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| Hiking | 10.64 Miles |
2,057 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.64 Miles | 5 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.23 mph |
| 2,057 ft AEG | 36 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Finally got a chance to get out and hike outside of Phoenix and see some great scenery.
Headed out from Wally's at 5:30am. Took the shortcut through Gilbert and Chandler to I-10 and saw a meat wagon making a pickup along the Hunt Highway and McQueen Road. They met up with some police a mile later as we headed further south. Just past central Tucson I decided to top off the tank since I wasn't sure if I would have enough after the hike. It was at this point 2 hours into the trip the Wally realized to his horror that he forgot: a) his backpack (and water), b) camera, c) GPS, d) wallet. Fortunately he had a soft cooler with a shoulder strap that he some extra water and Gatorades. We were just barely able to make due to be able to still hike, although with a comfort level less than he would have preferred.
the Cochise Campground is closed for the (fire) season, so we had to park at the gate. There are No Parking signs in various spots, but generally in spots where it's nearly impossible to park. We saw a local resident walking her dog that we asked some advice from about parking and she told us it was ok to park on the east side of the road. she also asked where the No Parking signs were as she walked right past them  .
It was pretty toasty right from the start and I was expecting this to maybe be more than we bargained for . I also got us off trail early trying to follow the track I downloaded that looked to turn off the interpretive trail to the Cochise Trail. The cicadas were in full throat making a hellacious racket nearly the entire time. So much for peacefulness. the hike up to the divide was toasty at first, but not too steep or difficult. As we got to the divide, the breezes picked up and being 1000' higher also helped.
Past the divide is where the scenery really gets nice. That whole canyon down the west side is amazing. It helped having clear skies and just enough clouds to cast shadows. There was a cloud cell hovering around that looked mildly threatening to start rain, but fortunately all it did was cast shadows on us as we made our way back up the canyon after lunch at the far trailhead. The 100 Classic Hikes in AZ book says to bail on this trail at the divide and turn around, but I have to take major issue with that. It was some extra work for the 2nd ascent to the divide, but well worth it and easily the highlight of the hike.
finished up about 2:30pm and headed the back to Tombstone through Gleeson to spend the night for the hike the following day. Got dinner on Allen St (with the wooden sidewalks) and had a beer at the Tombstone Brewery, and sleeping by 9:30pm. From the hotel we could see the mountain range where we had just hiked. |
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