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| Hiking | 11.81 Miles |
1,248 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.81 Miles | 5 Hrs 51 Mns | | 2.31 mph |
| 1,248 ft AEG | 44 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Greg mentioned he wanted to try this loop as no one on HAZ had done it yet. He had mapped it out at a little over eleven miles. Sounded good to me so once it cooled down; we hit the trail. It was in the mid-40s when we started from the P.A. Seitts Trailhead. Between the two of us, we've hiked most of these trails; well actually, Greg has hiked all of them.
At the turn off of Military Trail when we headed up Flat Rock I spotted what looked like some tailings so they might warrant some investigation. I did take a photo altho it was a bit blurry; maybe I hadn't warmed up yet. Flat Rock is such a nice gradual hill. We took a quick break here before heading north and then west on the Quartz Trail to join up with the Go John Trail. Eventually on the Go John we hit the burn area  . Neither Greg or me had hiked this north section since the fire. We were not looking forward to it.
It was interesting how the trail created a bit of a firebreak. Also, it looked the fire crew had clipped lots of the jojoba which we thot was interesting. It is already growing back. However, the fire did jump the trail here and there. As we came down the northside the  commenced. We saw several large saguaros that are no longer with us. But, impressively there were two big-leafed brittlebush alongside the trail that had survived the fire so go figure. But from here on, for most of this north section, it was sad to see all the burn. There were patches of green but not much. Even the cholla were either completely missing or down to nubs. The barrels were now bleached white and of course, several had fallen over.
The lighting was not the best so we really didn't get any great pictures of it nor did we really want to take many as we were in mourning. We took a break at the bench at the bottom of Go John and checked out some of the burned flora around us. As we started up the hill the burn continued to be bad. The bareness of it all made it seem so foreign to us. I also like the grade of this longer hill. Greg had one favorite corner but you can't even recognize it now.
Finally we were hiking on Overton where we started to encounter a lot more traffic. Greg pointed out to me another route we can do using the West Boundary and Clay Mine so we'll have to give that a try. In the distance behind Shaw Butte we saw a plume of smoke, mostly light grey. It was from a fire downtownish. We took a rest stop at the Overton Picnic area and had a short conversation with one of the winter workers who has been coming here ten years from WI.
Next up was the Slate Trail which is a pretty nice trail. We did encounter a few hikers here. We paid our respects to the Michelin saguaro before making the turn on the Flume Trail. The Flume Trail goes through a drainage area and is not the smoothest. I finally got to see its namesake, what was left of the flumeage. I noticed on the satellite map the name "Florida" in between Flume Trail. I googled it but couldn't find anything. I did find this link that lists the mines in the area https://thediggings.com/places/az0132413182/mines
And then it was exit left and we started heading east for our road walk thru a very interesting neighborhood that included a hen house with some active roosters; and soon we would hear some coyotes. There was also one house that had some incredible landscaping. Once back at the vehicles, little did we know, this was my last after-hike beer with Tonto Jr.... but what a way to go out. Thanks Greg for including me on one of your goals. Great combo and I hope as Cathy's surrogate I did okay. oh, and I almost forgot; I went over 500 miles with this hike today. Those "'hood walks" added up, ha!
Don't read this article before you go to bed as it's way  . Photosynthesis is so important! Here is a great article that you can scroll down to the part that specifically talks about saguaro fire damage: https://janemming.com/2019/11/09/sonora ... us-forest/ It also talks about the results of fire on other desert flora. I was quite surprised by the Ironwood Tree info. Even if you just read the info below the pictures, it is a quick way to get information.
WATCH: 44.9 to start, 37% humidity
5.46 mi in 2:49 at 2373 feet-1824, 1.9 avg speed, 115 bpm, 156 max (5 min at Zone 5, 38 min at Zone 4, 1:12 at Zone 3, 38 min at Zone 2) 930 cal 1.59 ascent 1.22 descent
5.8 mi in 2:56 at 2275 feet-1796, 1.9 avg speed, 117 bpm, 145 max (39 min Zone 4, 1:37 Zone 3, 28 Min Zone 2) 982 cal 1.0 ascent 1.43 descent
TOTALS - 11.26 miles, 1912 cal |
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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
The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Sadness. Took the same trail back to the TH.
Route 
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
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