Guide based Triplogs

Tracie and I had Geronimo's Cabin on our radar screen for over a year now, and we decided at long last to go check it out. I had reviewed some triplogs and maps, and decided to do a big loop that encompassed the Yeager Canyon Loop; also included are a couple of short out-and-back side trips to Kendall Peak and Geronimo's Cabin.

We hiked on several trails and roads, including Little Yeager Canyon Trail #533; Kendall Camp Road 105; Cherry Trail 132; Forest Road 413; Forest Road 9003T; Yeager Cabin Trail #111; Old Dump Trail #530; and Yeager Canyon Trail #28. We also did a bit of off-trail hiking, mostly getting to and from Kendall Peak -- this was some of the easiest off-trail hiking that I have done.

We started the hike at a pullout on 89A, where the Little Yeager Canyon Trail #533 and Yeager Canyon Trail #28 meet. We took the Little Yeager Canyon Trail #533 and then took a right on Kendall Camp Road 105 for a short distance. Then we went on a fun, easy off-trail excursion to the north side of Kendall Peak, and went up the north slope of the peak to the summit. After descending down the way we came up, we took a logging road to Cherry Trail 132, and took it west for a ways until we went off-trail to get to FR 413, very near to where FR 9003T starts. Then we went up to Geronimo's Cabin; retraced our steps back to FR 413, and made our way to the start of Yeager Cabin Trail #111. We then took #111 up to Yeager Canyon Trail #28, and took it back to the TH.

As for Old Dump Trail #530: my map, the HAZ GPS track, and the description of the trail on the Prescott National Forest website all indicated that Trail #530 ran from Trail #28 to FR 413. However, the signage for Trail #530 has the trail running from Trail #111 to FR 413. I took this revised Old Dump Trail from #111 to FR 413 and back. I also went up Trail #28 to where the Old Dump Trail junction was supposed to be, and did not see a trail or a trail sign. I am not sure why Trail #530 has apparently been moved.

At 7,088' Kendall Peak certainly isn't the highest in the area, but it had some nice 360 degree views nonetheless. I enjoyed seeing snow covered peaks in the Bradshaws. I noticed at least 3 HAZers had signed the trip logbook.

Geronimo's Cabin, with its logs vertical instead of horizontal, is definitely unique. The vertical logs makes it blend in with and mirror the environment

We saw around a dozen turkeys, but that was the only wildlife that we saw.

I really like hiking on Mingus, and this was a very enjoyable hike!

Forecast was for a bit warmer temperatures, so we thought we would give this one a try. Beginning of trail was great, but as we approached Workman creek, we started to run into shrubbery an other plants overgrowing the trail. we pushed through to the first Workman Creek crossing at 2.03 miles, and it was flowing quite well. Since there was only one crossing I was able to convinced the wife to continue on.

Although the trail was easy enough to follow it is apparent this trail is does not get much maintenance, or traffic. There was a lot of overgrowth for the rest of the hike, sometimes we found ourselves swimming through the bushes and occasional cat-claw like plants. Make sure to have long sleeve shirt and long pants for this hike. We finally got to the end of the hike where we again encountered Workman Creek, and it was raging quite well. We didn't try to go upstream to look for the JUG or any other features and headed back.

I'm not sure I would recommend this hike, It is mostly forest hiking, I prefer the desert where you can see things. The bushwhacking was not real fun either.

On a more positive note, we did notice some AMAZING poppies on highway 180 a bit past mile marker 220 there are a number of hillsides covered with them. If you like the wildflowers you should check this one out. I'm behind on my pictures, but I'll post one of these so you can get an idea.

Wildflowers
Very few flowers on this hike.

After work hike on one of my favorite routes. The poppies are starting to dwindle but still out there. Cloud cover and a nice breeze kept things cool. Being able to hit the trails after work is always a treat.

Started on Javelina Canyon trail and proceeded to Hidden Valley, completed the Mormon Loop, up to the Ridgeline trail then back on Beverly Canyon trail.

Always a good workout on South Mountain and always a good time for me.

Wildflowers
Poppies are still golden

We finally were able to get together for a long overdue hike. We both like the Goldfields and the surrounding area so Kelly picked this. As always it seems, I'm a little out of hiking shape; especially for peaks so this fit the bill. We met up at Power and McDowell Roads for our short drive to the Lone Mountain/Bulldog TH. This is the first time Kelly drove us to the TH... hard to believe in all these years, ha!

It was a nice morning. We were delighted to see this hike would involve lots of wildflowers altho the poppies weren't quite open yet. As we began the climb Kelly would comment on how she thot this was a "cute little peak". For some reason I thot that was amusing. The hike up does level out a few times so that's nice but I still needed to pull my poles out. I worry that I struggle up these little peaks and that I have some big mountains coming up for our AZT trek; just don't know how I'm going to pull that off. Anyway, this up had lots of little gardens and alley ways of flora to enjoy with great distant views.

I was surprised when I arrived at the Peak as I thot for sure it was a false saddle. My review of the hike said it was over 1000 AEG. But then I remembered that this was equivalent to Shaw Butte. Anyway, we didn't stay long and headed back down. Wow is that slippery. Kelly ended up using one of my poles for stabilization. The poppies had started to open up. We did run into a small group of hikers at the little saddle by the rock outcropping. As we neared the bottom we encountered some more hikers that were heading up and I told them it was slippery coming down.

The loop sure started off pretty and mostly level. We wandered in and out of mini-drainages and through some boulder and saguaro areas just loving it with all the wildflowers at every little turn. I filmed a lot through here. I haven't watched any of the movies yet so I'm anxious to see how they turned out. Well the fun would end in a little over a mile as the roller coaster would begin. It started slowly but then it got serious. I would end up trying to walk around some of the steeper sections just to have some ground to hold onto. It was still as steep but I felt better with the stickiness of the ground.

Kelly looks back and asks me if I'm still likin' this suggestion. Well you can't blame her as she didn't know the conditions but when even she started whining a little bit; I felt much better . The steeper parts were on this eastern to north side and there were a lot of them. It just takes some of the joy out of hiking when you have to hold on for dear life. There were still wildflowers and views to entertain us. We finally crossed over the little saddle and started heading southwest and the roller coaster moderated. We took a break so I could re-fuel.

On this section we could see poppy-filled hillsides to the east and saguaros to the west so that was pretty cool. But I was glad to be done with this hike. However, it was great to catch up with Kelly and enjoy the wildflowers. The videos are not ready yet as I just finished the videos from the previous weekend's wildflower shoot. Thx for driving Kelly and for lunch (see, pole use isn't always free, ha!)

Wildflowers
LOTS of poppies, Scorpionweed, some Desert Lavendar, lots of Peppergrass (or weed), some Brittlebush