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| Hiking | 10.20 Miles |
389 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.20 Miles | 4 Hrs 45 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
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| 389 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 6 LBS Pack | |
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| no partners | | Fantastic weather today so we decided to get in some mileage and skip the AEG. We started at the Apache Wash Trailhead at the Sonoran Preserve North. There are some owl nests we wanted to check on and also poke around on the east and west banks of Cave Creek to look for any signs of ancient Hohokam dwellings.
The recent rain had Apache Wash completely full but we were still able to get across in order to access the Esplanade Trail to head north. No dust was a nice bonus although we had to bushwhack around lots and lots of mud pit obstacles on the trail all day. No baby owls yet but two of the nests had mamas sitting on eggs. We'll have to check back to see the baby owlettes.
The basalt rocks in this area are shiny dark with desert varnish which should be perfect for petroglyphs but I've yet to see any this far south. We went north all the way to Carefree Highway before heading south on the east bank of the Creek. Beautiful cliffs on either side but they are much taller along this area. Suppose that's why it's called the Cliff Walk Trail. :-)
We ran across a "camp" for lack of a better term in the middle of nowhere. Sleeping bag, cartoon pillow, deodorant, razor, and a fresh bag of beef jerky. No tent or shelter but everything appeared as if we walked in on whoever and they were probably watching us checking out their stuff from the trees. That jerky sure looked good...  .
As I did a "pause for a cause" I spied what looked like the remains of a multi room settlement off trail up on the plain or Esplanade above the creek. Sure enough, we found something pretty neat completely by accident. Judging by the amount of pottery still laying around, there's not been a lot of recent visits by my guess.
Pretty flat trail, but nice vistas abound. Snow still visible in the Bradshaw's, Four Peaks, Mt. Ord and the rest of the Mazzies. Great hike on a great day with the Mrs.  |
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| The best things in life are humans, dogs, coffee, and trails. |
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