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| High Valley to West Spruce, AZ | |
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| | High Valley Ranch to West Spruce, AZ | | | |
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High Valley Ranch to West Spruce, AZ
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| Hiking | 9.92 Miles |
1,579 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.92 Miles | 4 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.33 mph |
| 1,579 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | | As reported earlier, the trailhead in the official route for High Valley Ranch Trail #391 is in a gated community; however, there is a trailhead available to the public just before the pavement ends on Copper Basin Road at 34°30'59.5"N 112°31'15.1"W (see photos). This route starts at that trailhead and goes five miles using all of Trail #391, then Old Forest Road #9401J to Sierra Prieta Trail #366 to Sunset Lookout, then downhill on Thumb Butte Road to West Spruce Trail #264 and continuing on Trail #264 until I had hiked five miles, so that the total hike was 10 miles from where I parked at a wide spot slightly past the paved portion of Copper Basin Road where there is room for 2-3 cars. Most of the hike is in the shade of Ponderosa pines and alligator juniper, except about half of #9401J and about half of Thumb Butte Road, as long as you reach it early enough in the morning to be in the shade of the 7000' ridge that Trail #366 crosses. It is almost all uphill to Sunset Lookout in both directions, except for a steep couple hundred feet down from the trailhead on Copper Basin Road to Aspen Creek. Lots of great views (see photos). As an extra treat, there were a half dozen wild turkeys crossing Copper Basin Road in front and behind my car as I was leaving. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
penstemon - mostly upright blue beardtongue plus some firecracker, common yarrow, common mullein, Wright's deervetch, Arizona thistle, threenerve goldenrod, spotted knapweed |
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