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| Cloudview to Carney Springs Falls, AZ | |
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| | Cloudview to Carney Springs Falls, AZ | | | |
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Cloudview to Carney Springs Falls, AZ
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| Hiking | 11.91 Miles |
1,874 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.91 Miles | 4 Hrs 57 Mns | | 2.45 mph |
| 1,874 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | After going over a week without getting a hike in, recent rains, a new pair of shoes to rotate in, and knowing I'd have a late start, I racked my brain for something appropriate to get a feel for how the new footwear would fare. Settled on heading out Lost Goldmine - with various options in mind. Having very recently done chuparosa and wedding cake, I didn't want to revisit those treads...I had no interest in revisiting wave cave...but with the recent rains, I figured the Carney Springs Falls should be flowing. I wasn't sure of the total mileage, but I had a feeling I might be pushing sunset on the return to the trailhead.
I arrived to a mostly full parking lot with several people coming back to their cars after a morning hike. After gathering my things, I was off. The trail was damp in spots and slightly soft underfoot in others. The air was definitely humid with all the moisture in the ground. Wanting to see how the the shoes would do on off-camber slabby rock, I opted to head up towards wedding cake, before re-joining the main trail as it began to wind around the base of Turk's Head. The soundtrack for the hike was a duet of birdsong with a countertempo from the plentitude of grasshoppers.
As I came around to the Carney Spring canyon, I could hear people shouting (presumably headed up to or at Wave Cave). Did a quick time check at the junction with the Carney Springs Trail and decided to go for it. Worst case, I'd be following the last bit of the extremely well established lost goldmine trail after the sun sank below the horizon if I slowed my pace too much. The trail up to the waterfall was in good shape - as I passed Shaka Cave, I heard more yelling up canyon... turns out there was a family with small children up the trail and the kids were intent on making their presence well known to anyone within earshot. Made it to the waterfall to find a couple pairs of folk enjoying the area. I took a few minutes to snap a few photos before turning around to make my way back towards the trailhead. The new shoes were surprisingly springy compared to the pair I just retired, and I can tell I'm going to need to mess with the lacing to make sure my mid-foot stays secure. I made it back to my car just before the sun dropped below the tops of the distant hills.
Wildlife: a couple of late-season lizards, plenty of birds, butterflies, and grasshoppers.
Other People: was slightly surprised since it was a weekday...passed several groups of folk heading back towards cloudview TH on Lost goldmine. Caught a few folk bound back towards the Carney Springs TH from wave cave on the shared section of trail, and saw 4 groups along the stretch to the Carney Springs waterfall. Also crossed paths with two mountain bikers on lost goldmine, both were heading eastbound. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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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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