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| Hiking | 19.33 Miles |
2,938 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.33 Miles | 8 Hrs 4 Mns | | 2.53 mph |
| 2,938 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Finally got to finish this passage. We had hiked the north and south ends doing about 9.5 miles each time, leaving the middle section to complete it. The drive out was more of an adventure than the hike itself.
I found a road on GoogleMaps that intersects the AZT. Looking at the satellite images, it appeared to be a wash, but there are prominent tire tracks for the entire length. The directions GoogleMaps gave us was to go through what looked like a residential area on the way to the road/wash. We started going that way and soon encountered a gate, which was unlocked. There were no warning signs for trespassing of any sort, so I got out and opened the gate for Wally to drive thru.
Immediately the road got narrower and rough. It also was noticeably muddy, making the tires slip. Soon there was parked military vehicle, kind of like a monster oversized pickup. The road appeared to end at a house. In fact, the road turned to the right, which had another gate to open, but since it was still pretty dark, it was hard to tell. Several lights were on at the house. I got out to open the gate and immediately notice a padlock. Fortunately, it was at the end of the chain that secured the gate and not locking it. I got out again, opened the gate, and turned around to see Wally go thru the gate. It was at this time that I saw two pit bulls charging directly at me. My stomach sank for a second until I noticed that their tails were wagging. As they got to me, I could hear them panting and they ran around me trying to play. I closed the gate and made sure that they didn't get out, which wasn't easy.
Once we got to the next road, which is Camino Rio, it was noticeably flat, wider, and very well graded. I checked the map and this road goes all the way out to SR77. We were railroaded by another GoogleMaps detour that only looks for the shortest distance. It turns out this place with the dogs is called River Bottom Ranch, which seems like an appropriate name. On our way out we stayed on Camino Rio to 77. this added a few miles, but was the same amount of driving time, maybe even less.
The unnamed road was pretty easy to drive for the first several miles. Once you make a couple turns it gets narrower and has some washouts, but nothing crazy. Conditions were pretty sandy, but the recent rains compacted it, making the driving easier. We parked right next to the AZT and started our hike.
We started southbound, hiking to where we left off last week. It was only a little over 4 miles in that direction. We marked our spot last week with a cairn and an "X" in the dirt, making it easy to spot. Clouds to the south blocked the sun, making it cooler as we hiked uphill. This was the highpoint of our hike today, which gave the best views all around. Lot of morning clouds were visible further away making interesting scenery.
We got back to the car and ate lunch before heading northbound. The trail went uphill about 200' or so before making a big drop into Bloodsucker Wash. The profile on the track made it look like the drop was only about 500', but it seemed more like 1000 as we descended. There were alot of switchbacks, which made the grade not too steep, but seemed to add to the mileage. Once we got to Bloodsucker Wash, I checked the mapping and noticed that it was possible to follow the wash to the southwest until it intersected with the road that we parked on. Our turnaround point was 2 miles north of Bloodsucker Wash, so we got there and back and headed down the wash.
We had to get out of the wash after a half mile and do some bushwhacking as we hugged the foothills to the east of the wash, making the overall route shorter to the road. It wasn't too overgrown, and the ground was more solid than the sand in the wash. In about 10-15 minutes we found the road and soon were back to the car. I was a little concerned before we took this route that it would add mileage. It was at the very least the same mileage, and likely we saved a half mile or more. Not to mention that we avoided the big climb back over the hill on our 18th and 19th miles of the day.
We saw a few jackrabbits, and Wally saw a few deer (I missed them). Only saw one thru hiker. Lots of 4 wheelers in Bloodsucker Wash, we could see and hear them from far distances.
Got back without incident and avoided River Bottom Ranch on the way back. |
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