| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 7.40 Miles |
1,601 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.40 Miles | 2 Hrs 53 Mns | | 2.57 mph |
| 1,601 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | A unexpected mid day hike at SoMo. I had initially planned on driving out to Casa Grande to hit some trails out there, but my car was riding rough, so I called an audible and chose something along the way. Got to the Bursera TH around 10am. This might be the last time I get to use this parking lot.  Off in the distance, I could see the future TH being worked on. It doesn’t look that far from being ready.
 It has to be frustrating to Joe and trail authors to have their hard made obsolete. The current configuration of the Gila Trail (eastern end) is quite a bit different than described and based on insider information that Linda has the western end may be tweaked in the near future.
That being said, I thought I would get the current data for the Gila. If you are trying to hike this trail in its entirety, the park has not made it easy. (Upon post hike reflection, the easiest way to do this trail would be to park at the saddle of Telegraph Pass and hike the National for about .5 miles to reach the beginning of the Gila (formerly the Pyramid Trail)). Since I was on the south side of South Mountain I thought I would do a loop of the Gila, involving the Bursera and National. It sounded good. 
I took what is signed as the Lost Ranch Trail for .69 miles. This is the first split in the trail, that will lead to the Gila. Left is a continuation of Lost Ranch. Right connects you to the Cholla Flat Loop. Either direction can get you to the Gila Trail. I chose the left path and by .96 I had reached a mid point of the Gila Trail. The trail is well signed and you can take the Gila either east or west. Going west, the Gila Trail starts out in a wash for the first .3 miles. At around 1.25 it will climb the southern bank of the wash and make its way up to a saddle. The views are fairly limited as you are boxed in by mountains. At 1.9 you’ve reached the saddle and gained about 500 ft. This is the western high point for the Gila. The views are ok to the east and west, but they are limited by the slopes of the mountains. The trail descends gradually from the saddle to eventually end when it junctures with the Bursera Trail. My Garmin had me at 2.91 miles and losing 320 feet to reach this end. This, annoyingly, is only half the trail. Onward.
Next, I climbed the Bursera for about .4 miles making my way to the National. The weather was very nice. In the upper 80’s and there were occasional clouds and a nice breeze coming from the SE. That being said, I wasn’t feeling it. I was only a 1/3 into the hike and I was already feeling wiped. The next stretch of the National is probably one of the rougher sections and as I approached the Lost Ranch connector I knew wasn’t up for this loop  . Very seldom do I bail on a planned hike, but I didn’t see the point in putting myself in a potentially bad situation. I pressed on to the Prospector Loop and then took Lost Mine to make my way back to the TH. Where I turned off onto the Prospector I was 5.2 miles and 1600 feet in elevation.
I hope to come back in the near future to continue this loop and get a full picture of the “new” Gila Trail. Saw about 7 chipmunks while I was out there. Ran into 6 hikers and 1 trail runner. All were within the first 20 minutes, after that, I had the trails to myself. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
