Hike #46 – Grandview Tower West – 22.5 Miles
Location : Trail Intercept Forest Road 302 (NOBO Mile Marker 679.3)
Date: June 19th 2018
Weather: Clear skies, no clouds, starting temperature 69 degrees and the turn 81 degrees.
Total Mileage Completed : 22.5 on AZT
Hike Description: This hike started at Forest Road 302 near Tusayan, Arizona just south of the Grand Canyon Entrance and Highway 64. Elevation 6706ft and was to be a 22-mile out and back hike eastward to Grandview Tower Trailhead at 7528 ft. Elevation gain / loss 1455 ft.
Comments: This hike started at a dirt road intercept of the AZT just east of Tusayan Arizona at mile marker 679. Excited to be back in the forests on flat trail, Tom and I set out to crush some miles at a good pace. After spending the last three hikes getting killed with painful uphill climbs and a crawl pace, this hike, although, pretty boring, was a refreshing change for sure. We successfully pushed a good 3.3 mph pace out to the tower along a mostly single track section of the AZT. Not much to report on this hike. Trees, dirt, cows and an occasional squirrel. The hardest part of this hike was really the 3.75 hour drive up from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon and then back again. Making the total day’s venture about 15 hours, over ½ of the time spent driving. Oh well…. We got to get there somehow. Arriving at Grandview Tower, which is an old 80ft fire watch tower that you can actually climb to the top if you’re so inclined…. Tom did… I did not….. We had lunch and was quickly back on trail; returning to the Jeep in about 3.5 hours. A total hike time was around 7 hours for 22.5 miles… not bad for a couple old dudes… kind of like these mindless fast paced hikes. Much comparative to driving on an open highway on a Sunday afternoon.
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