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| Hiking | 11.20 Miles |
1,312 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.20 Miles | 5 Hrs 13 Mns | | 2.20 mph |
| 1,312 ft AEG | 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | With a morning appointment out in the East Valley, I figured I'd throw my hiking gear in the car and continue onwards for some hiking afterwards. Had originally planned to check out the Useries since someone had recommended them to me in passing. J knew I was going to be out in the area and managed to reach me just as I was leaving my appointment. Figuring I could hit the Useries another time, I decided to meet up with him at First Water TH. On arrival, there were a number of other vehicles in the lot.
The Hackberry Spring Loop is one of the first hikes I jumped back into hiking with last year after my long hiatus away - when I did it then, garden valley had very recently burned and the ground was completely barren and quite soft in places. While it looks nothing like it did before the fire, it is nice to see the ground cover coming back. Hopefully the groundcover will provide sufficient shade for cactus to start getting re-established, though it will be many many years for any cactus to grow to maturity.
While I had known that there was a ruin right on the trail, I never spent any significant time really looking at them. It was nice to stop and see the potsherds and a metate before continuing onward. As we were heading up First Water Creek to complete the loop, we noticed a helicopter flying an apparent search pattern out in the direction of Weaver's Needle.
When we got back to the intersection with the Dutchman Trail, I opted to head out to cover some additional miles while J returned to the TH. Initially I figured I'd head to Parker Pass and then turn back - when I hit the pass, I wondered if I might make it back down to the junction with the Black Mesa trail to see if that abandoned backpack was still there (to potentially haul it out). As I was descending, from the pass, the helicopter made a reappearance, sweeping low over the valley below before hopping the shoulder to the right of Weaver's Needle. As I continued descending, the rocks underfoot started becoming more of a nuisance...and shortly thereafter, the helicopter popped back up, heading in my direction, focusing its search sweep not far from the trail. With the constant drone of the MCSO chopper nearby, I decided to turn back to the trailhead.
The hike back out was uneventful, though was accompanied by multiple passes of the helicopter overhead. When I arrived back at my car, there weren't many other civilian vehicles in the lot - but there were a number of MCSO vehicles there. They wound up leaving not long afterwards - it seems the search had reached an unfortunate conclusion. (I later learned the missing person was found deceased.)
Other people: An extremely large group (well over the wilderness limit) were headed back towards the trailhead as we were hiking up second water towards Garden Valley. Saw a few others while out on our loop, most along the return leg of the loop along first water creek, and I saw a four others heading back towards the trailhead while I was hiking up to Parker Pass along the Dutchman. |
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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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