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| Hiking | 7.28 Miles |
1,308 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.28 Miles | 4 Hrs 28 Mns | | 1.68 mph |
| 1,308 ft AEG | 8 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Trying to squeeze as many leaf-peeping trips as I can this season. An early morning wake up call had us driving out to the Galiuros to have a look at Ash Creek. We gave the Thatcher/Safford bypass a try - and while it may have trimmed total miles, it didn't save us any time. When we arrived at FR660, J recognized someone parked waiting for the rest of their party...turned out to be Chumley! After brief hellos and intros, we continued onward to the parking area, which was remarkably full. Once all the vehicles were parked, we traded a few more hellos and intros with BiFrost and SlowandSteady before getting our gear collected and starting on our way.
Down low, there was some color - especially on the very healthy stands of poison ivy. The occasional maple also showed some color, but the oaks were predominantly green. After some hiking, the colors seemed to dwindle out with most of the plants still green. We'd come across a few spots with a little color, but we began worrying that the trip would be a complete bust.
Happily, as we climbed higher, things looked more and more promising. Upper Ash Spring was a riot of color, with leaves falling fast. We spent a chunk of time poking around the aspen grove before heading up the trail a bit further to have a look down into the drainage from above. After climbing a few switchbacks towards the ridge, I turned back. The hike back to the car went by quickly, followed by the long drive back to the valley.
While it was a long day, we were able to catch some really beautiful fall colors and met some other HAZers in person.
Wildlife: I missed the deer, she was properly skittish given hunting season. Saw a surprising number of butterflies, none of which cooperated for photos.
Other people: Aside from the other HAZ group, there were several other folks out hiking, and plenty of hunters camped out. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
A very mixed bag for color - a little bit of color down below, then large stretches of green. The section near upper Ash spring was fantastic, though the leaves are falling fast. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Upper Ash Spring |
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| | | Small pool in the drainage, covered with leaves. Enough flow that it could be heard dripping a good ways below at a pouroff. | | _____________________
Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually  |
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