Fun Hike today to the Rogers Canyon Ruins. There were 5 or 6 vehicles parked at the Rogers Trough trailhead when we got there at about 10:30. We passed two groups of backpakers on our way to the ruins and another 3 or 4 pairs of hikers. There was another group of hikers at the site when we got there but they were just getting ready to leave so we had the site all to ourselves for the half hour we stayed and explored. The mud that was used for construction seemed extremely hard. Felt more like concrete than mud if you ask me.

Rogers creek had copious amounts of clear running water the entire length of the hike.

The longest part was the drive to the Rogers Trough trailhead. The drive was very scenic and bumpy with lots of ORVs kicking up a of dust on the road. We drove a 2 wheel drive pickup and except for that last hairpin turn (where I had to do a little reversing) we had no problems. I would not attempt this drive without a 4x4 if there was a recent rain or a hint of rain in the forecast

Great hike. The trail was in great condition little loose rock here in their. There are some spots where the bushes grow into the trail so wear long sleeves and pants if you care about that.

The weather was beautiful and the was shade most of the way but just make sure you bring enough water. There were a couple sitting pools of water but nothing that looked too great.

Chums suggested this, being one of my favorites had me excited to go. This south route was #12 in my 20 Favorites list and it's holding steady. I'm a huge fan of the Gap-Campaign loop too. This is just more reasonable to access and feasible stats wise for most.

The history is rich. The annual apple crop is a heavy lure for nearby desert dwellers. An entry in the trailhead register stated no apples. Obvious in our minds a poor ploy to deter the masses.

Rogers Canyon Trail #110
The 1.6 miles out on this trail was typical. Easy to follow with low nagging catsclaw. Enough to constantly dodge, not remotely enough to deter.

Reavis Ranch Trail #109
Wally pointed out points of interest & Chums led a good pace to the saddle, then we took a little break. The hike easing down to Reavis Valley is always enjoyable. After Wally pointed out the obvious pond I enquired about we headed to the north orchard to indulge. Unfortunately the trail register had merit, apples were few and far between. Only a few unripened reds.

We decided to hike over to the Gap Trail and take a break at a campsite near the creek. Wally found a Paul Bunyan sized custom bow handle and modeled accordingly.

The hike back always feels longer but went well.

Synopsis
Apples or not I'll be back. It was great to see Wally and Kyle again. I tried a new pack setup to alleviate my shoulder pain which has been setting in around around 6-8 miles. Lightened my camelbak weight a tad with a medium sized fanny pack. Either that, the addition of gatorade, a mid hike aspirin or general healing worked wonders. This was the first good medium sized hike with zero shoulder pain. Also the quickest pace since my return.

With a weekend of relatively cool temperatures as encouragement, I left Tucson late on Friday night, and slept in the bed of my truck beneath a palo verde tree in Hewitt Canyon. I awoke to an epic sunrise view of Roblas Butte, got my pack ready, and was on the road to Rogers Trough. HAZ reports were true; the road to Rogers was in great condition, including the switchback. I set off on foot, my goal being to follow Carlson and Stewart's "Silver Chief Trail" route to the Silver Chief Mine site.

The first half mile to butte 5169' and Rogers Ridge was an easy off trail jaunt through grass, mild brush, and some catclaw. Beyond there, the route became rougher. An daunting, unbroken carpet of six foot high manzanita lay before me, under a cloudless sky and 80-something temps. For the next couple of miles, I fought my way through the manzanita and catclaw, trying to follow the path of least resistance, occasionally finding isolated stretches of what seemed like a trail for a hundred yards or so. Blood and profanity poured forth like a waterfall, and I stopped a few times to reconsider my objective in the shade-less thickets. I decided to continue, as I never wanted to attempt this hike again.

After several hours on the ridgeline, I descended through even worse brush and catclaw to the Silver Chief Mine site. I say site, because the mine is completely collapsed, and there is really nothing to see here, except a bit of weathered junk from illegal mining in the 1990's, such as a mattress and rotten clothes. Still, it felt like an accomplishment, to relive frontier Arizona history, having recently enjoyed the book "Jacob's Trail". I located a tiny patch of shade under a small pinyon, and sat down to cool off, rest, and have lunch. I had decided to bushwhack down the ravine and over a saddle to reach the Rogers Canyon Trail, rather than go back through Manzanita Hell.

I bushwhacked, crawled and smashed my way down the ravine at a tediously slow pace of a half mile per hour, backtracking a few times when the route became ridiculous. Stopped to check out the old stone cabin foundations along the way. As I fought my way over the final saddle, audibly cursing the brush like a madman, I could see the inviting trees of Rogers Canyon below. Not long after I literally stumbled onto Rogers Creek at a trail crossing, and partook of the cool water there. It was a euphoric moment to find water and an established trail! I washed the blood and dirt off of my shredded legs, and said hello to a passing trail runner (a HAZ guy, I think).

I made the pleasant stroll up the Rogers Canyon Trail in the late afternoon light, stopping to soak in a tinaja along the way. I hiked past an almost deserted Rogers Trough Trailhead to my truck to resupply my water, and then hiked back to Rogers Spring to see the old Feldman "treasure trove" dig site of 2005. The spring was in a lush, wooded area, where I paused to consider the history of the site.

