Packard Trail #66 • Hike • Arizona • Oregon_Hiker's Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Apr 26 2013

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 473
Photos 8,433
Triplogs 626

79 male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Henderson Trail #53

Prescott, AZ

Henderson Trail #53

Prescott, AZ

Hiking		Apr 26 2013
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 626

Hiking	1.30 Miles	404 AEG

Hiking	1.30 Miles
	404 ft AEG

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linked

Sycamore Basin Trail #63

Packard Trail #66

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This was the last day of a 3 day trip to the south boundary of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness and my fourth short day hike into the red rock mountains along the north side of Henderson Trail #53 to search for Indian Ruins. For this hike, I drove to the end of FR181 and the location of the trail head for Sycamore Basin Trail #63 where it enters the wilderness. This is also the location of the east end of Henderson Trail #53.

From the trail head I hiked north west cross country to a ridge top and then followed that ridge line west to the red cliffs. I traversed around the north side of these cliffs and searched for a way to hike up to a series of benches on top of the cliffs. After several attempts to climb short cliff sections and retreating due to my fear of climbing exposure, I found a safe route to the top of the first bench. There were the remains of ruin walls for a small structure on top of this bench with a commanding view of Sycamore Basin to the north and the foothills descending to the Verde River to the south. There were several other minor wall remains along this bench. I needed to start the drive home by noon so headed back to the trail head where I encountered two hikers who had just hiked up the Packard Trail to see the Packard Mesa Cliff Dwellings. The younger member of the duo was talkative and wanted to know how I had driven to this location. The older guy did not look happy and was probably wondering why his young companion had made him hike all the way up Packard Trail to see the ruins when they could have driven there in the young guy's Jeep Wrangler. I didn't mention that it takes 2 hours to drive the 32 miles of dirt road from Jerome to the end of FR181.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Sycamore Basin

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Nov 16 2011

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 473
Photos 8,433
Triplogs 626

79 male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Packard Trail #66

Prescott, AZ

Packard Trail #66

Prescott, AZ

Hiking		Nov 16 2011
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 626

Hiking	0.70 Miles	500 AEG

Hiking	0.70 Miles
	500 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

I drove in to the Packard Mesa Ruins on FR181 from Perkinsville Rd for a two day camping trip to explore the ruins in the area. I had been waiting three weeks for good weather and my patience was rewarded with beautiful sunny skys and daytime temps in the high 60s to low 70s (night time lows were a little frosty). The last 7 or so miles of the road requires high clearance and 4 wheel drive on some of the steeper hills. Besides the well known Packard Mesa Ruins I planned to search for other ruins for which I had GPS coordinates from a 1973 USGS Sycamore Basin topo map. This topo map shows 3 sites located in the mountains above Henderson Flat. My first destination was the Packard Mesa Ruins which were an easy hike from my camp site at the end of FR181. The ruins are fascinating with great views of Sycamore Canyon and northeast towards Sedona. Who wouldn't want a home with a view like this! Interestingly there are ruins near Sedona from about the same period at the base of the cliffs seen in the distance to the north east through the saddle in the nearer mountains. The occupants of this site may have been able to communicate with these other sites via smoke signals.

The second day I searched for ruins on the north side of Packard Mesa around the corner from the well known ruins. A picture posted on Google Earth indicated there might be ruins there. I did not find any evidence of ruins at that location and decided the photo was most likely a different view of the other ruins posted to an inaccurate GPS location. I then drove back down FR181 towards Henderson Flat and hiked to the GPS location of one of the sites marked on the 1973 USGS map. After bushwhacking up a very steep cactus covered mountain side I found the ruins on a small bench looking south toward the Verde River at the location indicated on the USGS map. OK, so it was only 0.7 miles with a 500 feet elevation gain but the going was a little more treacherous than I like when hiking solo. The ruins consisted of a number of rock walls varying in height from 2 to 5 feet and formed the outline of several rooms. There were also great views across the Verde River towards Jerome. The other two ruin sites on the USGS map were in similar locations further west along the same mountain chain. The topo map indicated steeper approaches so I decided to leave them for another trip and retreated to my camp on FR181 for a cold beer. I didn't see another person until the third day on my way home when I encountered a man and his wife on their way into the area to hunt for elk.

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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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