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| Hiking | 11.28 Miles |
2,637 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.28 Miles | 6 Hrs 49 Mns | | 1.74 mph |
| 2,637 ft AEG | 19 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Needed to get outside and clear my mind - so taking J's advice, I headed off to do the Black Ridge loop. It got me out to an area we'd recently visited, with not too long of a drive and easy access. Pulled into the Cross F / McFarland Ranch Trailhead behind a truck to find one vehicle and an empty trailer. As I was getting ready to head off on the trail, the truck headed back out...perhaps they figured I'd scare away any interesting wildlife (they were wearing camo, so I presume they were there to either hunt or glass). The weather was cool and breezy - the wind felt stronger than I was anticipating, and hoped that they would calm as the day went on since I wasn't looking forward to walking the ridge with a strong breeze.
Unlike J, I did the loop clockwise, opting to complete the routefinding first, leaving the return to the trailhead along the AZT for the end. I initially started out of the lot through a stile heading towards FS393, but turned back to head out the main gate instead, reasoning that the reference tracks I'd downloaded showed a more direct track to join up with the road from the main trail. After leaving the trail, I followed what appeared to be a cowpath up towards the powerlines and the road - the roadwalk to where the AZT crosses went by quickly. No horses or cows were in the area when I passed by.
Picking up the AZT, the turnoff was at a cairn...but no obvious path was evident. I picked a heading based on the downloaded route and set off. Eventually, a worn path appeared - and it seemed like this was the routine for the remainder of the hike until I joined back up with the AZT. Sometimes the way was evident, other times, it was a pick your best guess out of the braided game and cow paths, and sometimes it was blindly follow the downloaded route while selecting the path of least resistance. While there were the usual scratchy plants to contend with, I didn't seem to take any severe damage - perhaps J's offering the previous week was sufficient to satisfy the desert. Occasionally, I'd find shoe prints from others hiking this loop, but more often it seemed I was following cow and deer prints with the occasional cat and coyote print thrown in.
Once I hit the AZT, I decided to hike the remaining bit of the Little Saddle Mountain Trail over towards the Mormon Grove TH before turning back to finish off the hike back to my car. I definitely moved a lot faster once I was back on established trail 
It was a nice day to be out - this loop offered beautiful views, with the occasional cow for company. When I returned to the trailhead, the vehicle with the trailer was no longer there - but there was another vehicle with someone hanging out in a camp chair. Save for the parking lot, I didn't see any other people all day.
Other wildlife spotted: several varieties of butterflies, some surprisingly fast moving lizards, and a deer. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Marion Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | pools with light flow in the drainage below where the spring is marked | | _____________________
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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