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| Hiking | 8.10 Miles |
892 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.10 Miles | 3 Hrs 4 Mns | | 2.88 mph |
| 892 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Was back up in the Pinetop area in winter, so it seemed like a good opportunity to go explore a little more of PFNP. I decided to do the Wilderness Loop, with some possible add-ons later if I felt good. A little chilly at the start, but I figured it would be a nice day out there. Stopped into the Painted Desert Inn to check it out, and also grabbed a copy of the Wilderness Loop pamphlet. The drop down the switchbacks was easy going, and the first mile through the badlands was nice.
After that, it was just trying to follow the NPS guide pamphlet instructions, as I didn't bring a GPS track, which turned out to be straightforward in some places, but confusing in one particular stretch. Getting to the Angel's Garden was pretty simple, and that was probably my favorite part of the loop. Nice views and lots of huge petrified logs.
After that, the guide became pretty ambiguous, and I ended up having to backtrack a couple times. Once I got to Chalcedony Forest, it became a lot more obvious where to go, and also a lot more boring. I jogged a little bit of the NE corner of the loop, while trying to go in as straight a line as possible.
Got to Lithodendron Wash, and decided I may as well add on Onyx Bridge since it's right there. I went up a couple of wrong side drainages, but it was fun seeing where everything dead-ends. The spot where the bridge was is pretty nice.
Once I got back to the trail section, I started running into hikers, some of whom had dogs. Didn't realize PFNP is so dog friendly. |
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