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| | | Tortoise UP Loop plus - Valle Dixie, AZ | | | |
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Tortoise UP Loop plus - Valle Dixie, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.81 Miles |
1,077 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.81 Miles | 2 Hrs 33 Mns | | 3.17 mph |
| 1,077 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Dare I say it, "tibber's back"  . What a great hike I had. How great was it? I felt like I could keep going and even do a couple hills... but I got hungry  . On top of that, I found new trail and old mine tailings with a rocked up hole.
The gate was closed to the car entrance. There were other cars parked along the street so I did the same. It's a quarter mile hike to the TH from there, so not bad. I figured there probably wouldn't be many people out on the trail because of the gate closure and I was right. With my brand new shoes I headed up the trail to Desert Tortoise Trail. I love the look of my new shoes so I hope, unlike my last new pair, theses would be a good fit for a peak today. The sun played with the clouds most of the day. I made it quite quickly to the junction with the Valle Vista Trail and hung a right.
I continued to make progress as I made my way up to Union Peak. Getting there involves a couple little hills before you start the climb. I still like this climb up Union Peak and felt strong the whole way. I stopped to enjoy the views throughout my hike today. It was a very clear air day. I was happy to see it only took me an hour to get the three miles that almost gets you to the top of the peak. I looked around, enjoyed the view for a moment and then headed back down with a smile on my face as I had done so well. Now the question, how would the shoes do in this downhill? I re-tied one shoe to tighten it a bit and am happy to report, the shoes and me did well.
Now on the Great Horned Owl Trail heading east, it's a cool view as you near the cholla forest. However, the sun did not cooperate so I really couldn't get a good picture. I headed north on the Cactus Wren Trail enjoying the fact that I was feeling good and the air seemed so fresh. I turned west and kept hoping the sun would come out for a cholla photo but it didn't cooperate. As I got close to this huge rock area that you hike by, the trail split. I haven't hiked in this direction as much but I don't recall it. Well I took the trail on the right which was the wrong trail but I ended up having a little adventure.
I noticed what I thought was tailings and so I tracked back a tad and went up the dirt ramp and indeed, it was tailings; as now I could see all the huge rocks covering the hole. From here, you can see where the other trail crosses over and you can see the parallel trail I was taking west. Well I kept thinking this trail would veer to the south so that I could hook back up with the Cactus Wren or Valle Trails. Well, no, not exactly. The trail veered north and I could see bike tracks so I thought, why not. I followed it hoping that I could come to a trail that would veer to the south.
It went north longer than I thought but alas, finally a timid intersection showed a minimal track to the SSW. I noted it with a waypoint here and at the intersection that I would eventually hit with the Valle Trail. The surrounding terrain is a little more bushy over here and it crosses a little wash. The trail back to Valle did have a little cairn but the track is narrow. Well that was fun as it hooked up on the Valle Trail near the intersection with Desert Tortoise.
Feeling satisfied with my little adventure I still felt good at the 6 mile mark as I headed up the Valle Vista Trail. I was glad to get another hill in after being on flat ground for awhile. The light and mixture of clouds made for some nice photos. Before I knew it, I was at the intersection with the Dixie Loop. I really felt good and if I hadn't started to get hungry, I might have went and done Dixie Peak... kidding. I had a route on my mind and it's hard to make my mind change.
On the Dixie Loop I started to run into more people so I figured they must have opened the gate. It was a little breezier up here. The trail is very nice until you hit Hawks Nest Trail where it's a little more rocky and steep as you head down. I noticed a non-hiker with a big camera and then I saw another couple being photographed and figured holiday photos are starting. I was surprised at how many people were coming up at this time, 4:30ish. Now, if you're drinking something, hold on to your hat, I actually jogged  a little part of this trail and the pavement back to where Tonto 3 was waiting. I'm surprised too. I have no idea what caused that... it wasn't long; but it was a jog.
WATCH 2:18-4:51PM, 7.62 miles burning 1033 calories, 1612-2338 elevation. 133 avg bpm/163 max. 35% Zone 5 max, 42% Zone 4 anaerobic, 22% Zone 3 aerobic. Samsung added a new zone desc: zones are based on your max heart rate, which is updated automatically based on your age, height and weight. Temperature was a glorious 69.8 with a breeze and partly cloudy but 47% humidity. |
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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
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Route 
). This is the first area where I saw some nice grouping of poppies.
. And per usual, when you think you're on top, it's time for the roller coaster to the south side summit. I thot I was filming the first part but I wasn't (I do that occasionally). Anyway, I still filmed some up here and didn't stop to take a break since I was already on a somewhat leisurely pace... reminds me of my old days of hiking. I headed on down and did encounter two hikers and their dog.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
. I gave thot to running up to Sedona but the West Fork Trail would be a zoo on a Sunday so I returned home to sulk and go back to bed after unpacking 
. I got up the peak pretty well and then came right back down and headed to the TH via Great Horned, Valle Vista and Desert Tortoise. At the junction with the Hawk's Nest Trail I went back up to check out the owls again and got a few pictures and a great movie of the eldest moving around in the nest. 
Valle Verde 
on the way but those blooming saguaros are really something. Oh, and I saw a little bunny as well as all sizes of lizards; all of them too fast for photos. There is one section along the Valle Verde that has a great stance of large and fat saguaros. Of course, once I got down to the desert floor the population of people picked up (hikers and bikers). And before you knew it, I was on the Dixie Mountain Loop which gradually rises as you hike in a counter-clockwise direction. 
Typically see 4-5 people on a busy day. Today I saw close to 80 as I did my lasso. Crazy! Went in on Hawk, then Tortoise, then Vista to get to the Cactus Wren. Then took the shorter leg of the Owl back to the Vista. Then retraced my steps to get back to the TH. Had a runner in front of me at the end who I tried to keep pace with. Never gained any ground, but my time was better because of it. Weather was great again. No wildlife except for 1 brave rabbit. Who can blame the wildlife with the city coming to the trails!
