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| Reynolds Creek to Aztec Peak, AZ | | -
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| | Reynolds Creek to Aztec Peak, AZ | | | |
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Reynolds Creek to Aztec Peak, AZ
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| Hiking | 10.33 Miles |
2,535 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.33 Miles | 6 Hrs 47 Mns | | 1.77 mph |
| 2,535 ft AEG | 56 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Noticed Bruce & Ray in the Home Depot parking lot. Unfortunately, I was on the phone and they got away for their hike before I could say hello to them. Met up with Chris a moment later and we headed out to the Ancha.
Got to the trailhead just before 0830 only to find half of the parking taken up with tents. The occupants looked annoyed that someone would have the nerve to park at a trailhead. We parked a few hundred feet down the road and walked in. I may have made some snarky comments about tents being in my parking spot.
Opted to follow a figure 8 loop Chumley and I hiked several years ago, crossing our fingers weather wouldn’t be an issue. Headed up Reynolds Creek. The first portion is nice and easy to follow. Gets a little more vague after the falls, and then progressively worse. The theme of the day was “deadfall and locust”. Had those two not been an issue, the hike would be pretty easy with the exception of two steep but short descents.
Following the trail around the east side of Murphy Ranch was the most difficult part of the day. Just as we reached the dirt road, we encountered our first and only hiker of the day. He had parked at the end of the road and was just starting his hike. After he asked us trail conditions, he commented he had a machete. I said I would have liked it and offered to buy it from him. He joked $100 not realizing I was serious. He could have been more than $250 richer today since I was ready to empty my wallet, lol.
Easy walk on the road up to the summit of Aztec. Looked around a bit, then sat on the Flintstone’s furniture for a snack. Watched a furry having a photoshoot—bizarre. And a foreign family who thought lizards were salamanders. After enough of that nonsense, we headed back down the road, then offtrail to the north. The offtrail was easy, easier than the trail, then a short descent. Crossed our trail from earlier, then north along the ridge on an old trailbed.
Saw a gopher snake stretched out who was pretending to be a rattlesnake. He was even shaking his tail in a fairly convincing rattle sound. Silly thing. After a good look at his head and tail, I gave him a little pat on the back and he moved into a more defensive posture, allowing Chris to get some good pics of the first snake he has seen in AZ.
The steep descent down to the saddle kind of sucked due to the theme of the day. There were occasional cairns, but the locust forced us to detour to the clearest path. At the saddle, we headed over to a nice viewpoint, then over towards Center Mtn trail to connect back to Reynolds.
Perfect weather today, although it sprinkled shortly after we finished. Other than the snake, the only other wildlife was birds, ladybugs, and squirrels. Noticed some fresh bear scat. Good day! |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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