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| Shaw and North Mountains Loop, AZ | |
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| | Shaw and North Mountains Loop, AZ | | | |
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Shaw and North Mountains Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.99 Miles |
1,624 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.99 Miles | 2 Hrs 48 Mns | | 2.57 mph |
| 1,624 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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none
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| no partners | |
gotta hike with Linda on Tue so did a practice hike with some elevation. I'd like to be able to complete the peaks she and/or I chooses one of these times  So I checked out some routes and found this one Bruce did ten years ago with the off trail up the west side of North Mountain.
I did the loop counterclockwise. I got up Shaw nicely I thot. I feel I'm getting a little stronger with all the hiking I am now able to do. There were other hikers enroute but not too bad. I circled the towers and then headed over to the western tower before heading to Cloud Nine area. The skies were the clearest I've seen them during my last few hikes.
I continued on my merry way down the backside of Shaw Butte and headed over to Trail 100. I saw a hiker to the south of my track but Bruce's went the opposite way a little further north on 100. However, it looks like the other route ends up on the same route before that last push to the top of North Mountain. As I got on this trail I remember that I took it down about 4 years ago. It starts off fairly reasonably and then has a bit of a steep stretch until it hits a little ridgeline and then hits another steep stretch to a side ledge. I did take a few quick pauses  in the steep sections.
It's here where the narrow trail forks and I went east but the trail seemed to dissipate so I went back and went west to a saddle ridge where you than go straight up the west side of the mountain. (part of Bruce's route is not quite right on the side ledge anymore altho I'm not sure why; it's just a little blip off). Quite a bit of exposure and loose track here as you ascend pretty much straight up; thus a couple more short pauses. Finally, victory as I looked at the towers straight above me. And now to get around this and hit the pavement for a quick trip down a very busy mountain back to the VC via 100 as I don't like hiking alongside/above the road.
And, of course, it was beer time with plenty of entertainment in the VC parking lot.
WATCH: 6.94 miles in 2:49:38. avg bpm 138, max 169 (1:08 in Zone 5, 41 min Zone 4, 44 min in Zone 3 burning 1194 calories (beer, peanuts and Reuben coming right up ) 62.5 to start and 17% humidity. Finish 4:07PM. |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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