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| Hiking | 6.91 Miles |
313 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.91 Miles | 3 Hrs 40 Mns | | 2.67 mph |
| 313 ft AEG | 1 Hour 5 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Began at TH off Dove Valley/Sonoran Desert HW. Did the loop cc on a pleasant afternoon, 75, light breeze. First time on the AW. Did not stop to rest but did halt to take notes, photos. At each trail junction (the 2 connectors on each side of the loop and Brawling Badger, Esplanade, Sidewinder and Ocotillo trails), I walked out 20 yards or so hoping it would show on my GPS route and make for posting accurate waypoints. It did. Still, I was surprised to see I had stops amounting to more than an hour. Speed, obviously, is not my game.
This super-clean trail belongs largely to bikers. Zip, zip. Hardly a rock to dodge. Traffic was very light until I got back toward the TH about 5. Counted altogether 11 hikers, 17 bikers and 2 joggers. Heavily weighted to bikers in the north zone, beyond the south connector. Saw only a young woman biking solo. Crossing the floodplain of .33 mi along Carefree HW, I looked in the trail dust and found only bike tracks and and marks from a horseshoe. The rider thoughtfully steered to the side of the trail.
I was confused about the geography for clearly the trail follows two washes, one on the east side of the loop and another on the west. The larger one on the east I assumed was Apache. But I have seen it labeled on maps as Paradise. I saw one map with a designation, "West Fork." So, a bit of a mystery of hugely inconsequential proportions. But knowing place names makes my little world go round.
Pleased to see so many birds, particularly along the west wash. But both washes are heavily lined with palo verdes and high brush so, I figure, chances of running into all sorts of wildlife are good. I saw a phainopepla, a hawk and later two Gila woodpeckers flying together. I heard quail and, on the west side, the hoots of an owl. I guessed on some others. They refused to pose, jumping from bush to bush ahead of me.
I've hiked a bit in central Arizona and never have I seen so many Christmas cactus in one place. They are seemingly everywhere you turn on the sides of the trail. But this is a land of creosote, palo verde and buckhorn (staghorn?), some scattered Saguaro and patches of Teddy Bear cholla. No wildflowers to speak of. I may try this same trail again soon for the buckhorn buds are swelling and should burst into brilliant yellow flowers in the next week or so. That would be quite the sight since there are so many.
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
One tiny patch of Fiddlenecks along the east side of the loop and, I couldn't believe it, a single lily. That was it for the day. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
