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| Thunder Mountain Sampler, AZ | |
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| | Thunder Mountain Sampler, AZ | | | |
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Thunder Mountain Sampler, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.04 Miles |
987 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.04 Miles | 3 Hrs 7 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
| 987 ft AEG | 11 Mns Break | | | |
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| Partners |
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[ show ]
| partners | | My friend Tina from Calgary and several other Glacier Chatters came down to do the Grand Canyon hike. After they came out on the 25th they planned to meet up for dinner in Flagstaff. I persuaded Kelly to come with me and that we could do hiking in Sedona to and from (too cold in Flag for me). Kelly agreed as she also likes hiking in Sedona and wanted to meet Tina.
We drove 89a to the Andante TH. The weather was questionable for the hike but when we got there, it seemed okay enough for us to proceed with our plans. I had spotted two other trails we could do (Skidmark and Coffee Pot) as something different on the route back from Soldier Pass Road. Luckily there were two parking spots left as this is a very small TH. We got to see and hear a Cardinal couple before starting off east on the Andante Trail. When I went to get my camera though, I realized the battery was dead. I don't take my camera often, but Sedona is one of those places it is a necessity, so I wasn't happy with myself ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") .
The first thing I spotted was Owl Clover and then a couple minutes later we ran into a lot more of it. However, that was all we saw for the rest of the hike. The flower we would see a lot of and throughout the hike was Blackfoot Daisy. The Andante Trail is pretty nice tread. Then we took the Teacup Trail to Sugarloaf Loop Trail. Next up was Sugarloaf Mountain. It's a tiered climb, but there were wildflowers (including a Delphinium and some Paintbrush) and views (including Chimney and Little Sugarloaf to the west and Mescal to the east) along the way to entertain me while Kelly skated her way up quickly. We hung out here for a short time looking at all the landmarks and the changing sky.
After coming down the mountain, we saw very few other hikers on the rest of our route which was now on the Teacup Trail. There were quite a few Sugar Sumac trees in various levels of budding and blooming. We got to walk on some bedrock and ledges off and on as we made our way toward a closer view of the Coffee Pot. We passed it by and continued to Soldier Pass Road never finding the junctions with the Skidmark Trail; so on the way back, we pulled out RS to try and figure out where the junction was. Note to self: When you add a route, tag the junctions! I just assumed, in this case, that it would be marked. Anyway, after further research, we were almost right at it when we decided it didn't exist  . It is technically an extension from the Coffee Pot Trail.
We continued on the Teacup Trail still enjoying our views, the smells, the clouds, the flora when we both saw the clouds turn dark. However, we both saw bright clouds to the west and then boom, the rain started around 12:15PM as we passed a couple groups of hikers. It seemed like it lasted longer than it did. I came down pretty hard for about 10 minutes and it was a bit chilly too. I managed to grab a quick picture. It started to slow as we came to the unmarked junction with the Coffee Pot Trail. I took a picture for future reference.
We heard a few loud claps of Thunder that reverberated against the mountains. We could see pouring rain in the distance and felt lucky that our downpour was short. The trails muddied and watered up here and there, but we continued on with our planned route including the upper Thundermountain Trail. It was quite a treat, we enjoyed it immensely  . The trail work on this is amazing as well. I took a few pictures of the stone path work. I saw quite a few Feather Daleas, but they are hard to photograph.
We spotted a trio of windows above us so we had to study those for a moment. We continued to enjoy the landmark and near views. With the changing light and clouds it seemed like a different feeling every time you looked up. This is definitely a trail you don't want to rush. We came upon a large bouder setting that I took a few photos of only to find Kelly waiting for me on the other side to get a picture of me with the boulder. She knows I'm not big on pics of me, but she used my "scale" argument so I obliged.
The trail seemed longer than I thought and it had more ups than I knew, but it's all good for me. Chimney Rock came in and out of view. We saw some more flowers and a huge patch of Claret Cups. As we were coming down the last part of it, there were a few people coming up. When we got back down to Tonto 3 the Cardinal came out to greet us. We were sitting in the car drinking our beers when we saw the light come out long enough to light up Coffee Pot and the nearby rockery.
After grabbing a sandwich at Basha's and exchanging texts with Tina at the Grand Canyon we headed up 89a to Flagstaff. We hit a lot of rain. I don't think I've ever driven up 89a, usually down. It really is a nice drive other than the tight hairpin turns. The road is quite wide in those sections. When we arrived in Flagstaff we could see lots of snow on Mount Elden. We both had coffee upon checkin and hung out in the room until Tina and her gang were ready for dinner.
We met them at Beaver Street Brewery. It was fun catching up with those Chatters I knew and new ones I've only met online. Some of the group were flying home the next day, some were going to Death Valley and Dave was going to be doing some biking in Sedona. I was particularly glad that Kelly got to meet them all, especially Tina, since I talk about our adventures so much.
WATCH 6.26 miles, 10:13AM-1:20PM burning 1190 calories, 4542-4993 elevation (seemed like more). 128 avg bpm/161 max. Temp 72.8, windy, cloudy and some rain including a short downpour, 53% humidity. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Prickly Pear with big ears, a few Claret Cup cactus, a few Spreading Fleabane |
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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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