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| Hiking | 8.20 Miles |
1,102 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.20 Miles | 4 Hrs 8 Mns | | 2.11 mph |
| 1,102 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | The only previous time we had been on this trail it was super muddy due to 2+ inches of rain from the previous day through overnight. So now 5+ years later it was time to give this one a do-over in much better conditions.
What we weren't prepared for was just how different the trail has become... not due to weather conditions, but rather how much has been/is being replaced with a new, wider, flatter trail with less elevation change.
We parked at the Bear Canyon Scenic Overlook and took the short jaunt downhill on Hardscrabble Road to hike an out-and-back from the Southern trailhead. While the first part just appeared to be brushing and a bit of tread maintenance, about a half-mile in we came to a split in the trail. With neither appearing more well-traveled than the other, Tracey took the high-road and I took the low-road, but only for 50 yards or so when I realized I'd be dropping down before a later climb. So I doubled back to follow the high-road.
Good thing I did as we would find out this was very new trail and the tread was awesome! In general the new trail was higher in elevation than the previous one, but it followed a contour into each drainage rather than how the old trail may have had a straighter route dropped down and bak out of each drainage.
Along the way we encountered a number of junctions between the new and old trail, as well as parts of a VERY OLD trail. Actually, looking at the FS Topo one will see the route of possibly the ORIGINAL trail is far above this 'new' trail.
Just over 2.5 miles along the trail (on a new section) we encountered an elderly couple, just kind of wandering around so initially I wondered if they needed help of some kind. It turns out for the last month+ they have been doing the bulk of the work on the new trail in conjunction with the Pine Strawberry Fuel Reduction organization. In fact, they had purchased two pieces of construction equipment including both a CAT Track-hoe and a mini-grader. No wonder the trail was so wide and flat!
They had stopped work just .2 mile shy of reconnecting with the original trail again, so rather than us retracing our route to follow the old route again (which in total would have added a mile) we continued that short distance along the very roughly marked out trail. Looked to me that only another few days and that part of the trail would be complete.
From that point on (roughly 3 miles along the old trail from the South TH) it was the same trail as we'd hiked a half-decade ago... well, almost. As we neared the Strawberry Trailhead we found some reasonably new short reroutes and general brushing maintenance. This is when we encountered two deer, one a large doe and the other a young 'spike' buck... yup, just one spike on his right side.
We took a short lunch break near the Strawberry TH before heading back. We thought about taking the low-road at each junction, but since the first few didn't look fun we continued. Until making the one and only mistake of the day.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
Yes, I'll own up to it... I made the mistake of deciding to follow the least-worst-looking part of the 'old' trail but we were fooled, it quickly became downright nasty! What's left of the original trail is so rough and rugged the jolting was a killer on my left ankle, right hip and lower back. So, a lesson to the wise, follow the HIGH-road whenever possible and the hike will be very enjoyable.
But no matter the rough part, once we KNOW the new trail is complete I'm sure we'll return to check it out. |
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