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| | | Shaw Butte and Cloud 9, AZ | | | |
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Shaw Butte and Cloud 9, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.30 Miles |
1,014 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.30 Miles | 1 Hour 57 Mns | | 2.84 mph |
| 1,014 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Today was the day. Shaw Butte is my way to practice elevation, one hill after another and another and another and... well you get the idea. I decided to hike in the AM since it was supposed to be in the high 70s in the afternoon. I think everyone else had the same idea as there were hikers everywhere, plus dogs and some bike riders.
It was a nice morning, altho it felt humid to me as I made my way on the connector trails to get to the first climb. I saw a Starling ontop a saguaro which was an unusual site, the first of two today. I do appreciate that the roadway/trail is so much nicer since this is already a bit of a struggle for me. I noticed some new plants making their way above the ground and as I got up the second hill, yep, I was in Scotland. It was so very green over the valley toward North Mountain.
I continued up the longest hill and finally made it to the intersection with the towers road. Here I would get quite the critter show. I had already seen a couple squirrels and now there were two AND a mouse/rat in the corner near the rock and tree. I don't recall ever seeing a mouse/rat when hiking. I did my best to get pictures of the show they were putting on. After the entertainment I hiked up to the towers and back down.
I debated going to the motel but before I could make up my mind, my feet were heading down the direct hill, so I guess I was going; it just took a second for it to register in my brain  . It's a steep but short hill and then I headed to the old motel grounds. Just before getting there I noticed what looks like an alternate road that went down the side of a hill. I have included the photo. I've not seen that before. It is not a trail. If any of you get up that way, see what you think. I just read Using a Harley Davidson motorcycle and liberal amounts of dynamite, he built two steep, windy roads from where 15th Avenue dead ends to a small peak he had leveled just below the summit of 2,149-foot Shaw Butte.
It would be nice if there could be some sort of plaque up there with the story of Cloud 9. Customers debarking at the restaurant were greeted by a sign that perhaps only semi-humorously warned, “No Parking: Low Flying Airplanes.”
I headed back knowing I had the "direct" hill to get up but it's short, kind of. I tried to keep my head down so I wouldn't see how far up I had yet to go. I stopped to get a photo of a reborn Desert Lavender plant. I was fairly pleased with my pace up. From here it was clear sailing, other than stopping for photos and admiring my surroundings. There were still so many people out on the trail but I thought that was actually a good thing for their hearts and lungs. I headed to the VC via the dam trail; even that very short distance had hikers, bikers and a dog.
WATCH 10:13AM-12:15PM, 5.20 miles burning 848 calories, elevation 1371-2147. 35% Zone 4 Anaerobic (149-167bpm), 29% Zone 3 Aerobic (131-148bpm), 35% Zone 2 Weight Control (112-130bpm). Starting temp 60.7, sunny with some clouds and 49% humidity (so I was right). |
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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 
. At the North Mountain VC, when I initially got out of Tonto 3 I thot I may have erred in doing an afternoon hike, but as it turned out, the temperature seemed pleasant enough.
. Sheesh. And of course, all the political advertisements in all sorts of shapes and sizes and colors.
