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| Hiking | 3.70 Miles |
1,800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.70 Miles | 1 Hour 55 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 1,800 ft AEG | 2 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Zooey and I set out for a solo day on Mount Lemmon. Our intention was to go for a nice little jaunt on the Aspen-Marshall Gulch loop before the storms settled over the mountain, forecasted for 11 am. I’m pretty sure we’ve done it before starting on Marshall Gulch, maybe last year.
I decided to start on Aspen. I immediately remembered it and remembered why we came down it last time. It was steep and steadily worked its way up right out of the gate. The tree coverage was lovely and the air temperature was great but the moments of direct sunlight were pretty toasty. Zooey and I hydrated consistently.
We crossed one other party as we worked our way through the burn area, now lush with ferns. A little boy alerted us to “lots of bees” ahead and his grown up made sure to mention they were only busy pollinating. Worth noting: the penstemon is all over the higher elevations on Lemmon right now! We saw a few other little wildflowers along the way too.
About a quarter mile from the big junction linking to Marshall Gulch, truly at the halfway point, a massive dark cloud materialized overhead.
It looked like it was sitting right over the path ahead so I decided to turn around and head back the way we came as to avoid getting caught in an early, unexpected thunderstorm.
I find myself in these situations often, bailing from trips because of weather. Part of me hates myself for it and the other part knows it’s not a bad thing. We would have been fine had we continued with the loop, though I would have been an anxious mess. Instead of walking into that stress, I backtracked into disappointment and feeling like a bit of a wimp like always.
Same number of miles, does it actually matter? Those trails will be there for another day. I will be here waiting.
Zooey had a great time and loved getting to be the only pup out for the day. The moments of cool breeze really had her acting like a puppy again. We really needed the one-on-one time.
It started sprinkling as we finished up. I stopped by the general store for some coffee and fudge.
The rain might have changed my plans but I am so, so grateful for it. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Penstemon, wild geranium, evening primrose? |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
) The side trail had some fun obstacles for the pups in the form of fallen trees. Obviously, it receives far less usage, but was still easy to follow. My expectations were exceeded as we made our way through the aspen groves. We got back to the main trail and quickly made it to the parking lot. After a short ride into town, we said our goodbyes and the dude and I closed out the day with Diablo Burger, as one does.
