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| Hiking | 8.29 Miles |
609 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.29 Miles | 3 Hrs 3 Mns | | 2.72 mph |
| 609 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Going uphill on a mountain bike is much more difficult than hiking. Because the BCT is so popular with bikes, it has been optimized for their use with scads of switchbacks. Not just on the “climbs”, but weaving around the tops of draws & washes, rather than directly crossing them. So, as I stood at the trailhead on Orme Rd., it was 3.6 crow flies miles to the John 3:16-17 spring box on Old Cherry Rd., but 8.3 trail miles.
Though it was close to freezing a few hours earlier, when I started hiking at 10 a.m. it was a perfect 60℉.
Other than crossing washes, the vegetation on this segment is sparse. On several occasions, I took advantage of the junipers’ good sitting shade. Two clusters of juniper had particularly dense clusters of berries (at the ¾ and 6⅔ mile marks).
After 1⅓ miles, the trail crosses Osborne Spring Wash. Like every other wash on this segment, it was dry. It did have plenty of OHV tracks in its mushy sand though.
After 3⅔ miles., the trail finally begins approaching the northern tip of the two-mile long ridge which necessitates all the switcbacks. The metal gate overlooking SanDam Ranch is also this segment’s high point.
After some more switchbacks, the trail crosses a plain that is at first grassy, then scattered with baseball size rocks. Maybe volcanic debris? Just past the rocky baseballs, at the 4¾ mile mark, is the outcropping with a nice view of Ash Creek.
At the top of the Ash Creek basin, is Old Cherry Rd. If you turn left (north), it is only 1½ miles up the road to the end of the BCT. If you stay on the trail, you have 2¾ miles to go. If I was riding a bike, either direction, I would take the shortcut, to avoid the rocky and sandy final mile.
After crossing Hackberry Wash at the 6-mile mark, the trail parallels Hackberry Wash for little over a mile to Trail #64. That mile was the most desolate section of the day.
Turns left on Trail #64. The last mile of the BCT alternates small, rocky, climbs with mushy, sandy, washes, and is often rutted. I wouldn’t want to bike it.
I arrived at the Old Cherry Rd. trailhead after three hours of hiking, one of photos, completing the Black Canyon Trail. I finished the C&O Canal last week, and plan to finish the Maricopa Trail in April.
Vimeo Video: https://vimeo.com/883629784
Rumble Video: https://rumble.com/v3v5wab-black-canyon ... y-rd..html |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Some in Ash Creek and Hackberry Wash. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Pretty barren. Two areas of juniper were DENSE with berries. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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