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| Walk / Tour | 2.28 Miles |
105 AEG |
| | Walk / Tour | 2.28 Miles | | | |
| 105 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I got up early to get through Phoenix before rush hour, arriving in Laveen a little after 6:00 a.m., then sitting in a parking lot eating breakfast until the sun rose.
For the day, I guessed I walked about about 2.0 miles and 100 AEG, and was pretty close (see stats). I drove 180 miles on a 137 mile roundtrip from Laveen, down 51st Ave., Beltline Rd., Riggs Rd, Arizona 347 to Maricopa, then west on Arizona 238 through Estrella, Shawmut and Bosque to Gila Bend, and back. (Lots of backtracking after initially driving by a memorial.)
Some of the memorials I shot from inside my SUV, as I was not comfortable getting out, others I timed to avoid traffic. I was shocked how much traffic there was on 347. Maricopa only has 30,000 people, and it was worse than the 51. (And that was traffic headed towards Maricopa, not in to Phoenix to work.  Thankfully, 238 was much less hectic. In fact, it was a surprisingly pleasant and scenic drive. Unfortunately, the sun was replaced by clouds which lasted until mid-afternoon. 
I stopped at the Estrella Siding for a few minutes. An east-bound train drove by as I was pulling back onto 238.  I stopped at Shawmut, to check out the cemetery. I sat there for a good 45 minutes waiting for another train ... no such luck. There were about six unmarked graves in the cemetery. Later, googling for information about Shawmut was fruitless. As was googling for information about the Bosque Cemetery, which only had one grave. My Spanish is very poor, but this is what appeared to be written on the cement cap in Bosque:
FRONT: Esta nina ??? acio 22 de Junio a las 6 de la tarde de 1926 y murio el ??? ... 24 del mismo mesa las 3 y 8 minudos de la manana
RIGHT: y se yama ma Consorcia Urias
BACK: Siendo sus padres Gregorio Urias y ma Emiliana ? de Urias ... esta ??? ocha/echa el dia 1 de Agostode 1926
LEFT: hija de G Urias major domo de la Sec de Bosque #18
Which I translate as "A baby girl, Consorcia Urias, born on 22 June 1926 at 6:00 a,m., died two days later at 3:08 a.m. Inscribed by her parents Emiliana and Gregorio Urias, who is the manager of Forest Section 18." Geez, that's rough. 
Driving back through the rez, I passed four cops -- and an animal control officer! -- in the space of two miles. A bit paranoid, I skipped a few memorials in favor of fighting my way through south side rush hour. ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
Oh, and watch out for Maricopa PD hiding behind the wall as you enter town on 238, where the speed limit drops from 55 to 35 ...
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Video : http://youtu.be/tEx_u0_yL4c |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
. I wasn't 5 minutes into the hike when the first of six trains went by. I had chosen to climb the hill directly to the south, so I had a nice view as it went by. Reaching the top of the hill, I had nice views of the surrounding lands. My eyes latched on to the tallest peak to south and east and I decided to make that my target. The desert out here is ideal for off trail trekking. Rocky and vegetated enough to entertain the eye, but spacious enough that I had an open canvas in choosing my route. There were several very minor washes that I had to cross, but only one that had me reroute to navigate it. As I crossed this open space, I took a picture of where I crossed the "official route" - at this point, the "official route" was a dirt road going in a southwest direction. As I approached the base of my climb, I was surprised that the peak looked so much lower than how it appeared from the hill line from which I had first spotted it. Typically mountains will grow and seem to loom over you as you approach, this one seemed to have done the opposite. Having seen the mountain from a distance, I had picked out a very gradual entry point and it allowed for a nice ascent for the first 3/4 of the climb. It was only for the last 1/4 where I had to use my hands to help negotiate the upper regions (I had gotten rubber bands from my work place to help hold my garmin pouch to my forearm - I had both hands free for this weekend climb 
Now I knew why the peak looked so much smaller when I started my climb 
The peak I was shooting for was still a little further to the east. This involved a little bit of a gnarly climb down, but not too bad with prudent route choosing. The slime up to the taller peak was kind of bizarre, in that it was very "hillish". This made for a very nice and gradual final ascent. The views from the top were very rewarding. I actually took a picture of another train going by, but the distance is such that the train is lost in the desert vista. I also realized that my "tallest peak" was not the tallest peak in this range of mountains that I had chosen to hike. I could see about five peaks over to the east what "looked" to be the tallest peak in the range. I was temporarily teased with the notion of tagging that one as well, but quickly thought better of it. The climb down was uneventful, though hard on the ankles. My Altras just do not provide good ankle support in this type of environment. I was very happy to get back to flat ground. Though there was evidence of larger game, I only saw Jose jackrabbits, chipmunks and a handful of lizards. I gotta say, I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed the hike. Very rewarding! Of course, it helps having such beautiful weather to accompany it. Awesome!
I was hoping for a promising wildflower display after the tease driving along the highway into the town of Maricopa. Lots of poppies, desert marigolds and brittlebush blooms along that stretch from Wildhorse Pass to Maricopa. Very little west of Maricopa... 
