Having driven this nasty road several times in years past, I went to drive it again in June, but bottomed out and scratched up my truck in the first quarter mile. With the road going back to nature, I figured it might make a good hike.
On the way to Prescott and with limited time, I thought I'd give this hike a try. Threatening skies and light rain greeted me at the start, and accompanied me all the way to the summit, when, surprise, the sun came out FR 1688 ended up being a great hike, and was much more enjoyable than driving it. This is one of the closest pine forest hikes to the East Valley.