Terrific hike! Perfect weather.... hiked the creekbed the whole way from Tony Ranch to the lower trailhead. There is some spectacular canyon scenery in a few of these stretches - take my advise & hike down the canyon-bottom and skip the trail. The sycamores were absolutely splendid in their gold attire on this early-November trip. Suprisingly, I saw no other hikers the whole day.
I took the time to clip catclaw & other nasties from the trail on the way into the ranch, as well as time spent hiking in the creekbed, so don't be put off by the time I posted for this hike, it's pretty straightforward and can be hiked at 2.5+ mph if you want to (but who would?).

The open pit mine will eventually swallow this area forever.... what a shame.