segment 15 just a few miles before section 16 starts. Our kiddos can easily hike 6 to 7 miles now so we choose this as our starting point, leaving a second truck shuttle ending bug out point just east of the beautiful A-Diamond Ranch parked a safe distance away from yet alongside the railroad tracks, a couple miles from the Trailhead (see the attached picture map).
Hiking from the Florence Kelvin Trailhead was great from the get go! We were a little worried about the reported "Wasp Nest" in a Saguaro Cactus near the start heading towards Kelvin but saw what seemed to be only remains of their former colony.
Late October to Spring is a fantastic time to hike this section because of the cool crisp morning and perfect temperatures. After crossing a few ridges the trail switchbacks down lower to the 1773 foot level near the Kelvin Bridge (Mile 265 from Mexico)as it makes it's way across the Gila River. Cooler winter temps had only begun to change the green leaves to golden brown as we made our way across the Gila River taking plenty of pictures along the way! Not far from the bridged crossing we arrived at the brand new giant Arizona Trail Gila River Section parking lot which would make another fantastic Boondocking base camp for anyone hauling in a camping or staging a horse trailer! There was actually only one other party that overnighted in a fully contained truck camper, when we passed through. There is also a porta potty about a quarter mile down river from the parking lot. We took a set of sweet family pictures at the brand new AZT Gate!
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January 28, 2017 Scouting Trip to Passage 15
Bianka and I decided to jump in the car and go exploring with Fenix the Arizona Trail Dog. We enjoyed taking a trip to the Florence Kelvin Trailhead to explore a backroad that leads from the east side of the trailhead a couple miles into the beautiful Sonoran Desert landscape. Using this backroad will help to cut the main hike down to just 8 miles from just west of Ripsey Wash to this car shuttle point. At a parking spot that was two miles in we quickly were able to access the AZT but there were way to many Teddy Bear Cholla and cactus fragments that stuck into Fenix's paws so we had to cut the hike short and head back to the FKTH for some super nice sunset pictures!
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March 11, 2017 - Trail Magic
Had a great time out at Ripsey Wash surprising some Ultra-Pedestrian friends Ras and Kathy Vaughan who were on their first week of a planned Yo-Yo of the Grand Enchantment Trail. Snuck out in the middle of nowhere and enjoyed a great evening of stories and some yummy trail magic eats! I enjoyed taking pictures of the Big Hill as I hiked into Ripsey form the West Side backroad vehicle shuttle, before bidding them Happy Trails. Little did I know this fun two mile hike would be my last one for a few months as a vehicle accident on 23 March twelve days later would seriously injure my right foot, breaking 9 bones!
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167 / 800 Miles Complete! November 24, 2017
Lift and Pull Dad Up
The Housholder Family Hikers had a fantastic Campsgiving weekend with friends enjoying a nice sunset hike on the AZT Passage 15 - part of the Tortilla Mountains!
We scouted out the 4X4 “Old Florence” Backroad which became bumpingly rough and pinstripingly bad just before Horse Ranch the halfway point to Ripsey Ranch, so we temporarily abandoned our effort to take on parts of Section 15 around that area and instead ended up hiking a couple miles out and back from the south side of Florence Kelvin Trailhead (pictured here) as well as another two mile remote piece south of Ripsey Wash. These four miles will help break up and shorten longer segments including the “Big Hill” and South towards Freeman Road for later.
The hike from Florence Kelvin TH was with our great friends Maci Winder and her 3 boys. Maci took some sweet photos of Karolien and I during sunset that are top notch! We enjoyed a fun Campsgiving Weekend with them back at the Boulders Boondocking Base Camp just off the Cochran Road.
A total of four more miles are now in the books!
These were great places to test my recovering foot with plenty of elevation gain and loss up to 300 feet worth. The foot is slowly getting stronger between physical therapy, work and trail hiking now up to two miles with elevation gain or four flat miles maximum. I find it very hard to enter and exit the sometime steep river washes and crossings but my two strong sons Ben and Bryce help to lift and pull dad up when the going is rough! Thanks Boys!
