| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 9.99 Miles |
1,089 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.99 Miles | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.00 mph |
| 1,089 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | Well things are still normal with the AZT Section Crew as we underestimated the mileage... but only by a mile. However, none of us hiked that long of mileage in a while so we did our fair share of whining; especially about the trail layout. We set up our shuttle around 9:30 AM. Thanks to Shawn for finding a rather precarious mid-spot to leave his truck for the nite (He did a recon for us). We would then hike from there starting around 10AM to the north trailhead after a third of a mile bushwhack on a faint cattle trail.
As was noted from my triplog in 2017, this hike goes up and down and zigs and zags wide over some pretty rocky trail. We would immediately start seeing quite a few trailing Four O'Clocks. There were other flowers out too but nothing extraordinary. And as per normal, soon we would cross through our first gate. A couple of these gates had pretty high bottom guards to get over. When we got down, we were astonished to see running water  ; possibly near Schoenfeld Spring which looks like it drains toward Hidden Valley Ranch. Not a lot but it was running on MAY 6th. (oh and I just realized we were hiking Section 6 on the 6th)
Now we started getting into some of the ocotillo area. It is astonishing how many we pass by on this portion of the trail. Today the Purple Thistle was out with its puffy tops; they look so soft, like cotton candy. Now we would start dropping down again, this time into Papago Canyon. Once we came out, we would take our lunch break on a long ridgeline that was part of the Helena Mine road.
As we topped out from Mulberry Canyon, we heard and then saw a couple military helicopters. At the top the Rincons are framed by two bushy trees; I still remember that scene from 2017. That area makes for a great background for some nice people photos  . From here it was mostly a rollercoaster ride downhill with a few ups and downs and of course, more zigs and zags. Fortunately, the breeze would accompany us.
We would see a few Rainbow Cactus, they seemed a bit wrinkly. As we came into another little canyon and out, the prickly pear were really showing off. Some of the blooms were outstanding! There was also Fleabane daisy, some sort of yellow daisy, a skinny type of Vervain (Hillside), and some Desert Honeysuckle. The grass was tall and flowing which made for some pretty scenery.
Tracy started having problems with her toes cramping on her good foot so we pulled aside for a bit. I wandered up the trail and found a lizard to pose for me; probably a young one and didn't know it should run from me. We continued up and down and zigging and zagging through all sorts of different kind of cactus. And much of it was huge! We took a break so that Tracy could re-boot and see if she could resolve the cramping of her toes. Ambika loaded her up with some electrolytes. From here we only had a few miles left, one more than we thot  . We ended up taking one more break at the junction with the FS road at the 8 mile mark.
We enjoyed our walk to where we had parked as the trail was a lot less rocky and it weaved through some nice part of the desert. We could hear the cows the closer we got to the Twin Tanks area. And by now, I was hiking for beer.
We loaded up in the vehicle and headed for Sonoita for some supper. The place we like to go, The Cafe, was closed so we were sad about that (it's open 11-2/3 Wed-Sun, 3-7 Th). The steak house looked too busy so we headed down the main road to the Cantina. The rodeo was going on. We were expecting Mexican food at Tia Nina's Cantina but ended up with mostly Italian fare. The Cantina is only for the bar. There is no sit down service except at the bar. However, I did get to enjoy a good Moscow Mule and my pizza was pretty good.
Because the food service was SO SLOW, we ended up setting up in the dark at the Oak Canyon TH which is this large gravel area. It's very nice but not the best for sleeping since it's right next to the highway. Fortuntately the traffic dies down around midnite to 6. Tomorrow we would finish off the passage.
WATCH 10AM-4:30PM, 9.35 miles, 4139-4930 elevation. 115 avg bpm/149 max (7% max Zone 5, 25% Zone 4 anaerobic, 41% Zone 3 aerobic, 17% Zone 2 weight control, 10% Zone 1 low) burning 2157 calories. Starting temp 66.9 sunny with a slight breeze and gusty in the afternoon with 22% humidity.
No video from this hike as I did the movies back in 2017 (totally different conditions than today):
Arizona Trail Passage 6 - Las Colinas, Part 1 of 5 to 3 1/3 mile mark [ youtube video ]
Arizona Trail Passage 6 - Las Colinas, Part 2 from 3 1/3 mile mark to 5 1/2 [ youtube video ]
Arizona Trail Passage 6 - Las Colinas, Part 3 from 5 1/2 to almost 8 miles [ youtube video ]
Arizona Trail Passage 6 - Las Colinas, Part 4 from 8 mile mark to 10 1/2 [ youtube video ] |
|
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
|
|
| _____________________
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. |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
