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| Hiking | 8.05 Miles |
2,478 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.05 Miles | 4 Hrs 12 Mns | | 2.21 mph |
| 2,478 ft AEG | 33 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | One of my favorite things is to enjoy desert mountains as winter storms move out and the weather begins to clear. While it wasn't a substantial storm by any measure, there was enough moisture to soak the vegetation and kick up those dramatic clouds on and over all the higher terrain. These are just great days to enjoy walking outdoors.
This has apparently been on a 9L list for a decade or two based on some book he read when he was a kid. I had barely heard of it, but concluded that HikerWill has good reason for his repeated trips. The checklist crowd might not make a 2nd visit, but if I lived closer, I would follow HW's lead and be here more often and explore the terrain. It's really beautiful and definitely worthy of a top 100 book.
Despite an exceptional trail cut and beautiful scenery, it's a bit of a short hike, so we opted to extend it from the lookout via the off-trail route across the ridge to the namesake summit. I was disappointed to discover that there is no "Pajarita" benchmark on Atascosa peak as indicated on USGS topo maps. And the Atacosa BM on Atascosa was a hiccup to research based on the misspelling on station name. (Missing my previous HAZ go-to for info on this kind of thing  . )
9L thought the overflow parking would be full. In reality we saw a trio of minivan-rattled Pittsburgh tourists looking for quail at the trailhead  and a solo hiker from Colorado as we neared the end.
Living in Tucson, I would do this at least a couple of times a year. From PHX, it's more time driving than hiking unless you add something else to your day like Elephant Head, Picacho, Casa Grande, T-Hill!!? But worthy enough to make that plan happen. |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
) but I recall what an impressive geologic ridge this is and figured it would be worth another visit just for the views.
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. No sign of a too elderly backpacker or anybody else at all. Two other vehicles in the lot to start were gone when we finished. Must be too warm to hike. (It did hit 78 in the sun, though it generally hovered in the upper 50s in the shade).
