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| Pinto Creek Loop n Narrows, AZ | |
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| | Pinto Creek Loop n Narrows, AZ | | | |
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Pinto Creek Loop n Narrows, AZ
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| Hiking | 12.76 Miles |
2,239 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.76 Miles | 5 Hrs 48 Mns | | 2.45 mph |
| 2,239 ft AEG | 36 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | While researching this one I noticed that Eagle had some unfinished business in this area after a 40-point route proposal turned into a fight of desert misery and darkness in the sweet spot.
Somehow I was able to sack the obligatory sportsball things with a creative plan to partner some elevation and views with some creektime and colors.
We hit a wall pretty much from the getgo, a dryfall that needed a steep and irritating bypass. Finally back on track we checked out a few POIs before finding a nice ridgeline route between drainages.
With Pinto running sandy we were pleasantly surprised to find some flow a few miles upstream that lasted until an old ranch corral where it went underground. I was very surprised to find that water did not resurface in the narrows as I would have guessed that this is a perennial stretch. Not this year. It's dry everywhere.
Autumn scenes were abundant. Plentiful leaf litter was already carpeting the ground, perhaps a result of being a little later in the season, and perhaps it being bone dry and cooler than normal for most of the month. Figuring these things out is always a bit of a crapshoot.
Saw a deer by the creek, and a number of hawks and an owl on the hike. On the drive home, learned that a wolverine mauled a nut and listened to some wildcats get killed, both of which are always a treat. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
A week past prime. Still plenty to go around. |
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Henderson Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Some obvious water-hungry flora but no sign of liquid. Former infrastructure is in disrepair and an old trough no longer would hold water anyway. |
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Pinto Creek |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Steady flow ended about half a mile south of Bell Gulch, and didn't resurface through the narrows. Upstream from Bell, steady light flow the entire stretch we were in the creek. Both upstream gauges were reading zero flow. | | _____________________
| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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