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| Hiking | 7.30 Miles |
1,442 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.30 Miles | 3 Hrs 57 Mns | | 1.93 mph |
| 1,442 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Fourth and final day of our SE AZ hiking trip:
After three days of hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains (one day in the Wilderness and two in the National Monument) we were ready for a slight change in scenery. Actually our original plan was to hit the Dragoons for a few days then the Chiricahuas, but two things flipped the plan.
1. I really didn't see anything that appealed to me in the Dragoons other than the Stronghold Trail so that would be the only one.
2. More importantly, we wanted to avoid the I-10 at all costs so we took the route through Globe and Safford. (Only a 15 minute wait at 6:15 am on a NON-closure Monday)
In the end it turned out better working our way East-to-West over the 4 days. And with such a long first day of driving, we opted to hit the trail farthest from home, which was Turkey Pen in the Wilderness, then the 40 mile drive to our Air BnB.
Ok, let's get back to today's hike.
With 60° @8 am we got off to a very pleasant start. We were thrown off just a bit at the start due to various 'Nature Trail' signs seemingly at odds with the expected direction of travel of the Stronghold Trail so we ended up taking a short detour before getting on track.
Not spending a much time reading about the hike in advance, it seemed quite unintuitive to start out by hiking 1.5 miles in the opposite direction of the waypoint I set for the gate at the saddle. Only upon reaching 'John's Well' did we begin heading in the 'correct' direction.
(Straight line distance between the TH and gate was .95 miles, yet it will take 3 miles of hiking)
Although it was one long climb of 1025' to the saddle, after our hikes in the Chiricahuas it seemed like a breeze. No constant 6" steps up one-after-another, just a steady ascent on a relatively smooth tread. So when we arrived at the gate we still had energy to burn. Ok, but does that mean we had enough to descend all the way down to the Western TH and end up with a 10+ mile round-trip? No way!
At least lets go a little ways and re-assess the situation. Plus, with some beta Tracey had about a cairn just past the first switch-back supposedly marking a detour that climbers used to some specific boulders, let's check it out. Knowing the beta was OLD, we weren't very disappointed to find no obvious cairn, or route either of us was willing to try.
Yeah right! Me NOT willing to check something out? No way!
So, I DID go about 40' along what could have been a trail (game trail?) but in very short order the Manzanita made me rethink it. Nothing doing here, so with a long drive back home on deck after the hike, we decided, no matter that some folks claim the scenery is better on the Western side, let's go back to the gate, take an early lunch break and head back down.
(The scenery difference? Although we did not go far down the West side, In our estimation it was far better East of the gate)
On the return trip, since we practically blew by Half Moon Tank on the ascent we allotted a few extra minutes before moving on. We also spent a bit of time attempting to locate a supposed Cochise Spring which was on my US Topo map somewhere in the vicinity of John's Well, but had no luck.
Once back to the 'Nature Trail' at the Stronghold Campground, we decided to check it out. Weirdly enough there appeared to be a few separate parts, one a full loop and the other a winding out-and-back. Although there were panels along the way providing historical context, there were so many I didn't bother taking photos of any... besides, I already had taken more than enough photos on this hike already.
Ok, for the long drive home... but since it would be a bad time on a Thursday to return through Superior on the US 60 (closed from 9 am to 2 pm) we broke down and follow I-10 until turning off onto AZ 77, up to Oracle Junction, turn onto AZ 79, following the historic Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Wow, this was great! 65mph, no traffic to speak of, it was actually a relaxing drive. The only thing that kept our minds from wandering was the odd bits of burned ground on either side of the highway between mileposts 100 & 110. Our first thought was prescribed burns or back-burns, but with long gaps in between each that made no sense. Oh well, somethings we're not meant to know I guess.
Ambient Temps: 65-83°
HR Avg/Max = 91/123 |
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