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| Hiking | 8.96 Miles |
841 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.96 Miles | 3 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.58 mph |
| 841 ft AEG | 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | My ex agreed to take the dogs for a few days which allows me to do a hike like this. The first section along the river would be ok for Luna, but Wrigley (10 year old Dachshund) is retired from hiking for good.
Got to the trailhead at around 4:30 and parked at the gate to the OHV area. There were a few people around including one guy who was stuck behind the gate with his jeep. He didn't have the code and was kind of frantic. Past the trailhead area I didn't see anyone all day.
I started down the jeep trail and made a few detours to look at the river. Altogether, this was fine for my first trip. but next time I come down here I will drive my truck as close as I can get to the Goldfields.
Once in the canyon things get progressively interesting. Sunset was at a little after 6:30 this evening and my thought was to turn around at 6. This was hard to do. Every bend in the canyon opens up a new vista. As much as the views are amazing, the rock, vegetation, and wildlife all make this canyon extra special.
I kept the promise to myself and got to walk down the canyon as the light of dusk changed the colors of the sky and walls of the surrounding mountains. As I was coming out of Rhyodacite I began to see a number of Javelinas. I saw more today than I have seen collectively in all my time in Arizona. One or two stared me down for a minute before scurrying off.
I will admit that the remaining walk on the jeep road was pretty boring. For the final couple of miles I pulled out the headlamp, mostly to keep from tripping over the annoying stones.
Rhyodacite Canyon is a stunner. The Goldfields are a treasure that without HAZ and some of its intrepid explorers it would have taken me a lot longer to find these mountains. Many thanks to those who have blazed these paths before me. I look forward to going deeper into this wild, beautiful area. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Wildflower seed in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again |
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