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| Hiking | 10.50 Miles |
1,028 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.50 Miles | 3 Hrs 39 Mns | | 2.88 mph |
| 1,028 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Even though Lake Pleasant is less than 30 minutes from my home in Sunnyslope, I left early to avoid the beginning of rush hour. After dodging a few Phoenix  drivers, I arrived at the Agua Fria Trailhead while it was still dark. I caught up on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/PrestonMcMurry ) while I ate breakfast and drank coffee.
The sun rose, but it still wasn’t sunny due to the overcast. I was bummed because I had hoped the clouds would result in a spectacular Arizona sunrise. It was overcast, windy and a chilly 55° when I started hiking at 7:20 a.m.
After crossing Old Lake Pleasant Rd., the sound of heavy Carefree Highway traffic began fading, being replaced by regular aircraft flybys, particularly a plane that looked similar to a Beechcraft Model 18, but with a single tail. It was overhead, off & on, for four hours. Does someone do air tours over Lake Pleasant like they do the Grand Canyon? 🛩
It soon become obvious there would be neither spectacular scenery, nor flowers, along Beardsley Trail. (Too soon after our only rain, so far, of Arizona’s winter monsoon.) If my hike video had been a slideshow, it would have been 15 seconds long. Thankfully, I was shooting plenty of video, while occasionally taking saguaro pictures, like I had at Skyline Regional Park.
The trail surface is not pristine like Turnbuckle Trail in Skyline Regional Park, but it is still mostly rock-free. Beardsley would be awesome for trail running, or as a fast mountain bike track. Still, my inner tard emerged as I managed to stub my toe a dozen times, stumbling eight of those. 🤪
At Beardsley’s northern terminus on Desert Tortoise Rd., I contemplated turning around, but decided since it was only another 0.4 miles to the picnic tables at the Wild Burro Day Use Area, above Two Cows Cove, that I would continue.
At the Agua Fria Trailhead, I heard coyotes yip several times, but I wasn’t able to spot them. Or wild burros anywhere, despite plenty of burro scat scattered along Beardsley Trail. Lizards are the most common critter I see while hiking, and I don’t recall seeing any of them either. All I saw was one rabbit, and a few birds here & there. 
At Wild Burro Day Use Area, I spotted the only flower I saw all day, on an ocotillo. In five miles, and three hours, I had not quite finished a bottle of water. I rehydrated with a half bottle of gatorade and a McEwan’s Scottish Ale. At 8%, I could feel the alcohol’s effect. Good thing I had five return miles to sweat it out.
On the return I drank a second water. Despite my low fluid intake, I peed an oddly large number of times, six from the time I arrived until I left. Usually it is once or twice. Any idea why that would happen? 
Hike Video: [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation None
Saw one blooming plant -- an ocotillo at the Wild Burro Day Use Area -- all day. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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