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| Hiking | 10.90 Miles |
1,427 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.90 Miles | | | |
| 1,427 ft AEG | | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | It was a pretty chilly start, colder than the previous week at the same TH. Once the sun hit, however, it ended up much hotter than the previous week. I wanted to start out by hiking the north end of the Cottonwood Trail because when I did it last time a few years ago, it faded away and I couldn't find where it joined the Skunk Tank Trail. I expected we would go a half mile past the junction to where I kept the end of that track. Instead, as we approached that area, where we were was significantly far off from the official track. We hiked almost an extra mile to where our position matched the official track, and at that point it was very visible that the trail splits there. There is a plastic "247" marker, but the rerouted section of the trail looks less developed than the older abandoned section at that point. the new trail ascends as you go northbound, and the older trail descends into the wash and is much wider. Mystery solved.
that first part of the hike was mostly in the shade. As we got back to the north end of it, we were out in the sun. Along the first mile back on the Cave Creek Trail, we were in the shade of the trees, but then as the trail ascends after it crosses the creek, it was sun the rest of the day.
All the trails here are significantly rocky, which took its toll on my feet. The views inside the narrow canyon part of Cave Creek are very nice, but the climbs and descents on the ankle breakers made for slow going. We spotted the crested saguaro in this section of the trail, and half of the crest has fallen off.
We stopped at the creek crossing right before the Skunk Tank and took a break. Made our way back slowly as the temperature began to climb. We went up this way to try to escape the heat for this weekend and kind of did, kind of didn't. |
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