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| Hiking | 12.70 Miles |
2,588 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.70 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.81 mph |
| 2,588 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I met Brian W. at 7:30 am from Tucson and we left heading for Bassett peak. This would be my first time going to this place and Brian's second time. His first time was in 2014. I heard from a number of people that the trees had nice foliage around this time of year and November is a great time to visit this area. With the holidays coming so many of us were busy so we decided to schedule our hike on a Tuesday instead of the weekend and it all worked out great.
We arrived at the trailhead just before 10 am, and took the Ash Creek road all the way to some camping sites which were located just before the 4x4 portion of the road. From there, we hiked down the 4x4 road and the road got really rugged really fast. I wouldn't take my capable 4x4 on the 4x4 section because of the large rocks right on the road. It seemed impossible to get any vehicle through this unless it had a huge amount of clearance. The road/trail crossed the wash about 6 or 7 times and climbed up through the canyon. Within about 20 minutes we saw some foliage, then we saw some oaks and pines and then up ahead saw more foliage.
The first 3.4 miles we stayed in the canyon and we made great time because the trail was excellent and easy to follow. All of the foliage areas were in the canyon. Near the end of the canyon portion of the trail we saw a concrete cistern and the trail turned sharply, cut across the canyon, and then there were switchbacks that climbed up the North side of the canyon. After hiking a total of a little over 4 miles we reached the main ridgeline and noticed we were not far from the top of the ridge. The steepness lessened and we continued toward the peak. The wind was a bit strong here as we knew it would be. The weather report predicted winds at 30 MPH and wind gusts as high as 46 MPH. At a certain point we saw some shiny metal objects from a distance which were from a plane crash that we heard about. The trail seemed to go above this area and it would have probably been too steep to hike down to that location.
We continued up some switchbacks and there were some areas where the trail was eroded and very thin passing horizontally across some very steep slopes. There was some brush in the way of the trail, but nothing with thorns. Mainly manzanita, scrub oak, and some small, dry, dead looking trees. After we reached 6.1 miles, we could see what looked like the summit. There was a cairn and here's where the "use trail" started. From here we headed up and arrived at the peak in probably 5-10 minutes. The peak was quite windy. We found a registry in the rocks that was in poor condition. It was a plastic jar with no top which looked like it got run over by a truck. I replaced it with a nice glass jar with a top that should be a lot more durable. Nothing made of plastic seems to last in the desert.
We stayed at the peak for at least 30 minutes, got our photos, then decided to get out of the wind. Just a few hundred feet below the peak, there seemed to be no wind at all. We took a water break here and the weather was nearly perfect. We looked at the clock and determined that we needed to move pretty fast to make it down to the parking area before dark. So we kept moving and got to the canyon around 4:50 pm. We knew we only had roughly 1 hour before it got dark. We kicked it into high gear and set our pace at at least 3 MPH which allowed us to get pretty close to the trailhead by the time it got dark at around 6 pm. Then, we put on our headlamps and walked the final 0.5 mile out. We noticed about a 2/3 moon, which lit the area up at times, but when the canyon was thick, it blocked a lot of the moon light.
All in all this was an incredible hike. The trail was fantastic and well maintained with a lot of dirt and leaves in some areas. There wasn't too much rock except for the wash crossings. The colored leaves in the canyon were some of the best I've seen in Arizona ever. I would do this hike again someday. The only bad part is the drive from the Tucson area was quite long.
Stats:
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Total distance = 12.7 miles
AEG = 2,588 feet
Strava moving time = 5 hrs 44 mins
Strava elapsed time = 8 hrs 33 mins |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Saw trees with many colored leaves - reds, oranges, yellows, etc. Many leaves were already on the ground, so I suspect we're now past the "prime" foliage time period. |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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