My 5:05 weekday alarm got me up, but I didn't move until I saw the first greys of nautical light. Then it was a quick 1.5 mile drive to the trailhead down West Arica Road, just past the Love's Truck Stop. This is a gravel parking area. There is one portapot but no water available. A large map on a board shows the topography and color-coded trails. We started the hike at 6:28am
The trailhead parking is at 1500' feet, higher than the valley to the east. I could stand in the parking area and take sunrise photos, but I opted to take the Spine trail (easy, color-coded green) north where it intersects with the more moderate-to-hard (color coded blue and black) to the Ridge Trail. This Ridge trail doesn't actually go on top of the ridge, because the firing range is on the other side of the mountain. A radio tower is on this ridge, but I didn't go that far. I made a loop hike along the saguaro-cholla-studded rocky trail. To the north one hears cars, trucks and trains pass by, to the south one hears the firing range.
I didn't wear a windbreaker and enjoyed this hike. Yes, it was breezy and cool, but it was a dry cool. Even with the sun up, it wasn't hot. The dogs didn't seem hot, either, although they enjoyed their water break. The sky remained overcast, which diffused the light to a comfortable level. It became hazier a few hours later.
The firing range started up shortly after 8am as I was in my last mile. It's easy to see the parking lot higher up, so I was not worried about getting lost. There are a lot of trails, large and small, that intersect the main trails, but my GPS app kept us on track.
http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/2766621683
We got back to the van at 8:15am. The lot had several vehicles around me; I was no longer alone. And more cars kept coming! Mountain bikers and dog walkers came and went. (The sign says dogs must be on leash, but all the dogs I saw were offleash and well-mannered.)
Thus ended my last hike for this short road trip. I stopped in Tucson for gas, in Sierra Vista for flank steaks for the dogs, and was home by 1:10pm. Kevin had been tracking my movement via our joint Life360.com account, and had cheese burgers ready for me. It was a lovely homecoming and we sat outside to chitchat. Minnie and Sweetie were happy to see me, too, and I promised them their own dog walk later. I just needed to relax a bit and eat.
At 5:30pm I took them and Zeke for another 2.3-mile walk around Ranchos San Pedro. Sadie stayed behind. And when I got home I, too, went to bed and slept soundly until 2am.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6xyfrVWZGQSZVVxSGZ1YmpRbVU/view (map of trails)
No comments:
Post a Comment