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Hiking | 9.52 Miles |
1,010 AEG |
| Hiking | 9.52 Miles | 3 Hrs 18 Mns | | 2.94 mph |
1,010 ft AEG | 4 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | It's been a while since I've hiked the Little Pan loop and a Geocache was just listed along it, so off I went. The geocache is off the west side of the loop, so I went clockwise to reach it earlier in my hike instead of later.
Along the north end of the loop, it started sprinkling a bit, but nothing to get wet by. Below Cottonwood Gulch along the Agua Fria, I heard thunder. Water was running at the north crossing of the Agua Fria, but I was able to work my way across without getting my feet wet. The rain picked up a bit here and as I started climbing out of the gulch, I could see raindrops on the water. The thunder started picking up as I continued along the east side. Then, after crossing a wash and starting the longest climb of the loop, the rain came. I stopped and pulled out my umbrella and the rain cover for my pack. It was storming hard for a while and the wind picked up as I crossed the ridge when the climb leveled out.
Along the way down, I saw a small tortoise in the middle of the trail. The shell was probably 6" front to back and was clean and shiny from the rain.
The rain finally stopped as I neared the south end of the loop, so I closed my umbrella for the rest of the hike.
The east side of the loop could use some brushing as the catclaw is starting to encroach on the trail a bit. Nothing bad now, but it will be soon enough. |
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