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| Hiking | 17.56 Miles |
3,498 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.56 Miles | 8 Hrs 45 Mns | | 2.09 mph |
| 3,498 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | The purpose of this hike was to finish off AZT 11E, 11 and 12 all in one go. We started from the Butterfly Trailhead and took the Butterfly Trail to the Crystal Springs Trail, which is where 11E is. At Crystal Springs we turned left and took that to the end at Old Mt. Lemmon Road, which is also part of 11E. We then hiked this up to the top of Oracle Ridge and then took the road down thru Summerhaven to Marshall Gulch. At some point, AZT12 is in this section and switches over to AZT11, it seems to depend on what map you're looking at.
My original plan was to just do a loop, but then I had noticed that there was a 1-2 mile section of the Wilderness of Rocks Trail (part of AZT11) that I never did. So in addition to an 11 mile loop, we had to hike out 3 miles from Marshall Gulch and then back just so I could finish off a 1.5 mile segment off AZT11. Either that or make another separate trip for that, which I did not feel like doing. This made the hike for today a little more challenging, but these days an 11 mile loop seems too easy. I think the hike we did last Saturday in the Mazzies helped me out a bit with the elevation, as it was almost as high as we were this day.
Marshall Gulch Trail was the busiest in terms of foot traffic the entire day (I'm not counting the roads). The final ascent on the Sunset Trail back to the Butterfly Trailhead was a bit of a slog, but the views are amazing. Finding the beginning of the Sunset Trail was also a kind of a challenge as you go thru the wash there, but we made it.
Glad to get these segments all done and finally move on to a different area of the AZT. Weather was cloudy at first, then the sun came out as we ascended the road to Oracle Ridge and stayed out the rest of the day. Still had mostly cooler weather compared to Phx and has several nice breezes. |
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