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| Hiking | 3.39 Miles |
108 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.39 Miles | 1 Hour 3 Mns | | 3.23 mph |
| 108 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | First of a Daily Double. Whenever I drive to the east side I always want to make it worthwhile so I usually try to get in two hikes. The first hike of the day was in the Usery Preserve. I have my Regional Parks pass but seldom get to use it for the Usery system. I decided to randomly choose a trail that I hadn’t done in June. My finger landed on Nighthawk so off I went.
I parked at the Crismon TH a little before 5am. First there. I did a loop in the CCW direction, starting on the Levee Trail. This is basically a straight trail that goes along a berm. Not overly exciting, but ideal for hiking in the near dark and being on the lookout for resting reptiles. When given the opportunity I should have dropped down to the Channel Trail. This is a trail the parallels the Levee Trail, but connects to all the wash trails (the Levee does not) that take off to the north. The Levee and Channel Trails are very close together, but the park is trying to minimize the use trails connecting the two. So if you plan on taking a wash trail stay on the Channel Trail and you will be sure to come upon the wash trail you are looking for, (this may not happen with the Levee Trail). Hiking along the Levee Trail I ended up doing so backtracking looking for the Nighthawk Trail.
The Nighthawk is one of the shorter wash trail at .5 miles long and it is also one of the broader wash trails. It was light by this time, but I still appreciated having a wide viewing area when walking the wash. No wildlife along the wash, but I did stop and take an audio recording of the birds greeting the morning sun. The older I get, the more I seem to appreciate this part of nature. Before you know it be listening to the loons on Golden Pond. 
Blevins is a fantastic trail to hike on. A main artery that connects to most of the trails in the preserve. Wide, well maintained and fairly straight. It’s a great way to get where you are going fast. Moon Rock Trail blends into Blevins Trail and briefly continues its westward path before coming to a juncture that took me to the Levee Trail. I took this back to the TH.
Nice loop. A little longer than anticipated with some early morning backtracking. I’m always a little hyper vigilant this time of year because of snakes. All the trails that I hiked on provided great views of ground in front of me. Little danger of coming upon snakes unaware. Speaking of great views…. It is hard to find a Regional Preserve that can match the beauty that comes with Usery Park. The vegetation is about as healthy and abundant as you will find in any of the preserves and then the distant views of the Superstitions and Goldfields are hard to beat. It is a shame that the drive is so long, but it is worth it. When I got back to the entry gate, there was a volunteer grooming the area and ensuring that everyone had a pass to use the preserve. Pretty hard core. I haven’t seen that kind of vigilance at any of the side entries at any other parks. |
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