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| Hiking | 8.57 Miles |
3,086 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.57 Miles | 5 Hrs 41 Mns | | 1.84 mph |
| 3,086 ft AEG | 1 Hour 1 Min Break | | | |
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| partners | | After seeing a questionable radar estimated rainfall of 6" over the Mazzy Divide, I hedged my bets that even if reality was only half that, it might still be enough to see some rare surface water in the desert this summer.
It was evident on the drive in that it had rained a lot here. Every desert wash showed signs of having flowed hard, though all were once again dry. Rye was muddy with evidence of high flows that would have made the road crossings impassable yesterday.
I began to wonder if all the rain had run off already but was encouraged when the crossings of Rock, Center, and Alder were all still flowing nicely.
A few feet from the trailhead we encountered a fox in the road. He was injured and despite seemingly wanting to avoid us, was very slow to hobble out of the road and take cover in the nearby brush. Rabies is always a consideration with foxes, but it showed none of the typical signs, just a heartbreaking lack of mobility.
The temp was cool to start, but the humidity was thick, as expected. It's nice walking along a flowing creek in the desert so the first mile was as nice as September could provide. As always, I had buried my memories of exactly how steep this trail is ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") How else do you peel off 2500 feet in 3 miles!?
Karl had some unfinished business with nasty trail work so I headed uphill and retraced a 2011 BobP route in the creek on the way back down (which was very likely a rehash of a Richard-route from the 80s!). Though it was only 61 degrees, I went for a couple of very refreshing swims in the fresh mountain runoff. On the descent, the oven fired up and while never oppressive, it dinged 90 at the trailhead.
It was good to see all the water here, but unless it rains this week (there's a chance!), it will be dry again by next weekend. Still it was a beneficial storm in these hills and I'm glad we got out there to enjoy this 2025 unicorn. |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
