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| | | Mineral Mtn Quad - Canyon 3315 -11116, AZ | | | |
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Mineral Mtn Quad - Canyon 3315 -11116, AZ
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| Hiking | 1.65 Miles |
649 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.65 Miles | 2 Hrs 3 Mns | | 2.11 mph |
| 649 ft AEG | 1 Hour 16 Mns Break | 24 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The 1/23/12 4x4/hike story...
Chapter 1:
[ triplog ]
Chapter 2:
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Chapter 3:
This probably should be chapter 4, but the 4x4 trip from chapter 2 was relatively uneventful, having covered the most technical areas in chapter 1.
Ok, so now I'm at the mouth of the canyon I cast eyes on during a 4x4 recon last year. Initially I parked in the center of the wash, but with the likelihood of rain showers after 11 am, I backed up onto a berm next to the smooth rock canyon floor, so if water was running, I could at least get into the Samurai without walking through water. Just planning ahead.... I suppose to make up for my un-preparedness experience in chapter 2.
A gateway of large boulders greet me as I begin the hike. The canyon floor offered a myriad of features, with monstrous boulders and thickets of brush being the most prominent. Every obstacle presented a new challenge, and as attested to by my 1:16 of breaks, much of my time 'stopped' was scanning for the best way to climb over or skirt around the problem at hand. On several occasions I attempted to climb up boulders anywhere from 15-30' tall I simply could not hang on and had to drop back down and more often than not, bypass by wading through thickets of thorny brush.
However, there was one insurmountable boulder which meant climbing some 40-50' up the canyon wall and continue a few hundred feet before finding a safe spot to climb back down. MY thought after than episode was I hoped that would be the only time I'd have to do that... with the exception of my return of course.
Once the major obstacle was passed I was cruising up the bare rock areas until I arrived at the obstacle that had a finality to it... the rock below the boulder was at least 20 feet high and the boulder itself was another 30. No need to seek a detour, this was the end. I took a few minutes to explore a few of the large caves before turning back.
But I'm not done for this hike... although clouds were building there was no rain yet so I decided to climb the closest of the only two side-drainages in the whole canyon. This climb reminded me of my attempts on the eastern slopes of Picketpost... steep with loose rock or pieces that break away upon the slightest touch. But with enough experience on this kind of terrain I had more confidence and continued up. At the top was a small meadow where I took 5 minutes for my only real break of the hike. It would have been longer if I hadn't heard a rumbling of thunder. Hmmm... was that an airplane? (Of which I'd heard several airliners earlier) Was it the National Guard firing artillery some miles west? Nope... it was indeed thunder, and by the darker clouds this meant it was time to start hustling back. Instead of the hour and 20+ minutes to get up here, even some new route finding issues on the return I wasted little time and was back to the TH in less then 40 minutes. Whew! And that's it for Chapter 3.
Chapter 4 will be the looong drive back through Martinez, Box and Cottonwoods Canyons. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
