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| Hiking | 6.05 Miles |
1,597 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.05 Miles | 3 Hrs 47 Mns | | 2.01 mph |
| 1,597 ft AEG | 46 Mns Break | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Saw the Tramonto trail on the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve trail map and thought I'd take my hiking buddy Larry out to explore the area and bag some peaks!
We parked in the lot by the community pool/park/tennis courts north of Carefree Hwy on 27th Drive. Warning, there was a sign at the entrance saying it was a private parking area, so park there at your own risk. The unmarked trail starts at the east end of the lot and continues east crossing Via Tromonto. At this point the trail actually enters the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve. There is a sign where the trail intersects the street telling you that you are entering the preserve, but nothing indicating you are on the Tramonto trail.
The trail remains unmarked, but traveled enough that it's easy to follow. This urban trail passes just behind resident's backyards at the edge of the preserve. After about a mile from the parking lot, a fork in the trail offers the option to climb to the saddle a bag some peaks or continue along the edge of the preserve.
On this day we chose to climb the saddle and bag Peak 2225 to the left. The trail consists of steep, slippery, decomposed granite. At the top we returned to the saddle and continued southeast to Peak 2365. This trail is crazy steep and rugged. There is a chute that will take you straight to the top, but we decided to circle further to the southeast and climb some boulders to the peak.
Once on Peak 2365, neither the chute nor the way we came up was very appealing for the descent. We spied a path to the east climbing to the tallest peak of the group and an apparently easy descent to the saddle separating the peaks. Not part of the plan, but you have to be flexible, right? The off trail descent to the saddle was easy enough and the path from there leading to Peak 2448 was again easy enough to follow. This continued up the west side of the peak until the last 30' of rock climbing.
The wind was howling, the clouds were low, and our progress was slow. We returned the way we came until a fork in the trail to the east which eventually brought us to the east side of the preserve at 17th Ave.
From here we bushwacked a little bit south down to the eastern terminus of the Tremonto Trail. Back on track we followed the faint, unmarked trail an uneventful 2 miles back to the parking lot. The first mile of the return consisted of short steep slippery decomposed granite drainage hopping.
A great, fun, hike just minutes from I-17 and Carefree Hwy. There's a bit of scrambling on this loop, and if you have a fear of heights, you might not like this hike. |
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