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| Hiking | 7.63 Miles |
1,971 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.63 Miles | 5 Hrs 13 Mns | | 1.55 mph |
| 1,971 ft AEG | 18 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I have not hiked this trail in over 30 years. It was the spring of 1991. I was invited to hike overnight in some funny sounding mountains called the Maz-a-somethings. I agreed and I had no idea what to expect. We headed up on Saturday morning and hiked up. I was pleasantly surprised for sure. I am not sure why it has taken me so long to go back, but I am very happy I did.
I was watching the weather to see who was getting rains and it seemed to be raining just about every day in Payson & Rye. So, I decided to ask some friends if they wanted to go see a cool canyon with some waterfalls.
The drive up the Beeline was like driving in Ireland. Everything was so green. Even the roasted sections of the Four Peaks/Mt Ord area were green. That's all grass, of course, as the trees and cacti are dead and roasted. We arrived at the trailhead about 9am and started up.
Right away, I could hear the creek running, so I was confident we would see some flow over the little falls. The weather was very pleasant in the 70's, but it was a little humid. The clouds were amazing. I know there was a really bad fire since I last ventured into this cool place, and I could see the scars and signs from the Lone Fire back in 1996. I did not see many large pines like I did the last time, just a few tree skeletons. The rest of the hillsides have grown back nicely. Lots of manzanita, juniper, agave, cacti and other foliage. It was lush all along the trail.
The first little falls, Hawaiian Mist was not flowing too much at the top, but there was a steady flow underneath. We took a wrong turn just past there, as there was a pretty large landslide there sometime in the past. We ended up hiking up a steep chute, before I remembered to look at my Route Scout. A little detour and back on track.
The Big Kahuna Falls was the highlight of the day for sure. It was running very nicely. I love the way it makes a "S" on the way down the cliffs. We lounged around, rested and had some lunch in the shadows.
The hike down was a little hotter, but the sun was on our backs and there was a nice cool breeze blowing. Driving out, we could see more clouds starting to build to the north and west. Looks like another rain/thunder show in the nearby area.
We ran into one group going at the start that was ahead of us and a few more going groups going up while we were going down. It was a nice hike. My friends kids, 13 & 9 yrs old were little speedsters, making this old dude huff and puff on the way up for sure.
WHY did I wait so long to return? I will not be waiting 30 years for the next visit, that is for sure! |
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"Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul."
instagram: @andydilling |
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