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Cone - Brown Mountains Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 8.10 Miles |
811 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.10 Miles | 4 Hrs 19 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 811 ft AEG | 32 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | ... still catching up from my wildflower hikes:
Well I'm still on my wildflower hunt so I thought I would try the McDowell Sonoran Preserve plus I've been wanting to get out here for a few weeks now, and on a weekday. The temps were supposed to be warmer today, but with a slightly filtered sun, it should be just right. I decided on the Cone/Brown clockwise loop. At the trailhead, I talked of my route to the docent who asked, he warned me of a rattlesnake on the Wrangler.
I could tell right away that wildflowers were not showing yet and that was fine; it should mean less filming/picture taking and more hiking. What was I thinking? After all, this is a lush part of the Sonoran Desert and out here, it was big and there were boulders scattered about as well. I ran into quite a few hikers on the Upper Ranch Trail in the first mile. One seemed relieved they were only 1/2 mile from the TH. The sky was pretty for most of the hike and the filtered sun made for some nice picture taking and movies  .
This Preserve is well-signed but not perfectly as I missed my turn on the Cone Mountain Loop Trail and when I realized I was headed on the northeast side of Cone Mountain, I backtracked to the intersection with the Wrangler Trail. The trail swings pretty wide as it traverses the lower regions below Cone Mountain on the south side. There were dots of poppies but lots of Wiry Lotus. You start seeing more boulders closer to the trail as you get toward the southwest side.
As I rounded the west side the clouds seemed to join together to create a slight overcast. There was a bit of a breeze and I was surprised that it had a cold feel which was rather nice; at least now. I went through one section with lots of tall Desert Lavender and there were even a couple blooms. The little valleys you pass through would have bigger patches of poppies. The other thing I would start seeing more of was the Soap and Banana Yucca plants; especially once I headed north on Cloudburst Trail where I should have headed west on Cone Mountain Trail to catch the trail below Brown's. I didn't even think to check RS and my "pin to track" must not have been on to notify me. As I kept going north, but then west, and zigzagging, I still thought I was going the right way; especially when I reached the Hawknest Trail and finally started heading east.
The Loop doesn't list the individual trails so I'll have to keep that in mind when I do these loops out here. Fortunately, it was fabulous terrain and I was entertained by the desert flora and saguaros. I kept thinking maybe I had been out this way before and looking back, last year I was on the Hawknest Trail but from the south to Cloudburst and along the west and south side of Cone back to Pima/Dynamite TH. This part of the Hawknest I had not been on. It had a few cool little valleys that Mother Nature did a very nice job of decorating. I really enjoyed those.
I was glad to be going east but then I got concerned with how far east was I going? Eventually I came to another intersection with the Basalt Ridge Trail which would take me south to where I wanted to be. This was also a nice little section of trail. Off to the southeast I could see this long patch of green so I tried to zoom and get pictures as it really stood out; looked like it had been manicured even. The summit looked so small from here as I continued.
And then I finally arrived at where I should have been a few miles ago, the Upper Ranch Trail and Brown's Mountain Trail. And, believe it or not, I had gotten slightly chilly the last mile or so. Up I went observing the trail had been beaten up pretty bad from people using it when it was wet or slightly so. There are a couple bedrock areas to walk over which is something I like. It's not a tough hike up and there are a couple flatter places where you can catch your breath, or in my case, take pictures of the distant views which were showing up very distinctly. It's when you take pictures of those mountains/mesas that you realize what a huge valley  we live in and we're lucky to have a few mountains in the valley to climb up.
I debated whether I would do the short trail to the summit but since the wind had let up a little and it's a short hike I headed on up Brown's Summit Trail. A family had gone up before me like they were goats. I was glad I summited as the views with this light and our.... you guessed it, green desert floor, the area was beautiful  . Those distant views to the Superstitions and layered looks to the west were even more pronounced now it seemed. And because of that light, the Four Peaks with their remaining snow were photographing beautifully as well. I actually sat down, had a mini Kind bar, and responded to a text from my brother. The sun came out for a bit and warmed me up too. But it was getting late so I headed back down. I did slip and fall on the loose rock but no big deal. However, I will note, the trail down to the saddle may be short, but it is slick. Gosh, the last time I was up there was 2014 so I was due.
