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| Hiking | 5.58 Miles |
735 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.58 Miles | 2 Hrs 43 Mns | | 2.12 mph |
| 735 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The forecast was looking positively Norwegian and I'm not one to sit at home and watch TV when nature puts on a rare magic show. I'm also not one to fight dangerous highway conditions, traffic, collisions, and the other things that Arizona provides when the sky isn't blue. With the snow level set to drop below 2kft by Tuesday morning, I decide my best option was to wake up where I wanted to be, in a place that wouldn't also leave me stranded. The Beeline and I-17 were absolutely off-limits--just a bad idea for anybody who really thought about it. I'd never been past the Bartlett Lake turn in a desert snow before, and the last time was probably 20 years ago. The desert up there isn't the prettiest ... not a lot of saguaros and cliffs that make for dramatic photos. But it's amazing how much fun you can have when photos aren't the goal   So off I went....
I headed up toward Seven Springs and a severe line of storms came in during the afternoon and dropped an inch or two of snow across north Scottsdale, Carefree and Cave Creek. It made my drive more dicey than I anticipated. Nonetheless, I set up camp for the night and went out to gather some additional firewood. The Sheriff stopped as I was cutting a dead tree near the road to ask if I was aware of the forecast and to inform me that he had closed the road at Blue Wash. He was satisfied with my preparedness, and I was thrilled to know that nobody else would be driving out that way overnight  .
I managed to keep the fire going for a few good hours. It wasn't cold, maybe 30, but the snow was relentless. I slept well but had to get up every hour or so to knock the snow off the tent. Morning's light brought a winter wonderland as the snow continued to fall at a steady clip. Exactly what I had hoped for! 
After some breakfast I set out for a snowy hike. Would I make the first ever snowshoe ascent of Quien Sabe Peak?  Nah. There was only about 8" of snow, so no reason for flotation. As I made my way across Cave Creek, up Cottonwood, and started the ascent on Skunk Tank, the snow and wind was borderline unpleasant. I only made it up about 400 feet before deciding to bail on any more climbing. Back down at the creek, I headed down #4 for a mile or so before heading back to camp.
I saw a truck at the Bronco trailhead on the drive out and the driver told me the road had been opened just about half an hour earlier. I was leaving just in time! |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
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