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| Hiking | 5.30 Miles |
521 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.30 Miles | 2 Hrs 48 Mns | | 2.06 mph |
| 521 ft AEG | 14 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | After a somewhat not restful nite due to traffic noise until around midnite and waking up at 3:15, we all were up around a little after 6 except for Shawn who was up earlier. We packed up our stuff and put it in Ambika's car, geared up and headed out on the trail for our last 5 miles and this time, the mileage estimate was right on so good job Shawn!
AZT #6 northbound to the five mile mark. At 7:10AM we hiked the 3/4 mile rutted road walk to the junction of AZT 5/6. The Oak Tree Canyon Tank was about 1/2 full I'd say and there was a wide black tube coming out of it that continued all the way past the junction. We passed by a birder we had seen in the parking lot; she said she had already seen nearly 20 different kinds of birds. We headed northbound.
Off to our right we could see what appeared to be a large bird. It was quite a distance away and even with full zoom I couldn't quite get a good picture but I documented it nonetheless. GL says it was a Falcon but it's hard to say as you really can't see its face. We reached the top of the first hill with great views to the northwest of the Santa Rita Mountain's Weigles and Hart's Buttes. From here we would be going mostly down through the flowing golden white grasses into the valley that was loaded with bright green trees.
I would be beyond remiss if I didn't mention the start of gunfire that would continue for the next few miles  . It was loud and someone was practicing how to use rapid gunfire. Sometimes it would seem to come from several different areas. We also saw a few vehicles as you're not too far from some of the roads.
We passed by various flora including more Four O'Clock, Verbena, Fairy Duster, Dalea, and Bahia along with yucca and agave. We eventually made it to a nicely signed Arizona Trail gate at the bottom and not far from it a very elegant, flowered Emory Oak. Down here we would cross many little washes and drainages along with a few big ones. It's pretty shaded as there are a lot of trees  .
Just past Helvetia Road there was a ring of 4 empty gallon water jugs so Shawn ended up wearing a necklace until we got to the box for water at the AZT sign near McCleary Wash. I thot this last mile was mostly uphill from here but it really was a nice grade once the last up for us started, and there were a couple switchbacks. Off to the side as we started up the hill was a target set-up with about six wooden stakes that Shawn retreived; kind of P...d us off to have it that far from the other supposed shooting areas, let alone that they didn't practice LNT. But sadly, there are those few that ruin it for others and that will never change ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") . The shooting areas we drove by were covered by litter despite the Pick up Litter signs.
We made it to the top of the hill for the last half-mile back to where we had bushwhacked up to yesterday. We looked back one last time at the buttes and Wrightson before crossing through the fence and down the third of a mile to Shawn's waiting truck at 10AM.
It was a tricky drive back to the main road; thank you Shawn. We went back and got Ambika's vehicle where a beer was waiting for me and it was after 9:30 so good to go. We stopped for lunch in Tucson before heading home and glad to be able to check off another section of the AZT Trail by the Crew. |
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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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