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| Hiking | 6.90 Miles |
1,050 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.90 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 2.30 mph |
| 1,050 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Now that is cool in the Sonoran Desert, I plan to do a few mine explorations. This Friday, I intended to return to Santa Maria River area, hoping to find something even half as cool as the Weepah-Homestake Mine: [ photoset ] . But that would have required at least some planning & research, and I had too many other things going on last week to put in the necessary time. I was able to quickly change gears to this loop, which I last did in December, 2012. So long ago, I had posted only one video, ever, to Youtube. This hike is my 448th video: https://vimeo.com/494423862 .
Not much sense in repeating my 2012 triplog, so I'll hit the highlights. 
Cave Creek had light flow, but could be dry hopped at each of the three wood plank bridges between Spur Cross Trail and the wilderness boundary a mile north.
There was pretty darn good fall color north of the wilderness boundary.
Judging by others’ reports, the Limestone Spring box is full with decent flow between November and March, at the least. There’s lots of bees, but they are not aggressive. (I stepped across the spring box several times without being stung.) 
I followed the obvious trail up from Limestone Spring, but it was newly established trail. The actual trail, hidden in heavy grass, proceeds up wash for a bit, before cutting through some trees to join up with the new trail. You can’t go wrong either way.
The old gate still tops the saddle between Limestone Spring and Page Spring, which is full of moist sand.
Between the gate and Page Spring, Limestone Trail #252 descends through white rock, worn to chalky powder in many spots. I bet that is limestone. I smart. 
From Page Spring, to the cemented together "Rondo Spring" cairn, south to Tortuga Trail, it is still rocky as all get out. A pain in the tutkis. And feet. Piedra no bueno.
A ½ mile south of the petroglyph rock, the trail surface turns to jeep trail, the surface steadily improving the closer it gets to Cave Creek. For a few hundred yards it is Elephant Mountain Trail, for ¾ of a mile Tortuga Trail, then a ½ mile of Spur Cross Trail to the Metate Trail intersection, closing the loop. On weekends, this section is packed, particularly with dog walkers. On Friday, at lunch time, the only folks I saw were two old ladies resting on a bench by Cave Creek. 
This was my 193rd hike of 2018. Unless I break a leg, I'll hit 200.  |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Brittlebush were going nuts, in huge clusters. About a half dozen other species scattered here and there. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
Knee is about 85% to 90%. Only the second time I've been off sidewalk. The first was just a small bump of a hill in December. Wanted to see just how far I could go. First time in my trail runners in over a year. This seemed like an easy choice to get some uneven ground work in. I took it a step further and did a confidence test. Rock hopping Cave Creek. The biggest obstacle to overcome after rehab is the confidence factor. Glad I did it towards the beginning instead of the end or I'd have gotten wet. 
Good to be back out at Spur Cross. I almost didn't do Jewel of the Creek after the bigger loop, but decided to push it. The knee started whimpering just a tad during Jewel, but that's as far as it went. But I could tell when I finally got back to the truck the second time that there was some pretty good fatigue happening. The knee was shaky, but generally not sore. I stopped several times during this hike for about 10 minutes each, just to see if I was going to stiffen up. I was surprised that there was very little of that. I didn't take any Ibuprofen before this hike because I wanted to see what the knee would do without any help or inhibitions. Overall, I was pleased. With that said, I can say I don't have any trail legs right now. My feet, ankles and shins were spasming last night into this morning. But the knee is fine. 
