Prescott Circle Trail 2/3 Thru Hike

The Prescott Circle Trail is a ~56 mile loop that encircles the city.  The trail traverses the mountains and hills and provides great views and hiking.  My plan was to do it over Memorial Day weekend with two 20 mile days then a 16 mile day.  I got through the first 2 days but bailed on the third.  It was going to be a bit hotter and there wasn't much shade on the last day; also my feet were killing me.

I did the trail in reverse order from the "official" mileage map.  So day 1 was from the Peavine TH and went clockwise.  The first section was through some nice rolling grassland.  Then, the trail went under the 69 and started climbing up to Badger Mt.  This part was pretty close to housing and roads but still was very pleasant.  From Badge, the trail went along the high ridge, mainly on the west side so you got views of the city and beyond.  It then dropped down to Senator Hwy and Goldwater Lake.  There, I took a bit a detour to use the bathroom and fill up on water.  It was then about 4 more miles to camp at White Spar CG.  I had reserved a site, but someone was already there.  They had mistakenly thought they had it for two nights.  But there was plenty of room for both of us so it worked out.  After dinner it was early to bed.

Day 2 started with a long steady climb westward to Wolverton Mt.  Then it turned north at Copper Basin Rd.  This part was my favorite and is the most alpine of the trail.  The trail then crossed Thumb Butte Rd.  I had cached water here and stopped for lunch.  The next few miles were a bit of a slog as it started heating up.  I eventually made it to my planned camp at Yavapai CG in the Granite Basin area.  Jyoti and friends joined me for a campfire but we ended up not camping and headed home for a shower and a soft bed.

Overall, the hike was great and I will finish the last section soon enough.  It will be cool to try in the opposite direction sometime.  All my gear worked great as well except for a cell phone battery that zonked out and did not charge my phone.

My tarp set up at White Spar

Rare surface water along the trail

Views!

Wooded path

A sign along the trail

Another great western view

Trail flowers

Rolling grasslands

Start of the trail

Amazon Orders Through the Ages

I placed my first Amazon order in 2000 and it is interesting to go back and see how my orders have reflected the changes in my my life.  Early on, the books were mostly geared for the kids.  There were also some from my hobbies then: cars and fishing.  Then there was a spurt of business books when we started the ill-fated restaurant.  Then came a bunch of exercise items.  After that, there was a long list of outdoor stuff as I got into scouting.  Another shift came with gun and prepping stuff when the pandemic hit.  Lately, my orders have tailed off as I get stuff from other places and are mainly electronic stuff for radio.

Weekend Activities

• Short jeep trip down Thumb Butte Rd to Copper Basin Road to Skull Valley.  Nice little trip and found some future hiking spots.
• Another great class as Compass Training Center
• Started building a trail down the hill from the house to the road

Atlanta Trip

We had a great time visiting family again.

Our brick in Centennial Park

Bengt's New House

I made my first trip to Augusta to see Bengt and check out his new house.  It is a big place with lots of projects to keep him busy!  We also spent some time in downtown Augusta which was really fun.  With a bit of street and sidewalk maintenence it could really be great.

Bengt's new house

Augusta river walk

Pedal Pub

2025 Arizona Self Storage Conference

We attended our first storage conference at the AZSA show in Phoenix.  We met alot of great folks, learned alot and had a great time.

AZSA 2025

Weekend Activities

• Our priest came back from sabbatical
• Put in some drainage pipe
• Lily got groomed
• Granite Mt Hike - we ran out of time and didn't summit but will be back

The way up Grante Mt

Granite Mt view

Another view

Winter 2025 Books

• Tactical Wisdom series by Joe Dolio

• Be Your Future Self by Dr. Benjamin Hardy

• Neighborhood Watch and 1000 Miles of Bad Road series by E. E. Isherwood

• Dragon Days by H. John Poole

• Awesome Arizona by Roger Naylor

• Trackers series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

• various Matthew Bracken books

• My Wars by Richard Bushong

• Helno-Gal by Walter Ram

• Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth

Weekend Activities

• Couple of short hikes close to the house
• Starting clearing some brush and trees along the driveway, up the ridge and next to the meadow
• Caught Sir Harrison at Back Alley Wine Bar
• Played a few scenarios of Carrier Battle Group Solitaire

Looking towards Highlands Pines

Deer in the meadow

Hiking Clown Town trail

Prescott Snow

We are getting a small snow here at Juniper Ridge!

Snow

Moved In!

We finally moved in a couple weeks ago.  After unpacking constantly we are just now getting unburied from the boxes.  We also don't have much furniture yet but will work on that next.

Live edge standing desk

Lily investigating the area

Boxes, boxes, boxes

Almost Ready

Getting close!

Snow Camp 2025

The Sierras got a big storm the day before we got up there.  This made for lots of powder that was very difficult to snowshoe through.  So we took a shortcut along the road a bit and followed some ski tracks to one of the camp host sites.  We were able to make a one person snow cave and hit the lodge for drinks and hockey.

Our camp

Rock Creek

View up Rock Creek valley

Lots of postholes

Snow kitchen

Snow cave

Winter Hike

It has been pretty balmy here but there was still some snow on the ground from a recent dusting.

Old mining camp

Dry Jerry tank

Car wreck in the middle of nowhere

Belize Vacation

Jyoti and I took a week to visit Belize and attend a small but very effective storage mastermind group.

Some highlights of the trip:

• Belize Zoo - saw many native animals
• Wild Orchid hotel - rustic rooms but great beach
• Mariposa Beach Resort - great boutique hotel; good food but service a bit slow; our mastermind host is a partner
• Flying Pig bar - great food and very nice folks
• Maya Beach Bistro - 
• Barefoot Beach Bar - typicall tropical beach restaurant
• The Shak - awesome smoothies
• Belize Mexican taco shack - good but slow
• Captain Jak's snorkeling at Silk Caye and Moho Caye
• Chillpoint coffee and smoothies - some of the best coffee anywhere

Belize is kind of like a Central American version of Hawaii.  Everyone speak English, or some variation of it.  People are friendly than Hawaiians and very much appreciate tourists.  Travel is a bit easier than Hawaii since it is on central time.  Weather and bugs are better in Hawaii though.

Heading out for snorkeling

Map of Placencia

Belize beach

Lunch at the Shak

Treehouse at Mariposa Beach Resort

Muddy streets due to construction

Mariposa beach

Mariposa Beach pool

Downtown Placencia

Placencia Beach

Welcome to Belize!

First Prescott Boot Drop

It was pretty crowded on the square (but not as crowded as the lighting) and the band was good.  The bars all had lines to get in.

The boot has dropped

Boot drop crownd