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| | | Shaw Butte - North Mountain Loop, AZ | | | |
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Shaw Butte - North Mountain Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.01 Miles |
1,453 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.01 Miles | 3 Hrs 7 Mns | | 2.38 mph |
| 1,453 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Kelly had promised me a hike before the end of the month and this is what I came up with. I threw in North Mountain cuz I know she likes Peaks. And, of course, as luck would have it, this would be the warmest day of the week  . She was at the Peoria TH but I wanted to meet at the North Mountain VC cuz it's nicer; especially for the after-hike beers. HAZ blipped out on me; I had to fill in the route from the bottom of the paved hill over to the North Mountain saddle.
So off we went and we were immediately distracted by the loud birds singing; another couple hiking near us commented as well. I decided to see if I could film one of the birds and I was able to do that, but then it wouldn't shut up  . [ youtube video ] And the reason it was so loud, a Northern Mockingbird. I took Kelly up on the dam before we crossed over to the main trail toward Shaw Butte.
As we stepped on the Shaw Butte Trail I noticed this column of black rock next to a smoothed over trail from where you get on it from the south. In fact, they did some incredible work as it is now completely filled in. As you may know, it is a road used to get to the towers and was in really rough shape. The drive up had to be quite the ordeal. Well no more; at least until the south saddle. It is really quite impressive how they filled in all the divits and built three major drainage channels. The old pipes are no longer there either. I took pictures to document this awesome repaired access road/trail. Apparently the leveling took place mid-December.
The Brittlebush was showing off so brightly I felt the need to put on my sunglasses  . It kept us company for much of our hike today. You could see it blooming on the various surrounding mountainsides too. There was other flora including a really nice Pincushion with one bloom. Up at the towers, we checked out the rock pile with the two flags and then headed down the paved road, but not before admiring the distant views north.
I sent Kelly on her way to check out the western towers. I normally do this but not if I'm going to hike North Mountain as well. So I had a nice little break. The Brittlebush lined both sides of the trail going toward Cloud Nine Motel area. Going down from here is not the best trail tread as it's slippery and steep. Oh, we smelled the Scorpionweed's In-N-Out Burger. I've noticed that smell on several of my city hikes and today, we figured out what it was. We headed down the southeast side which was pretty ripped up when I hiked it in October but it looks like they've done some work on it.
It seemed to be getting warm by this point as we had lost our breeze. We hiked Trail 100 north until the junction with the connector to North Mountain. There was lots and lots of lupine along here  and as usual, nearly impossible to get a good photo. Luckily our missing breeze also greeted us at the saddle and some shade as we hiked toward the pavement. At the North Mountain Trail I told Kelly to go ahead at her pace and basically I would just keep hiking and would see her on the way down.
Fortunately, there was some shade which really helped. When I came to the last turn south I had decided if there wasn't a breeze this is where I would stop. Well guess what... yep, a breeze, so I headed up that last little stretch and strained a bit to see where Kelly was. Well she was hiding off to the left where I thot she might be waiting for me. So we finished the last little stretch together even though she had gone up and around the towers already.
There were some nice flowers on our way down enjoying the shade. My poor big toes did not enjoy this journey as they are still recovering from a hike where the new shoes were 1/2 size too small which I didn't realize until I had to come down Union Peak.
We enjoyed our beers and roasted peanuts at the ramada off the parking lot. It was a good hiking hike for me and Kelly tolerated my whining about the heat and the steep from time to time. Fun to catch up too.
WATCH 1:06PM forgot to turn off the hike. Elevation 1470-2264. 133bpm/171 max burning 1515 calories. Temp 72.8 sunny and 12% humidity. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Brittlebush is probably at its prime. Some Scorpionweed here and there. |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. Also, the Desert Lavender was really healthy on the paved hill. I still couldn't get over the overcast skies for May and I even experienced that foreign substance that comes from them. 
but I burned 612 calories and god knows how much sweat. Starting temp 69.8 and sunny with 28% humidity finishing at 9:19AM
