Length: 6.2 miles
Duration:2 hours 57 minutes
Vertical Up:1519 feet
Click here for my trail log
It had been a while since I had been for a hike. The latest issue of Freedom Way listed classes in Anthem. It also listed hikes with The Anthem Hiking Club. Yippee! A new hike and people to hike with!
It turns out The Anthem Hiking Club is a bunch of retired people from the Country Club that are into hiking. They have formed a club and have their hikes listed as part of Anthem’s fitness programs. They have managed access to one of the Community vans. For $11bucks, I get a ride, new hiking places and people who share my interest in Hiking!On to the hike…
Bronco Trail is located in the Seven Springs Recreation Area out by Bartlett lake (Nice summary of Seven Springs Recreation Area). There was a pretty bad fire out there in 2005. All the underbrush is growing back but most of the trees are dead. To be honest, it was kind of barren. The hike starts out with about a 500 foot climb in the first ½ mile. This is where I found out that The Anthem Hiking Club is made up of serious hikers! These retirees began the hike like they were shot out of a cannon. I tried to keep pace as far as I could, but, decided it would be better to hike at my own pace (especially uphill). I hike at 3 MPH on flat land and slow it down going uphill, sometimes quite a bit. I think “the club” hikes at 3.5 MPH!
After the initial climb, the hike meandered over the top of some hills. We crossed over to another peak and climbed again. There were 2 or 3 good climbs and downhill during the hike. We also ran across a horse skeleton, complete with a hoof. Kind of strange – but what would you do with a dead horse 3 miles from nowhere? At the 3 mile mark, we hit the crossing to another trail. This was our scheduled turn around point. From this point there was a great view of Skull Mesa (I climbed this one last year).We turned around and went back where we came from. By this time I was comfortable with trailing behind. I thoroughly enjoyed the hike back, pausing to take pictures and even recording this video:
I am going to miss next week's hike to the superstitions but can’t wait for the hike in 2 weeks in Sedona. I am proud to be a new member of The Anthem Hiking Club – even if I am the slowest!
