|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 7.23 Miles |
|
| | Hiking | 7.23 Miles | 2 Hrs 56 Mns | | 2.46 mph |
| | | |
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Early morning hike in the Estrella’s Foothills. For several years I’ve been aware of a growing number of trails to the west of the Estrellas and I’ve been following the daily exploits of Nightstalker who seems to “haunt” those trails. I decided that I wanted to share in the fun and perhaps introduce a new trail to HAZ. I was excited to discover that they have created a new TH called the Copper State Hike and Bike. It’s located almost immediately as you enter the Estrella Ranch community on the west side of Estrella Parkway. I was then disappointed to discover that they apparently don’t want to share their trails. They have a sign posted at the TH that it is for residents only  . Sadness, and it looked like a very nice trailhead. That being said, I knew there was another TH located a little further south near the high school/community park. I’ve utilized this TH a couple of times to access EMRP and knew there were Estrella Foothill trails there as well. Not what I was planning but….
Got to this TH around 6:30. I was still hoping to do a new trail and perhaps write it up for HAZ. However, I soon discovered that I was out of my depth. For starters, there is no trail map at the TH. Combine that, with the fact that trail signage is sparse and the user trails are multitudinous, I had little hope of following a single trail and getting correct stats for it. Perhaps with time.
I still tried, by following the most obvious (and most boring) of trails. The TH is located about .1 miles ENE of the parking area. It is not very obvious, but can be identified by where a service road enters a wash. There is a carsonite trail marker at this spot, indicating the start of three trails: FH, SR and PA. (There are a couple of the Estrella Foothills trails in HAZ, Hillside trail being one of them. On these pages there is a nice link, showing the trail system for this area. There are 24 named trails in this system. You can use that map to determine these and the other abbreviations that you might see out there).
I attempted to follow the SR trail. Afterwards, I learned that this apparently stands for the Stargate trail. In my mind, it stood for service road, because that is what it was. You wouldn’t think that it would be hard to follow a service road, and it wasn’t. There were a handful of official and unofficial trails that turned off to the east, but there were enough trail markers to reassure me that I was on the correct “trail.” That trail, like I said, was a road. And straight. It basically followed the course of some overhead power lines going north. I lost the trail when it reached the roundabout. I looked around and I couldn’t see any “trail” or signage for where the trail may have gone. Once again, afterwards, I learned that the trail apparently crossed to the west of the roundabout. Since I had lost the trail I decided to follow some single track trails back to the TH. Much more enjoyable. And much more indecipherable. I started with a trail marked as OC. It junctured with the SR trail and took off to the east. Within 50 feet there was an unsigned split in the trail. That was a common theme for these single tracks. For every trail with a marker, I came upon 2 trails with no markers. The trails were enjoyable. Much better than the SR. But because of all the user trails, it will be very challenging to not only stay on an official trail but to write a clear trail description about it. On the plus side, I am going to have a lot fun exploring the area and trying to figure it out. 
Weather was great. Again. Encountered 1 trail runner, 5 bikers and two hikers. Talked with one of the hikers, a HAZ member named Eric, who was kind enough to try to give me some pointers on negotiating the trails. No wildlife. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
