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| Hiking | 10.40 Miles |
1,215 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.40 Miles | 5 Hrs 54 Mns | | 1.90 mph |
| 1,215 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | I had never hiked Randolph Canyon, and the last time I hiked the Coffee Flat and Woodbury Trails in Fraser Canyon, it was nearly 17 years ago. With the limited trailhead access the further east you go in the Supes, this seemed like a good hike. I wasn't sure of the road condition or the trail conditions, so I asked Wally if he was interested and/or knew if it was doable hike. The tires on my vehicle are in need of a change soon, so I also asked Wally to drive for this one.
We did the loop counter clockwise, getting the off trail part done first, and also doing that section downhill. this turned out to be a good choice. Randolph Canyon had water running in it the entire way. It was actually very easy to hike, but I would imagine that hiking it uphill would be a bit harder. Silt filled in a lot of the rocks, making the hiking probably easier than normal. some sections were soupy and would result in some very soft footing. the trick seemed to be to stay towards the center of the stream, since that was where the most solid silt was. the water was still pretty shallow for the most part, and the deeper section were always narrow enough to step over.
the fire really didn't seem to harm this area very badly. Even the most cooked spots didn't look really all that different from the rest of the surrounding desert. There really weren't too many dead saguaros, except for some pockets here and there.
We stopped for lunch at the junction of the Red Tanks and Coffee Flat Trails. It was there that we saw the first other hikers all morning, after 3.5 hours. As I sat down for lunch, the one hiker was walking up to us and said, "Hey, you're Wally, right?" Not surprising.
the hike uphill along the Coffee Flat and Woodbury Trails was very rocky, as expected. There were a few flat sections here and there. The offtrail section of the hike was probably easier to hike than the trail section. At the ranch Wally pointed out where he and Denny has seen scores of pottery sherds on a previous hike. it was interesting to check that out and not see any sign of nearby ruins.
The biggest climb was along the Woodbury Trail back up to the Woodbury TH. Finished in just under 6 hours. Nice to have another hike back in the heart of the Supes, haven't been there in a while. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
