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| Hiking | 13.23 Miles |
1,357 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.23 Miles | 6 Hrs 29 Mns | | 2.09 mph |
| 1,357 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | One of the early hikes I did when returning back to regular hiking was the Picketpost circumnavigation. The previous time, I hiked it counter clockwise and after a period of substantial drought. This time, we hiked it clockwise, and after a period with substantial rains.
We arrived close to sunrise to find 5 other vehicles in the lot and more arriving as we set off. Temps were cool with a chilly breeze...which sometimes switched to an oddly warm breeze. The day eventually warmed sufficiently so we could shed our long-sleeved shirts.
The biggest observations I have from last time are 1) things were much more lush and green this time around, 2) while there was some sandy walking, there was enough moisture in the ground that it wasn't a dusty mess, and 3) Arnett and Telegraph both saw substantial flow with the big rains that came through this fall. There was obvious evidence of the canyons flashing.
It looks like crews are working to reroute sections of trail in the area, especially sections located close to the drainages - there was flagging tape placed, and in some areas some brushing ahead of the trailcutting had been done...but in others, the brushing was yet to be completed.
It was nice to see the trees in Arnett and Telegraph were decked out in fall colors. Like other places I've been for fall colors this year, there were also still some trees that weren't yet decided on what they wanted to do color-wise. The section with the autumnal foliage isn't particularly long, but it is beautiful. As we made our way around Picketpost, I recalled some features from my previous hike, but completely missed others (I didn't think to look for the palm trees to see how they fared). There was a section of trail I wasn't looking forward to, but I don't think we wound up on it this time around. I took (and submitted) photos to include in the chronograph.io timelapses for the two stations that are positioned on the route.
When we hit the intersection with the AZT, I managed to cajole J into joining me for a bit. Eventually, he opted to take a break while I continued up to a saddle to see what I could see before returning back down to close out the loop.
Other people: unsurprisingly, a decent number of folk were out on the trail - both hikers and equestrians. I lost count of how many - most were in Arnett. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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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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