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| Hiking | 11.00 Miles |
1,495 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.00 Miles | 5 Hrs 43 Mns | | 2.22 mph |
| 1,495 ft AEG | 46 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Surprisingly, I had never hiked any portion of the Highline Trail before, so when S mentioned it to get away from the valley heat I was in. We decided to start at the Washington Park TH (which was empty when we arrived) and hike west. It was a bit chilly with a breeze and some clouds when we started, spending a couple of minutes at the East Fork of the Verde before heading west.
Overall, the trail was in great shape (with a very short stretch in the 2025 Washington burn area), which was nice and clear. About 3/4 of a mile in, we crossed a road to private property with an American Conservation Experience truck and trailer parked (we would see their camp further down the trail, but did not see them). Along the way, the foliage changes from Pine to Juniper and Manzanita (some of them huge!). We hiked 5.5 miles in, stopping for a quick break before heading back. As we started back, we encountered our only people of the day, a couple on mountain bikes, who started from Flagg in the morning and were going to stop at Pine for the evening. As we continued, the clouds started to darken, and we heard our first boom of thunder in the distance. Not overly concerned as the thunder sounded a good distance away, however, about 15 minutes later, the wind really picked up, and the booms of thunder became more frequent and a lot closer. Then it started to sprinkle, which turned into a heavy downpour. We took cover under a couple of Pines, which kept us a little dry, but after 10 minutes and no end in sight, we decided to keep going. That's about the time the peak of the storm hit us with heavy rain, wind, and flashes of lightning and thunder directly overhead. We continued for a short distance, finding another small cover spot, trying to wait for at least the lightning to pass. Waiting for a short period of time, we hadn't heard any booms for about 5 minutes, so we continued in the rain. The trail was already turning muddy, which added to the fun, making it back to the Washington Park just as the rain stopped. I think there was like a 10% chance of showers, so of course it hit us directly overhead  .
Still a nice hike, although really cold when the storm came with no jacket. There have been a good number of reroutes; it appears that we were off the trail per Route Scout, but we were definitely on it 100% of the time. I would definitely like to continue hiking the Highline in the future. Thanks, S, for all of the fun.  |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.  |
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