And now for the last 1 1/2 miles on the rest of the Brown's Mountain Trail back to the TH. There were still people coming up, the Park closes at 6:25 and it was around 5 now. The trail zig zags down so it makes for changing views and still not much in the way of wildflowers, but there was plenty of other interesting desert flora that we don't get to see as much of over on the Phoenix Preserves. The limited sun was trying to light up Cholla and Granite Mountains. The sky colors were somewhat muddy but I was still able to frame up some tall Soaptree Yucca.
And now to enjoy my huckleberry beer after another successful hike, even though I actually get a little more tired when I do all that filming as it takes longer.
Once again, I took a lot of movies but wow, what a beautiful day and great filming conditions  . The light really made the distant areas show off and of course, still snow on the mountains. The views from the summit were outstanding in this light, trust me:
Part 1 from TH to Cone Mountain Loop [ youtube video ]
Part 2 continuing on Cone Mountain Loop [ youtube video ]
Part 3 hiking north and east after taking a wrong turn, LosDosSloFolks music (thank you Greg) [ youtube video ]
Part 4 summit climb and to TH, outstanding views from summit; especially to Four Peaks and Pinnacle Peak area and west; some more LosDosSloFolks music [ youtube video ]
FYI - while doing some research I found this piece that was put together in 2021. It's a quick read and with photos. I think most of us that like geology will like this article: How the Valley of the Sun got its Valley https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2f ... e8c667088c
WATCH 1:08-5:27PM, 7.58 miles, 2689-3418 elevation. 125 avg bpm/171 max burning 1568 calories. Starting temp 71.9, fair and 19% humidity. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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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 
. The idea was to meet up with Darthstiller and do the Stagecoach trail. I got there late, so Chris had already started off. Got on the trail a little after 7am. I thought I could catch up to him by taking my own route to the Stagecoach Trail and ended making some wrong turns that got me off track. From the Brown Ranch TH I went in on the Upper Ranch Trail. I much prefer this trail to the Brown Ranch Road Trail. Upper Ranch is a single track and it plays with the landscape much more than Brown Road does. From Upper Ranch I took the Basalt Ridge Trail and then somehow missed the north connection for the Hawknest Trail. Ended up going south on the Hawknest. Half way along this section (this section of the Hawknest was a little over a mile), I realized that I had missed my turn. I still thought I would be able to swing around to the Stagecoach and meet up with Chris somewhere along the trail. From the Hawknest I joined up with the West Express Trail and started taking that north. Unfortunately, the West Espress was not giving me any info on connecting trails, so using a connector trail I went over to Powerline Road #1 and continued taking that north. And even though the the Powerline Road is much better signed in how it interacts with other trails I still managed to miss the Stagecoach. By the time I realized that I missed the Stagecoach (again) I was over an hour and close to 6 miles in. At this point I decided that it wasn't meant to be and decided to do my own loop. I came upon the Old Camp and took that eastward. This wasn't much of a trail. More of a road/wash that become a make shift trail, but it was going in the right direction. Then briefly took the Dove Valley Trail to the Hawknest Trail. Really enjoyed the Hawknest trail. Great single track. Real smooth trail that flowed nicely with the land. Took the Hawknest to the Buckshot Trail. At this point I was just wanting to finish the loop so I briefly hopped on the Corral Trail and then to Brown Ranch Road. Really nice run though I was frustrated that I didn't navigate the trails better. There are quite a few new trails out....at least a half a dozen that haven't made it on to HAZ yet. Amazing how they keep adding on out there! Saw a hawk and a few quail and that was it.
