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| Hiking | 12.70 Miles |
1,113 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.70 Miles | 4 Hrs 46 Mns | | 2.66 mph |
| 1,113 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | With the Steelers on a bye week, I had the opportunity to get out for a Sunday hike, which for some football seasons can be rare. Over a year ago I noticed that a new trail was built in the Estrella county park. This finally seemed like the best time to get out there. The temperatures are finally cool enough now to enjoy a 10+ mile hike without being drained and dehydrated by the end of it.
There was a 30% chance of rain for the day, but that wouldn’t happen until the evening. I started before 6am, with just enough daylight to not need a headlamp. It was cooler, but not chilly. The temperature seemed to be roughly the same all morning, maybe even cooling a little. The winds picked up at times, which helped keep everything pleasant. The clouds near the horizon kept the shade around a bit longer, but once the sun got high enough, the direct daylight was all around.
I started from the rodeo area of Estrella park and took the Coldwater Trail south, left on the Butterfield Trail, then left on the Gadsden Trail, and finally left again onto the Desert Rose Trail. It was an out and back hike to PIR. There’s lots of fuzzy green grass that’s a result of all the recent rain. Some hills seem greener than others, but it does look nicer. The clouds made for nice scenery and cast some nice shadows across the mountains.
Saw only 3 bikers and no other hikers. On the east end of the Desert Rose Trail, it connects with the competitive track, which to my understanding is only for the bikers. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen the hiking trails actually connect to the competitive tracks, which are usually completely separate in other county parks. The track/(trails) actually looked pretty nice and possibly a pleasant hike. They seemed to go thru the hills and terrain a bit more, so the hiking and the scenery might be a bit more interesting.
It had been 3 weeks since my last hike and probably since the summer since I had to charge a battery for my camera. When I went to take my first picture, I found out that the battery and the backup battery were both dead. Luckily the phone camera was suitable enough for anything you’re likely to encounter in a local county park.
This hike brings my total mileage for this year the most I’ve posted on HAZ. I may have exceeded this mileage in years prior when I hiked pretty much every Sunday, but it probably wasn’t by much. Still have a few more months to go, so I’ll see how much I can get in a good year.
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