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| | | Hieroglyphic-Hog Loop, AZ | | | |
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Hieroglyphic-Hog Loop, AZ
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| Canyoneering | 10.00 Miles |
2,100 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 10.00 Miles | 6 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.48 mph |
| 2,100 ft AEG | | | | |
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| | Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use | | A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit |
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| no partners | | Hie on the Hog...
The recent logs about Hog Canyon got me thinking about this one. Combining Hieroglyphics Canyon with its neighbor seems like a natural loop...though I don't see it logged anywhere.
While the recent triplogs for Hog made it seem a little "prickly", I knew that its not hard to get to the top of it via Hiero and a short jog on the Ridgeline trail. I figured no matter how overgrown or bouldery it was, having most of the day to get down, it should work out OK.
Starting at the Hieroglyphics Canyon trailhead, I found that the trail above the "hieroglyphics" was a little better cairned than last time I was there and not too hard to follow. For the most part it stays right of the creek bottom and 100' or so higher. A little less than 2hrs to the ridge and then less than 30min to the top of Hog Canyon.
From the top Hog looks reasonably straight-forward. Less brush on the right side so I contoured that way and stayed above the drainage for a while until it looked "not too" overgrown. The contouring is loose and steep but just typical for the Supes. I spent the rest of the time boulder hopping in the completely dry bottom ... some ducking of treelimbs required but not bad.
It took about 2-2.5 hrs to get to the bottom of the Canyon and it was a lot easier than I was expecting. Somehow I missed all the interesting places referred to by others: the old fire ring, the petrolyphs, even the waterfalls! The only explanations I can think of are 1) if you value your ankles, boulder hopping requires a lot of concentration and I must have just missed things, and 2) no water, no falls, and simpler descent of the boulders. Still its odd.
I continued down the dry creekbed onto the flats until I hit a fence. This is where Joe's Hog Canyon GPS trace started, so I exited left, went through a gate, and saw the end of the "road" that allows the closest approach to Hog Canyon. BTW this cowpath, uh, road is open...just one cattle gate to pass through. I walked down the road to its end and took a left on what turns into Cloudview Road which lead back to the car. The couple miles on the flats/roads is a little dull but its nice to finish the loop. |
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