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| Hiking | 9.97 Miles |
793 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.97 Miles | 3 Hrs 15 Mns | | 3.07 mph |
| 793 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Starting at the Horse Staging Area, today’s plan was to hike all of Shallmo Wash Trail, a wee bit of Pemberton Trail and all of Escondido Trail.
I started hiking just after 8:00 a.m., when the late autumn sun was still relatively low in the sky. The clouds were wispy, laced with contrails. The temperature was 58℉, and breezy, so I wore my hoodie.
Shallmo Wash Trail is hard. More like cement than dirt. Firm & fast singletrack. I took my best pictures of the day along it: Clouds, low-angle sun shots, and saguaro cactus.
I don’t recall seeing a single saguaro along Pemberton. I did see about a half dozen MTBs. Hoping to add something interesting to my video, I stopped at a small wood bridge waiting for an MTB to roll by for a finger quotes “action” shot. Twenty minutes I waited. No bueno. Of course. 
The sky had become totally overcast, so even though the temperature had ostensibly increased, I kept my hoodie on.
Just after 10:00 a.m., I turned onto Escondido. It starts heading east along the north edge of the mesa. The next two miles are downhill. A couple of MTBs preceeded me, but I didn’t see another one the remainder of my hike. At the bottom of the descent, the trail turns south. It becomes rolling and very twisty as the MTB-optimized route is squeezed between the mesa and McDowell Mountain Rd. If you need a bail, the trail is never more than ⅓ mile from the heavily-trafficked road, and sometimes as close as 200 yds. Most of this hike’s elevation is in this section, in the form of many 50-80 ft. / 4-5% slope climbs.
It would probably be a blast to ride Escondido, but hiking it got to be drudgery without something, anything, to photograph. Maybe in April, when the flowers bloom, it might be better. Oh well: Miles is miles.
Rumble Video: https://rumble.com/v3z17uq-hiking-mcdow ... -park.html
Vimeo Video: https://vimeo.com/890301649 |
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Wildflowers Observation None
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
and I got turned around at one road intersection (seems the trails are easier to figure out at night!) adding another 0.5 miles to the hike. Here is how I linked the trails to make the loop:
