Route Editor
Route Scout
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DESTINATION West Pinto Trail #212 - Superstitions 29 Photosets 2025-08-03 2025-08-03 2024-10-20 2024-03-17 2024-02-04 2023-10-14 2023-03-26 2022-09-04 2022-03-27 2021-12-05 2021-10-03 2021-04-10 2021-04-10 2021-03-20 2021-03-20 2020-11-22 2019-12-31 2016-01-10 2015-11-07 2014-10-07
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| HAZ Member 00blackout's 185 Photosets 2024-11-10 2024-11-03 2024-10-20 2024-10-13 2024-10-06 2024-09-07 2024-08-18 2024-08-04 2024-07-28 2024-07-14 2024-06-16 2024-05-19 2024-05-08 2024-05-05 2024-04-25 2024-03-19 2024-03-17 2024-03-09 2024-02-25 2024-02-10
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](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
I was feezing and nearly turned around and went home. After about 10 minutes of snow, the sun poked through the clouds and warmed me up a bit so I continued on. Made it to the ridge pretty quickly and started the long climb down. The backside of the ridge was hit pretty hard by the Woodbury fire so alot of the manzanita that were here are gone, however, a TON of new growth is coming in. Once I got near Iron Mountain Spring I lost the trail trying to push through the thick brush near the wash but it was pretty easy to pick it back up again. From this point on the trail was pretty overgrown with Holly, Manzanita and Scrub Oak. All of it was wet from the rain the night before and all that water ended up soaking me. The trail was decent for most of the hike down, I only briefly lost it a couple times before picking it back up. As I got down near Pinto Creek the catclaw picked up and did it's damage to my legs, which always feels great. I headed upstream, over to the Silver Spur Cabin area to check out the remains, then headed down creek to continue on towards Crocket Spring. I noticed the clouds getting dark and as I was checking out a waterfall, I heard the first rumble of thunder. I started the long climb up and the thunder continued pretty consistently up near the ridge next to Iron Mountain. I stopped and hunkered down for a bit as the rain started coming down, which then turned to hail, so much for a 20% chance. 
Being on the side of a ridge during a thunderstorm in the hail is not on my list of top things to experience but unfortunately I've been in this situation a couple other times. After a bit, the storm moved away and I continued the climb up, but the sun came out and made it warm and humid. Long, slow climb out but uneventful. Did not see anyone the entire day as expected. Was finally able to complete the entire West Pinto Trail which brings me that much closer to completing every offical train in the Superstitions, besides the ridgline, I just have a couple small sections left. On the drive back down, about 2 miles from RT, I noticed a younger guy walking down the road with a backpack on. I asked him if he wanted a ride back down and he was much appreciative as no one else stopped to ask. Apparently he was from Nebreska and was going to hike the AZT section 19 when the hail came in and he decided to head back. We chatted on the drive down and met up with his ride further down the road. Just another fabulous day in the Supes even with the weather.