167 / 800 Miles Complete! November 25, 2017
Pinstripingly Remote Adventure Tensions
The Housholder Family Hikers enjoyed our second remote adventure knocking out two short yet all important miles of the Arizona Trail Passage 15 as it makes its way towards Ripsey Wash east of the Florence-Kelvin Highway this past Campsgiving weekend.
These short few miles between 252.7 and 254 were an important test of endurance for my recovering foot. Including a 300 foot elevation decline!
After staging a bumpy and pinstripingly remote vehicle shuttle (due to overgrown Sonoran Desert sagebrush and various sharp bushes needling our Sequoia’s paint job near the wash leading to AZT MP 254), we then circled another wagon back around on a second 4X4, deeply rutted backroad that got us as close as possible to MP 252.7. By then our family’s emotions were all rattled and tensions were extremely high! After quarreling with one another for over 30 minutes and nearly calling it off, we regained our cool and set out on the short journey.
Once we hit the trail one quarter mile away from our Tacoma smiles quickly returned to our children’s faces. In no time at all switchbacks leading lower into then across dry, dusty river beds and one or two shady canyons took over as we slowly made our way closer to Ripsey Wash. I pointed out the distantly menacing switchbacks of the BIG HILL that will challenge the Housholder Family Hikers on our next journey as we arrived at our two mile ending vehicle destination and it’s refreshingly cool Air-Conditioning!
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October 6, 2018:
234 / 800 Miles Complete!
AZT IN A DAY was a BIG challenge for the Housholder Family Saunterers as we conquered the BIG Hill, knocking out another 10 Hot and Very Heatstroked Miles. It must have been at least 90 degrees at points on the way up bagging the BIG Hill (elevation over 3500 Feet). At times we scrambled to find shade as this passage is 99.9% exposed to sunlight with very little... really no shade!
Hiking NOBO we traversed through Ripsey Wash and up a 700 foot ascent of the BIG Hill. Once we successfully negotiated the numerous switchbacks finding our way to the top, Bryce and Bianka celebrated by addeding another round of decoration to the heart .
The best thing about being on the top was the ridgeline winds cooling us down especially when we had no choice but to rest with the sun directly hitting us, thankfully there was this constant cool breeze when we needed it most!
The biggest challenge for us actually came next; the sharp 1500 foot descent back down hill towards the Florence Kelvin Trailhead when we were already tired and wiped out! There was even one few hundred foot scramble down then back uphill in what I call the horseshoe portion of the ridgeline that had us a bit worried.
With a couple miles to go, we lucked out and happened upon the only one great, mostly shaded rest spot on our way down hill, certainly it was an answer to our prayers. There we sat for about an hour, cooling off our cramps and enjoying snacks, with the all important salt and other nutrient tablets to replenish what had already lost due to sweating.
It was perhaps one of the toughest pieces of the AZT that our family has yet experienced ,but we carried plenty of water and made it safely back to our vehicle shuttle! I am super proud of our kiddos for toughing it out! 
Afterwards, at the Florence Kelvin Trailhead we had the pleasure to visit with Legendary Trail Angel Carol from Kearney and tell her about our heated hike as the hangry kids scarfed down an end of trail stash of fresh fruit and two footlong overstuffed sub sandwiches. We signed into Carol's Old Time Pizza Trail Book and shared stories to end a fantastic day!
#AZTINADAY
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Campsgiving 2017 The Most Recent Picture Additions!
The Housholder Family enjoyed Campsgiving 2017 together with the Winder Clan at the Boulders. The children had a great time climbing atop the boulders and Fenix and Riley loved exploring as well. During this weekend we had the opportunity to introduce the Winder Family to the Arizona Trail by hiking a nice Sunset Out and Back from the Florence Kelvin Trailhead SOBO for a few miles then back.
More pictures to follow. From Freeman Trailhead to the Old Ripsey Ranch! |
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