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| Hiking | 10.54 Miles |
2,394 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.54 Miles | 5 Hrs 28 Mns | | 2.07 mph |
| 2,394 ft AEG | 22 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | After reading about this loop in Bifrost's recent trip report, I decided it would make for a good car-camp-and-hike kind of weekend.
We had a group of eight who met up late on Friday night, and camped off of FR328. We left early Saturday morning for the trailhead. The Waldron Trail was my favorite part of this loop. Due to the nature of NPS fee-free day, and a weekend, Hermit Trail had a lot of traffic. But since this loop only follows Hermit for less than a mile, the crowded feeling did not detract from an enjoyable hike.
We continued on to Dripping Springs. I had never been here before, and I guess it's worth seeing once. Several people in our group filled up their bottles here. I'm not a proponent of drinking untreated spring water, especially after running environmental samples myself at a genomics lab when I was a grad student at NAU. The reality is that there are pathogens present in surface water that are also found in groundwater/spring water. Another way to say this is: there's no such things as "clean" drinkable water found in the environment. Can you drink it and not get sick? Sure! happens all the time. But personally, I prefer to not take the chance.
Anywayyyy. Climbing out of the canyon via Silver Bell was great. I love the solitude and primitive feel that this trail offers. Once we were back on the rim, it was a 4+ mile walk along the park boundary road (and some other decommissioned jeep tracks). This would have been moderately enjoyable, had we not just hiked in the Grand Canyon a couple miles prior. It's hard to measure up to those views. So that made the road walk less enjoyable. Also, there was incessant noise from the hundreds of sight-seeing helicopters that flew overhead. We counted one every 3 minutes. That was a little frustrating. But overall, great hike. One that I likely won't do again, because there are too many other hikes in this area that I still have to try.
Finally, I would like to note that this loop would best be enjoyed clockwise. We went counter clockwise, and so you get the road and helicopter miles for the last 80-90 minutes on your way back to the TH. Why not knock this part out first, early in the morning before the air traffic gets bad? |
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| - there's nothing like finding Water in the Desert - |
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