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| Hiking | 8.45 Miles |
1,634 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.45 Miles | 4 Hrs 19 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 1,634 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Early morning hike in the Goldfields. Started from the Javelina TH around 6:30am. I had several things that I wanted to do with this hike. The main thing was to take the Javelina trail over to the Willow Springs TH. I was fairly comfortable with the trails in the Javelina area and I wanted to see how these two trailheads tied together. It was 1.71 miles to reach the Javelina-Willow juncture and 2.92 miles to reach the Willow Springs TH. In hiking this, I discovered that I had hiked from this TH years ago. Not sure what I had hiked, but seeing how the trail cut through the hills brought back those distant memories.
After that, I retraced my steps and hit the peak just to the north of where the Javelina Trail enters the Goldfields. This was an off trail trek. This “peak” doesn’t have the golden out croppings that many of the mountains have, but it is one of the taller peaks in the area. I went up the northwest side and was surprised to discover signs of bike treads near the top of the peak. I had thought I had come across a game trail, but apparently some adventurous soul had taken a bike down the mountain. I didn’t see any bones lying around so he must have survived. There were a couple of cairns at the top, evidence that a few people had ventured to the top. The views were as nice as expected from the top.
After climbing back down, I returned to the Javelina and headed back towards the car. The one last thing that I wanted to do was follow a use trail that I had noted on a previous hike. This use trails takes off about .15 miles from where I had parked and heads to the south. This is a well trodden trail that stretches for about .8 miles and connects to the Bulldog TH. It stays within sight of highway 88 and has minimal elevation as it curves along low lying slopes. On the way back I checked out an old road that crossed this trail. Following this old road to highway 88 I met a gentleman who was heading in to do some trail work. He had an all purpose tool that was part rake, part cutter and part “ground pounder”. It turns out he didn’t care for the use trail that I had followed to the Bulldog TH and was actually creating a trail more to his liking. We talked as he moved dirt around, trimmed branches and compacted the earth. In my mind, there was little evidence to this trail that he was maintaining/(creating), but ironically as we neared the Javelina Trail, two horse riders were eye balling our approach. As we neared them, one asked “is this a trail?” “It is now”, I thought to myself. I had witness the birth of a new trail. I would not be at all shocked to go back in a couple of years and see another “well trodden” trail splitting off the use trail I hiked to the Bulldog.
Speaking of irony….as I was speaking with the trail builder, I saw this yellow and black mirage trudging down the above mentioned use trail. Now, as all HAZ knows, when one sees a yellow and black mirage, it can mean only one thing….yep. A Darthstiller sightings!  I hadn’t seen Chris in close to year. It was great to touch base with him again.
Pretty awesome hike! Can’t go wrong in the Goldfields. Didn’t see any wildlife until near the end when I saw 4 deer and a buck. Can’t hike the Goldfields without horse riders…9 horse riders and 5 hikers. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
. I don’t think the rules have changed for dogs. When I got back to my car people were circling like vultures waiting for my spot.](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
Took the Coachwhip (which, in my mind, mucks up everything) over to the Cholla. Went clockwise on the Cholla. They have rocked off H-3a even more since my last visit. This little tail at the top of Cholla has been signed off for a couple of years and it looks like they are doing their best to discourage use. The trail is still evident beyond the rocks, but there is not much to the trail so it is not a great loss to the hiking community. When the Cholla gets to the east side and reaches the stop light it reverts back to the Coachwhip. 
