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| Hiking | 13.00 Miles |
2,172 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.00 Miles | 6 Hrs | | 2.17 mph |
| 2,172 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | HAZFest started off with some quick re-navigation out of town on Friday afternoon. Heading up I-17 and right around the Cactus exit the traffic report said that the freeway is closed up near Bumblebee for an accident. So told my co-pilot what do we want to do? Thought about going up and hoping for the best until we heard it was a motorcycle crash. Had about 5 minutes to make a decision and then Detour Dan said that the only way anyone is going north tonight is to head to Wickenburg and take the back way into Prescott. So what would have been a three hour trip turned into a 4 hour trip. Luckily we were the first car to take the detour and pretty much had no traffic to deal with up the climbs to Yarnell and near Wilhoit.
This was the hike of choice at HAZFest this year and it was a good one. Thanks to Chumley for suggesting the route and dropping us off at the beginning of the hike at the trailhead to Upper Graver Wash. First part of the route had us hiking through some rather gentle terrain and along Apache Creek. As Chumley put it, while you might not always be hiking in the shade, you are never more than a few feet from it.
About halfway through the hike it was time to go off trail and explore the swimming hole. Worked our way up the creek bed and the bushwacking wasn't too bad. Found the beach and swimming hole and stopped for our lunch. Grabbed a bite to eat and jumped into the water, took a few laps around the hole and came back to dry off. Then worked our way back to the main trail.
This is when things started to get interesting. Tibber mentioned the incoming clouds and how it might be nice to have a little cloud cover to hike under. She got her wish and the clouds rolled in along with huge raindrops, thunder & lightning. The next hour of the hike went through some beautiful country, but I was too cold and wet to really pay much attention. Nobody in our group seemed to pack rain gear so all of us were in the same boat. (However as a quick aside, guess I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. When I unpacked my day pack to throw out on my porch to dry out I noticed that I did indeed have my heavy duty rainjacket stuffed at the bottom of my pack. Put it in my pack last month to do Humphrey's Peak and never took it out.)
One of the highlights of the trip was watching Lee's dogs Cupcake & Blanco providing us with amusement as they chased deer, squirrels, cows and other assorted wildlife. My current dog is pushing 15 years old and her hiking days are long over. So it was fun to have dogs tagging along with our group.
Last highlight of the trip was meeting up with Chumley and an ice chest of beer. Hiked the last half mile or so back into camp along with John with a cool malted beverage in my hand.
Overall a great area to explore and can't wait to go back up there. |
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| See my pics on Instagram @tucsonexplorer |
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