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| | | Cave Creek Rec Area Figure 8, AZ | | | |
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Cave Creek Rec Area Figure 8, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.56 Miles |
1,018 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.56 Miles | 2 Hrs 37 Mns | | 3.00 mph |
| 1,018 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Wanted to get a few miles in today so I imagine-hiked this in my head; I used to do that type of thing before competitions, especially o-mok-sees. It went okay today except I, for some reason, struggled up Go John when heading north. I was originally going to go in the AM but since I wasn't doing any significant elevation, I changed my mind and went in the afternoon. It was delightful.
I had to retrace my way back to the VC to download my podcasts as the internet didn't seem to work well at the parking lot. I went back to the lot and headed east on the Go John Trail. I haven't gone this way for a while but I was looking forward to it. Everything is just a tad longer and steeper than I remember but just right for me today. The trail tread was in decent condition so it was a pleasant journey as I got up the trail and around about three curves before topping out. I saw about 4 hikers toward the beginning and none until I reached the Jasper Trail.
I headed down and over to the Quartz Trail and then up and around this mountain. The trail was partially in shade off and on. It was another pretty day as I continued down via our beautiful desert decor. I enjoyed all the saguaros and golden grasses and the Ironwood Trees looked pretty good. I'm sure they're all looking forward to next week's rain ; I know I am. I passed by the quartz outcropping and down to the teddy bear cholla junction with the Slate Trail where I headed west.
The desert is still pretty awesome around here with very tall saguaros; altho there were a few fallen soldiers at this point  . It makes you appreciate those that still remain and dominate the terrain; especially as you come to this one area that is a bit of a forest on the northside of the trail. I would see three people just before the Jasper Trail junction. The Jasper Trail is awful tread because of the horses and it has a slight uphill, deep dirt and rocks. Fortunately, it's short.
I arrived back at the parking lot and headed over to the Go John Trail which I normally enjoy. I saw another hiker who complained about avoiding the horse manure; I told her it didn't bother me. Another hiker passed me going up the hill. I was at mile four and suddenly, I started breathing hard and decided to pull over in the shade and sit for a moment. And then I started slowly up the trail but had to take my time.
Perhaps I should have rested more as I struggled up this and had to rest a couple times. I like this trail as I've been doing it for a long time and I still remember the first time back in 2006 I think it was. It seems they dropped a bunch of rocks for erosion control on a little bit of that last 1/2 mile, so that was quite annoying. I made it to the saddle and rested for just a moment on the bench. It's a great view.
From the saddle it is shaded most of the way until you arrive at the Overton junction. I was glad it was downhill since apparently, I seemed out of uphill steam. The Overton Trail is a fun trail with some nice switchbacks on the west side. The golden grasses at the top were certainly glowing. I tried to make up time from my uphill debacle. However, at the bottom I started to get really tired so I pulled out a Sport Bean and for whatever reason, that darn thing worked again. (I must get these sudden sugar drops so it doesn't seem to take much to bring me back.) The trail tread is pretty decent but it does take a little longer than you think to get around this west side before heading east. I ran into a couple hikers here.
Once again, the horse wear showed on this tread as it was sandy and deep. There were a couple little hills that fortunately were small enough not to slow me down too bad. And finally I rounded the corner and crossed the wash to join back up with the Go John to finish off my CCRA foray. I had started looking forward to my beer about a mile back; that keeps me going  and my pace is a tad quicker. But I still don't like that beer so the last four cans will be a Xmas present for someone.
WATCH 1:54-4:33PM, 7.3 miles, 1221 calories, 2160-2599 elevation. 145 avg bpm/166 max: 79% (pretty good for me) Zone 5 Max, 18% Zone 4 anaerobic, 2% Zone 2 aerobic. Temp 78.8 sunny and only 11% humidity. |
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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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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
; I know I am. I passed by the quartz outcropping and down to the teddy bear cholla junction with the Slate Trail where I headed west.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
. It was warm as I made my way north on the Overton where I would encounter two hikers and four horseback riders. That would be the last sign of humans until I started up the south side of Go John. The bottom stretch of this is longer than I thot and the switchback was shorter than I thought.
. Started at 7 AM and only saw 2 other single hikers.
