First up, Ladybug Peak from Ladybug Saddle. The ammo box register is gone, has been replaced with a round tin located a little lower down the peak. Ladybugs? I nailed it on this trip! Thousands x thousands of them covering the rocky peak. I was pulling them out of my hair, clothes & gear for the next 1/4 mile back down (that's a cool thing).

Second up, Bear Canyon down to Dutch Henry. Dutch Henry trail was cleared a few years ago, but once again has become a mess to get down. Only made it a 1/2 mile down before it became too much work to enjoy.

Third up, climbed back up to the Bear Canyon trail and took it down a ways off the south end of the mountain. Great views as always with monsoon storms in the distance moving in, was time to get back on the other side before they hit.

Last up, a short trip down the Ladybug Trail for the northern valley views before heading back up and down to Ladybug Saddle.

I ended with a short drive up the Swift Trail for sunset at the Arrow Tree overlook. Watched the sun go down and the storms move off the mountain never hitting the top. Not much on the ground for wildlife, but I saw and heard it all in the trees and sky today! Spotted owls, vultures & squirrels to name a few.
Another day well spent on Graham.

Drove up to Ladybug saddle for one more hike on the mountain before the fire closure. First climbed up to Ladybug Peak and was able to see both the Wallow & Horseshoe two fires clearly from the peak. I then hiked down the trail to the Bear Canyon/Dutch Henry Y and sat for a minute trying to decide on what trail I wanted to do. Have never done the upper half of Bear Canyon or any of the Dutch Henry so I literally flipped a coin to decide, Dutch Henry it was. I only made it about 1.5 miles down on the recently worked trail until it became obvious where the work had stopped and the trail became too overgrown to continue. FS told me that they plan to clear the rest of this trail to the bottom by the end of summer. On the hike back out I had a cool encounter with an owl and a sudden & brief encounter with a bear that took off down the hillside breaking tree branches the whole way down. We both scared each other pretty good! Made it back up to the saddle and drove back down the mountain bummed that this will be my last hike up here until the monsoons come.

Whoever did the recent trail work on ol' Dutch Henry gets a Tommy Boy "Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug!" style hug from me. What a difference between today's and last November's hike. The trail is clear of vegetation and logs, and the trail bed was repaired.

I started from Ladybug Saddle at 5 pm, went to Ladybug Peak, then down Bear Canyon Trail, with no real destination in mind. The top of the Dutch Henry Trail appeared to have seen some recent work, so I turned onto it to see if the unlikely was actually true. It was. Hooray! I made it onto the ridge that divides Veach Canyon and Dutch Henry Canyon, before turning around due to coming darkness.

I'll be back to hike all of you, Dutch Henry. I'm looking forward to it!

EDIT: Forest Service info from 3-29-11, verbatim:
..."The top end of the Dutch Henry Trail has been worked (about 2 miles in from Ladybug) but the other 7-ish miles are in bad shape and the public should not attempt to hike this thru (and the bottom end is just plain "gone", as well as not getting a vehicle anywhere near the bottom trailhead)"...

Just getting to Dutch Henry's lower trailhead defeated Nick and I 4 years ago due to me getting stuck in Stockton Wash. Now, armed with 4wd, and having to stay close to home this weekend, I returned. I figured Dutch Henry shouldn't be too hard a hike, after all, the area had not burned in recent years. It took a few trial and errors on wrong roads and burning up alot of time, but I finally found the right road. I parked my truck in Stockton Wash, and hiked up to the trailhead. A weather beaten wooden trail sign greeted me.

After only making about a half mile of the lower trail in 45 minutes, I realized I was never going to make it up to the top today. The grasslands, thorny bushes, and time have reclaimed this stretch of trail completely. Only my gps and a few cairns let me know I was on the right track. Disapointed, I gave up, and decided to check out the top of the trail. After all, I love forest! I made it back to the highway, then drove up to Ladybug Saddle and started hiking.

After a brief visit to Ladybug Peak, I turned onto Bear Canyon Trail, and soon arrived at the top end of Dutch Henry. A trail crew had cleared the first 100 feet of Dutch Henry. But soon Dutch Henry was a route finding-bushwhacking adventure. The trail bed is mostly gone, so I was navigating by ancient tree blazes and old cut logs along the steep forested mountainside. The terrain that Dutch Henry travels through is absolutely beautiful, too bad the trail ain't. I turned around at sunset, after only making 0.6 miles on upper Dutch Henry in nearly an hour of hiking. I hiked the rest of the way back to Ladybug Saddle by moonlight.

I didn't accomplish my goal of hiking the whole trail, but I got a nice taste of it and had fun. Maybe one day I'll return with some trail cleanup tools. Don't underestimate ol' Dutch Henry if you go.

video: https://www.youtube.com/user/PrestonTheY ... 5kLkLFeKak