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| Hiking | 3.03 Miles |
739 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.03 Miles | 1 Hour 59 Mns | | 2.00 mph |
| 739 ft AEG | 28 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We started the day at Black Cross Butte and a few other nearby destinations, and on the drive out, we parked at the intersection of FR80 and FR3507 to check out Coronado Mesa. We were a little short on time, and in hindsight, we should've driven the short distance up FR3507 to cut out a few tenths of a mile of road hiking. The views started to get impressive once we were on top of the mesa and closer to the east edge overlooking Fish Creek, and we could hear the water flowing below.
The official route ends at a narrow fin of yellow rock jutting out into the canyon, and we could see what we were aiming for, but time was going to be tight. It had been mostly cloudy all day, and the sky continued to get darker and more ominous to the north. We could see rain in the distance and heard some thunder, and it looked like Four Peaks was getting hit hard.
The contrast of the sunshine on the yellow and red cliffs, shadows in the canyons, and dark clouds/rain to the north was spectacular. I ended coming up about a quarter-mile short of the overlook before we needed to get going, and I turned around just as the ridge narrowed and the route led up and over a rock outcropping.
[ youtube video ]
I was bummed I didn't quite get to the end but glad we tried this one one the way out...between the storms, the unique lighting, and and the impressive colors, there was plenty to see in a short, easy hike. I'll do this one again next time I'm in the area and get out to the overlook, though I probably won't get another sky like the one we had today. The great shadows continued on the hike out, and there was a nice sunset on the drive back toward Phoenix to end the day. |
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