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| Hiking | 12.13 Miles |
1,147 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.13 Miles | 6 Hrs 53 Mns | | 2.32 mph |
| 1,147 ft AEG | 1 Hour 39 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We'd never been to the Big Horns and wanted to get a visit in before the summer heat arrives. We started near the pedestrian bridge across the CAP canal, which saved significant driving time compared to the starting point for the official Big Horn Circuit route. The dirt road that branches off of Salome Road and parallels the canal is in great shape but has a few washed out spots that form reverse speed bumps that are nasty at even medium speed...lesson learned the hard way on one of those  .
As we crossed the pedestrian bridge to start the hike, we saw quite a few large fish in the water. For the first few miles, we followed the official Big Horn Peak route and passed the remains of the old mining camp structures about a mile in, then connected with the BH Circuit route and started following it clockwise. There was plenty of color from wildflowers and great views with the jagged skyline of the Eagletails on the horizon behind us, plus some interesting spires and formations west of Big Horn Peak.
It was easy, open desert hiking without much brush, but also lots of hiking in and out of countless washes as we paralleled the mountains. I was starting to wonder if we'd have essentially the same scenery for the full circuit, but the landscape changed once we turned east along the top section and made our way down into a wide wash. It was brushy in places, and we had to deal with some catclaw as the canyon narrowed and became rockier.
It wasn't TboneKathy's preferred terrain, and the scrambling in the canyon slowed the pace to the point that we weren't going to hit the halfway point on the loop by our turnaround time. With more difficult sections still ahead on the far side of the loop, Big Horn Circuit turned into Big Horn Out-and-Back. She waited while I explored a little further in the canyon...that area was the highlight of the hike, with a lot of interesting geology and cool erosion, though not as much water as I would've expected with the wet winter months.
[ youtube video ]
On the hike out, I detoured out of the wash to check out an arch that I'd noticed on the way in. It was easy to reach and was a nice one, around 10-15 feet high.
[ youtube video ]
We followed our same route back toward the pedestrian bridge and enjoyed some nice shadows on the Big Horns and views of the Eagletails in the distance. We'd considered going to Belmont Arch on the way back toward Phoenix, but the "short" drive was going to take more than 45 minutes, so we saved that for another day. Despite the abbreviated hike, it was a nice intro to the area and was a peaceful day--we didn't see anyone else. Next time I come back to the Big Horns, I want to get up into the mountains...it felt like we were walking around the most interesting stuff today, but it was still a good trip. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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