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| Hiking | 7.50 Miles |
2,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.50 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.88 mph |
| 2,100 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Hot days down low and it is perfectly suited for trips up high for more relaxed hikes. I parked at the Mint Springs TH and my route took me through the village and up the dirt road past the 2 water tanks to the Aspen Draw Trail. Much of this was shady, and very nice despite the noise from people and cars on the road.
After topping out from the Aspen Draw on Radio Ridge I ate lunch near the top of the Aspen trail and started over to the Meadow Trail. I then paid a visit to the Mt Lemmon summit gate to get my high point and to see if there were any hummingbirds at the collection of feeders at the house just inside the gate. There were none, which surprised me. No matter, as I then hiked the Meadow Trail to the Mount Lemmon Trail and stopped at Quartzite Spring were I met Brian, and as always, there are countless Hummingbirds zooming around the Meadow Trail and road that is the Lemmon Trail. Lots of hummingbirds. I think there are more here than anywhere else in the Tucson area in summer.
There is a lot of red firecracker Penstemon in that area, and despite the still dry conditions they are flowering well.
After drinking water and filling my bottle from the spring, Brian and I headed down the trail to the Sutherland junction and went out to a rocky point overlooking the WoR and sat for a while. There were many birds here, too, both the hummers, and also a few others like White Breasted Nuthatches, woodpeckers, and at least a couple of species I didn't catch. However, there were no titmice, bushtits, or boobies, despite my belief later on when discussing this with Brian. Actually, after checking their range, there may have been bushtits. I don't know.
We then returned to Brian's vehicle at the Radio Ridge parking area and I was shuttled to my vehicle at the Mint Springs TH. If time had allowed, I would have hiked down the Miner's Ridge Rd to my car, but it was time to grill at Alder.
Storms were building to the south in the San Rafael Valley and into Cochise County. The north side of the Santa Rita Mountain got grazed by one storm with a new Pima County rain gauge at Upper Sawmill Canyon Wash reporting 1/2 an inch. Nothing significant appears to have fallen south of Florida Saddle, judging by the NWS precipitation analysis.
My miles and AEG surprised me as I thought it would be more like 6.5 to 7 miles and 1200 to 1500 feet of AEG. I guess it was a better hike than expected! I rounded down a bit from my posted route to be safe, not that most people are concerned with such things. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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Quartzite Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | Still strong, but flow seemed a little less than the last few times. Perhaps with rain it will return to being as strong. | | _____________________
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