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| Hiking | 8.20 Miles |
1,052 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.20 Miles | 3 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
| 1,052 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Day Four:
So much for our initial plan of hiking 4 days in the Sierra Ancha...
Since avoiding the US 60 bridge construction was an absolute, driving South from Young into the Sierra Ancha for another hike only to have a longer drive back up to AZ 260 afterward didn't make much sense, so we decided just to start heading home and see what (if anything) comes to mind along the way.
Nothing caught our fancy before Payson where we stopped to top up with the (usually) cheaper gas, but the moment I stopped at the pump and saw it was the same price as at home, I decided to skip it. So after a quick stop at Noley's Books Art & Whatnot for some Anasazi Beans, we set off South on AZ 87.
While neither of us had the enthusiasm such that we just had to do a hike, or at least not from the first options which came to mind (Deer Creek, Gold Ridge, Ord, etc.) so we kept going... until just past Mount Ord, when AZT #22 from Sunflower might be the last decent option. And just like that the decision was made.
We started on the West side of AZ 87 where just a step or two over the barbed-wire fence and we were on our way. The tread was reasonably soft from overnight sprinkles(?) but not wet or muddy so nothing even close to what we experienced on our first AZT #22 hike at the end of December 12/31/22 after the re-route earlier in the year... like 4-5" of mud on the bottom our boots.
Anyway, with that reroute the elevation gain was minimal (good for how lazy we felt) so it seemed like we were just out for a stroll, which for us today was only as far as the unnamed water tank, where we stopped for a snack before heading back.
The only thing of note that comes to mind was the number of AZT gates & rollovers we encountered. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing (especially with all the fences along the way) but it just seemed like a few minutes after passing through one, here comes another. But no complaints.
Oh wait, as I posted the photos I realized I missed something else of note, at least in Tracey's mind... she saw a good-sized Gopher Snake on the trail, claiming I must have stepped right over it, but I'm pretty sure it moved across just as she arrived at that spot, because I was actually pretty focused on the path as it was a bit rocky there. Whatever, by time I turned around to grab a photo, it was gone... well, all but the end of the tail.
In the end, although we had PLANNED for 4 hikes in theSierra Ancha, technically we would only have done one hike in the Sierra Ancha, however that is defined. But no matter, by staying in the Air BnB instead of camping (likely wet camping at that) we enjoyed the relaxation it provided.
Avg/Max HR = 85/119 |
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