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| Hiking | 9.47 Miles |
3,156 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.47 Miles | 5 Hrs 5 Mns | | 1.95 mph |
| 3,156 ft AEG | 13 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I haven't hiked the Marcos de Niza trail in many years. Last time was before I started with HAZ. Decided to give it a go and follow it to hidden valley.
Trailhead parking at Pima was ugly. Cars were parked all the way out partially to the guard shack at the entrance. I followed two other cars all the way in to the end and cruised the lot a couple of times. I considered giving up, but noticed that nobody was behind me, and stopped and waited. After a few minutes a guy walked right in front of my car. Yay! But then he went between the parked cars to the next aisle over. Luckily there was nobody waiting there and I was able to race around the corner and snag his spot. Whew!
I remembered MdN trail as being steep, but damn! What a workout. Quite a roller coaster of ups and downs along the ridge. After about three miles miles I reached a high point with a spectacular 360 degree view. I stopped and rested there and enjoyed the view.
There was a sign post for Black Rock Canyon trail, and I didn't see any other options, so I followed it. It went North and led to Hidden Valley. Perfect. I went west to National Trail towards Burns Vista. I turned left and took the trail up to Guadalupe Ridge. I want sure if the trail would get me all the way back to Pima, but was hoping that it would.
After a fairly level section along the ridge the trail described steeply. It looked like it was going to go down to the south, but I noticed a fork that stayed on the ridge line and took it. The single truck trail was easy to follow along the ridge line. Then looking ahead the trail ran into the base of a large rock outcropping and disappeared. Going around the rocks didn't seem right so I started climbing. When I got to the top of the big rock pile I could see the trail continuing on the other side.
Guadalupe Ridge is a beautiful area. The trail was mostly easy with a number of rock outcroppings that have to be climbed to continue. Approaching some of these the way forward isn't obvious, but none were too difficult. But climbing over rocks is slow and tiring.
I stayed on the ridge all the way back to Marcos de Niza and the Pima trailhead. It had gotten hot by the time I finished and the car A/C felt really good. Really enjoyed this hike in a part of South Mountain I had never seen before. |
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