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| Hiking | 8.23 Miles |
712 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.23 Miles | 3 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.60 mph |
| 712 ft AEG | 12 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | My friend and classmate from Havre High got a reservation for her RV at Lost Dutchman so I took Tonto 3 out for some car camping and drove us over to this trail, one of my favorites. It's a relatively smooth trail as well. She had hiked the Goldmine Trail in the San Tans and now the Lost Goldmine in the Supes. After eating our Subway sandwich at the campground we drove over to the mostly empty trailhead. (FYI - Carney TH also had lots of spaces available). It was good to do some dirt road driving too.
I thot we would hike to Turk's Head and back. The winds were slightly gusty and with the broken cloud cover, it would get a bit nippy from time to time. This hike goes in and out of several washes as you head west. The trail is in pretty good shape I think. Of course, the views are non-stop and my impression is it seems different when you change direction too. We passed the Wave Cave turn off and I pointed it out to Deborah and said perhaps we can do that one of these times (she plans to visit more frequently). Of course I pointed out the Three Sisters and we wondered why you don't see things named brothers? We think the reason is obvious .
As we continued I kept looking for the mushroom rock but I never did spot it going this direction. We approached the east side of Turk's Head and in the distance we could see what I think is the Wedding Cake. We hiked around to the other side of Turk's Head to where the southside trail comes out and then headed back.
We encountered some hikers from Wisconsin who asked us about the loop that would take them back to the TH. I said there are several trails that eventually swing back but I don't know which one would get them back to the TH. While talking with them one of the rocks moved but it was Denny  . So we all scrambled to get some pictures and it stayed still long enough for us to do that.
We hiked eastward and as we got around that side of Turk's Head and up a slight hill I finally spotted the Mushroom Rock. It was higher below the cliff side than I remembered, altho it's been over 7 years since I was last on this trail. So I was glad I spotted it. It was near here that I learned Deborah's best friend from Ft Benton MT, where I was born and the Romains farm north of, was the gal that I roomed with in Jan 1973 during the State Jr Miss Pageant. So it was fun to hear about that. Some of it very interesting, good ole small town gossip  .
We got to the Wave Cave junction where we saw a hiker and then between there and the TH we saw a couple and their 3 dogs and another couple gentleman. Deborah was pretty tired for the last couple miles but she had done a run that morning part way up Siphon Draw. The hike was as wonderful as I had hoped and I look forward to doing it a little more often.
We enjoyed the beer I found called Noche Dulce (a vanilla porter) from Borderlands Brewery of Tucson before going to my favorite restaurant Los Gringos Locos where we had a very large Prickly Pear Margarita Grande and some Poblano Chicken Enchiladas and Poblano Rice. I particularly like their chicken enchiladas because they grill the chicken. Usually I drive home from this restaurant so it was weird to drive to the Lost Dutchman instead.
I slept in Tonto 3 but still have some work to do to prevent me from sliding somewhat during the night toward the tailgate  , the seats don't lay flat. However, I did figure out part of the slide is my backpacking R4 air mattress I use that is slippery. I have mastered the warmth thing and that is two sleeping bags; one you put on so to speak and the other as a cover. |
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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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