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| | | Two Shoes and Happy Hour Ridgeline, AZ | | | |
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Two Shoes and Happy Hour Ridgeline, AZ
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| Hiking | 4.87 Miles |
933 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.87 Miles | 1 Hour 53 Mns | | 2.76 mph |
| 933 ft AEG | 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Wow, first mile was under 17 minutes. Good thing as mile four took 38 minutes, but that was a lot of elevation and did include a 3 or 4 minute break. I actually did the hike I planned in my mind, even though it was a Plan B due to an appointment on that side of town.
It was breezy when I started from 38th Street, but once I got on the east side of the mountain, it subsided. I made my way over to Trail 100 and headed west to hook up with a connector trail that would eventually round me over to the first shoe, Perl Charles. Along the way I found a large ring of rocks I have never seen before. I also ended up on a trail I had never been on before so that was fun. That seems to be happening a lot lately.
Once on Perl Charles 1A I took note of where the old VOAZ used to go straight up the mountain, still want to try that one day. I would take a picture of where it intersected with the NE side of the VOAZ trail. This north side of the shoe was in the shade until I got to the first saddle. I continued to the next saddle and down to the trail intersection. I hiked over, up and toward the next shoe. I was pushing myself a little and thus decided, since there was a bench part way up, that it was an invitation to sit and enjoy the moment. Three hikers passed by before I headed back up to do the second shoe, VOAZ. I encountered one hiker on my way up to the saddle. He commented about the sky.
Going down the north side was all in shade. At the mid-way saddle a military helicopter flew over as I encountered another hiker who said she hopes never to have to call for that kind of help. Not sure what made her say that. Anyway, I took off my hat for the rest of my hike as I continued down the VOAZ, crossed over 1A and headed over to the trail I like that takes you steeply up toward another saddle just below the Happy Hour Ridgeline. At the saddle I encountered a hiker and a bike rider. (I've sure said the word "saddle" a lot.)
I noticed a really steep trail that zigged west and then NE up to the Ridgeline but I opted to stay the course and headed up toward the ridgeline. It looks just a little intimidating and I haven't done this route for quite a few years. As I climbed and hiked my way east I enjoyed the geology and topography. The rockery is pretty cool with all the various colors and shapes. I could see at the top a person was sitting. It was a bit steep in places but I just took my time and huffed and puffed my way up to where he was. We spoke for a few minutes and I took in the view before heading toward Happy Hour Peak.
It's basically a rather steep climb up the Peak, so I opted to just head down (north). Wow is this sucker steep  . Note to self, "next time go back the way you came". I'm glad I had my new shoes on to provide extra traction as it was pretty slippery as well. I do remember the last time I came down this was in the dark and I was slightly tipsy. Kathy and Karl didn't seem to have any issues with getting down  .
Once down to the first saddle I headed east again on somewhat of a use trail between the mountains until it peetered out, but then I found another more used trail and got back to the main track and headed on back to 38th Street. I picked up the pace and was once again glad that I had a good hike AND I still had lots of gas left. Fortunately, my back doesn't bother me when I hike. Now onto Trader Joe's. (I tried to walk away from the Brown Cow Imperial Milk Chocolate Stout and the Holiday English Toffee, but without success.)
WATCH 4.67 mi, 2:59-4:52PM, 1:53 burning 807 calories. 1542-1992 elevation, 139 avg bpm/173 max. 55% zone 5 max, 30% zone 4 anaerobic, 15% zone 3 aerobic. Temp 73.3 sunny and 23% humidity, very little breeze. |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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. I did fairly well on the two shoes, encountering only 3 hikers and one biker on the entire hike.
Definitely opportune if you live close by, but it won't be added to my regulars. 
