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| Hiking | 7.14 Miles |
1,561 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.14 Miles | 3 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.04 mph |
| 1,561 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I arrived around 11 am with my guests Mike B and Sampson the dog. Temps were very nice. We gave Sampson some water and talked to another hiker who talked about wanting to do the entire AZ trail. He also mentioned that he did the entire Pacific Coast Trail and the Colorado trail, which are both amazing accomplishments. I started hiking around Noon while Mike wanted to take his time.
I took the AZ trail East and within about 2 minutes, I crossed the road that I drove in on. After that the trail turned and followed the road for a while before turning and going up hill.
At 2.7 miles, there is a hairpin turn in the AZ trail. This is where you will want to go off trail. There's an open field here and you'll see Lookout Knoll right in front of you, which is 0.7 miles away from this point. I saw a use trail which seemed to go in the right direction so I followed it. It led me along the ridgeline going toward Lookout Knoll. The trail was just East of the high point. Eventually, I was at the saddle immediately below Lookout Knoll. The trail seemed to end so I just continued in the direction I knew I had to go. I noticed a barbed wire fence to my right. You'll want to stay left of the fence.
Along the way up I found pieces of trails which were either animal trails or human made trails which were not maintained any longer. When I looked up, there always seemed to be a clearing or a faint trail. Since I had a late start, I stopped at had my lunch about 20 minutes from the summit. After lunch, I kept working my way up and arrived at the summit around 2:30 pm.
At the summit, I found several US Survey markers. There was also a satellite dish, some antenna and several large solar panels. I couldn't tell who owned the equipment or what it was used for. I found a registry at the summit which I signed.
After taking photos and a video, I headed back down to the saddle. On my route down, I stayed closer to the barbed wire fence and never needed to cross it. When I go back down to the saddle, I was able to pick up the use trail which followed the ridgeline and got me back to the Arizona trail. I took the Arizona trail back the way I came. I found Mike and Sampson about 0.7 miles away from the trailhead. He was on his way back down and we were timing it to get back down by 5 pm. We were hoping to make it back to Sahuarita to watch the Buffalo Bills game at 6:20 pm!
Unfortunately, Sampson the dog decided to go out exploring on his own and we had no idea where he was. We tried calling for him but he didn't come back. We knew the odds of us finding him would be slim, so after about 20 minutes, we continued down the trail. I went ahead of Mike and got to the trailhead. 15 minutes later Mike showed up with Sampson. Luckily the dog had good radar or sense of smell and came back to the trail and caught up to Mike. We're both very glad the dog came back to us. It could have been a long time. We drove back and stopped at Jersey Mike's subs, grabbed some subs to go and went back to Mike's place to watch the bills game. By the time we got there, the 1st half was over. There was a lot of snow coming down and the 2nd half was very entertaining. Bills won easily over the 49ers. I'd like to see the Bills win the Superbowl for the first time ever!
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 7.14 miles
AEG = 1561 feet
Strava moving time = 3 hrs 30 mins
Strava elapsed time = 4 hrs 34 mins
Driving directions: From Tucson, take I-10 East to AZ 83 South (exit 281). Take AZ 83 South to Sonoita. At Sonoita, continue on 83 South toward Parker Canyon Lake. You'll be on AZ 83 South for a total of about 41 miles. Before you reach the town of Canelo, you will turn right on Canelo Pass Rd. This is where the pavement ends. The road is graded very well and a passenger car should be able to make it. Continue for about 2.9 miles and turn right at the parking area for the Arizona trail. I noticed there wasn't a sign coming from the North. Coming from the South, there is a sign. There are about 8-10 parking spaces here and parking is free. |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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