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| Hiking | 5.10 Miles |
980 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.10 Miles | 2 Hrs 12 Mns | | 2.37 mph |
| 980 ft AEG | 3 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Since I wussed out of an overnite AZT event due to the forecast, I had to pick a hike to do and this was it. Did I miss somewhere about how cool an area this is to hike? I looked thru previous trip reports and only a couple mentioned how lovely it is out here. I did learn that in the trip reports, it's better NOT to hike here when the snakes can dominate the Hills. I did see lots of former HAZers in the trip reports too; wonder where they are now?
It was warmer than I thot it was supposed to be but it didn't feel like the temperature. Besides, it was an overcast day which means, no sunglasses or a hat and that's a big deal in my book. I arrived at the east TH where there were still 3 spots available to park out of the dozen or so available spots.
I started up toward the hills and noticed right away that it is a pretty rocky trail. It was a nice up as Ups go. The scenery even at this level was not what I expected as I thot it would be like the Phx Sonoran Preserves but it's different, mostly because of all that basalt. And there is a lot in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
I eventually got over to the other side of the mountain and to an intersection. I had the route loaded but I couldn't tell which way it went first. I opted for the Up route on the east side of the hill. It's a bit roly poly and a bit rocky. And by rocky I mean the rocks are stuck into the dirt. Soon you get a good visual of the canal and I could look across to the Phx Sonoran Preserve. The breeze had picked up so that was nice.
From there it was down the hill and switching occasionally to join up with the original intersection that I had done a bit of a circle before picking my route. And even here I wasn't sure as the route on RS looked like it was covering ground I had already been on so I dropped down over the south side and more or less went east. This is the side where you see all the houses but you are looking east so you don't pay them much mind. The hillside was dotted with lots of basalt with desert flora sprouting between all of the rocks. You can see the trail stretched out before you and once you come up slightly out of the bowl I headed west and north eventually, after deciding no to a couple other trail options, with the Circumference Trail.
My route was Circumference, Palisade, Circumference, Palisade, Circumference. No wonder I was a little confused  . As usual I opted to go a little higher rather than the lower trail before I hooked up with the trail back to my waiting Huckleberry beer and buffalo stick. I saw about 7 hikers and 4 dogs; that's it. One of the hikers even laughed at my, what's that grey stuff in the sky observation. Anyway, I'll be adding this to my hiking repertoire except during snake season.
I did take a few too many photos but being as this was a first time hike of this area, it stands to reason. I also tried out using Video Pro on my phone. I put together a movie and included these and other photos: [ youtube video ] and I used music by HAZ's LosDosSloFolks (thank you).
WATCH: 4.79 miles (so gps. must not have locked in right away) in 2:13:25 at 2.1 avg MPH (1543 - 2072 feet), avg bpm 130, max 156 (37 min in Zone 5 max, 44 min zone 4, 51 zone 3), burned 888 calories, 72.8 degrees with 19% humidity at 10:08 AM Huckleberry beer time. |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. We got to the intersection with the Basalt Trail and gave Diane her choices and she said, let's go to the saddle and take the Ridgleine.
. We enjoyed our road walk back to the trail to take us to where we started.
, I headed out to the Deem Hills East parking lot that had only three cars in it. You can now go directly from Happy Valley Rd as construction is finished (probably has been finished for awhile, I just haven't been to Deem since January.) The route I had selected had several options that I could choose.
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? Saw 1/2 dozen lizards throughout the hike.