Returning to my truck at dusk, I climbed inside to enjoy chips and salsa and consider where to camp, but just sat there for several hours, too tired to move. By 10 pm I rallied and made the drive back to Superior for Circle K pizza and some much needed sleep at my favorite Silver King Road camp site. I drifted off to sleep considering my hike options for Sunday.

My review of the Rogers Ridge hike: Not a hike that I would want to do again. Unless you're a history nut like me, there is little reward for the amount of bushwhacking torture on Rogers Ridge. Probably the nastiest off trail hike I've ever done.

Joe's been trying to get me to do this one for awhile now, but there was always something that got in the way.

It was his week to pick and the stars aligned. Dallin was looking for a place to stomp, it was on. One problem, Joe was having vehicle problems, so this hike went from 3 stooges, to only two.

Reavis Ranch 109 is still in great shape. We made a brief detour at the Grave and made our way to the top. On the way up we stopped to trade stories with a solo AZT through hiker from Maine.

Once to the top and in the pines, the route provide to us had us following a creek bed off of the #109. Easy enough. There was even some evidence of past trimming and cairns. This took us up to an alcove area we were going to check out. We decided the push through the bush, was not warranted.

Missing a turn to go up, we opted for a southern approach to White Mountain. The views from 6075 or 6100' were some of the best 360 Supes views out there.

Crappy Summit Video [ youtube video ]

Time to drop into Rough Canyon. This is a beautiful, tree covered, water filed, boulder hopping/sliding/traversing dream..... that turns into a nightmare. It took fooorrreeevvver to get through it. 4.5 miles and 4.5 hours (including lunch) to get through this monster. Don't get me wrong, this place is gorgeous, but I was so ready for it to be over. We even found plenty of "Use" tread, that kept us out of the boulders.

Frog Tanks #112 was a welcome site, but still more boulder hopping off and on. We passed a couple of backpackers here, and then two occupied campsites in Angel Basin.

The Rogers Canyon #110 was done mainly in the dark back to the car.

Great hiking with Dallin, I'm sure there will be more. It's nice to have a 6'-7" body, breaking a swath off in front of you!

I decided to crash Joe and Bruce's saturday hike this week. I met up with Bruce around 6:00 AM near Country Club and US-60. Joe ended up having vehicle troubles and had to bail last minute.

We started around 7:30 AM at Rogers Trough, and cruised up to Reavis Saddle. We ran into an AZT thru hiker on the way up and had a quick chat. We turned off Reavis Ranch 109 South at the appropriate spot and started heading up a drainage towards White Mountain. Nice and easy for the first little bit, then our route had us leaving the drainage, and the fight with manzanita/oak hell began.

On the summit of White Mountain we took a break and enjoyed the views. Bruce signed us in on the summit log. It was a little cloudy but the view on top was still pretty amazing, I can only imagine what it looks like on a crisp, clear day. I will be back again for this one. Getting to this point wasn't too bad, it felt like we were making pretty good time. I looked at RS, saw we had "only" 10 miles left, and told Bruce something along the lines of: "I think we will make it back in about 5 hours." Wrong!

We left the summit and headed down the mountain towards Rough Canyon. The brush was much more forgiving on this side of the mountain, but the slopes were loose rocks instead. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with Rough Canyon, I just knew it was off trail and the name made it sound a little intimidating. The canopy of pines and sycamores at the start of the canyon was a cool little spot. Plenty of nice spots to camp that look like they've never been touched.

Eventually the canyon walls start to rise and you find yourself in the creek bed more often than not. Then a series of falls start and you'll be choosing whether to scramble down or skirt up and around the falls. The going got really slow. Along the way, Bruce decided to take a quick dunk in one of the pools to cool off, and about a quarter mile later I decided to do it as well. I kept looking at RS after what felt like a mile and usually found we had only gone about a quarter of a mile... So much for that 5 hour estimate.

By the time we reached Frog Tanks I was pretty sore and I was starting to bonk. Rough Canyon used some muscles I don't use very often, and for much longer than I usually use them. We enjoyed a break at the intersection of Rough Canyon and Rogers Canyon before starting the ascent back up Rogers to the TH. It felt like it was going to be a slog, but I was just happy to be back on a trail by this point. One foot in front of the other is all that was required now.

We ran into 2 groups of backpackers at Angel Basin, and then another group further up the trail who were headlighting into Angel Basin. I finally caught a good second wind just before the Rogers Canyon/Reavis Ranch JCT, but I still finished feeling pretty sore. We finished around 8:20 PM.

If you just look at mileage and AEG this hike doesn't seem too difficult, but this is the hardest 17 miles and 4000ft I've worked for in a long time. I was telling Bruce on the way out I wasn't sure if I was going to come back again for Rough Canyon, but after looking at pictures of this canyon in the fall, and the ruins (we didn't look too hard), I think I'll have to come back again sometime.

Great hike with great company!

Me and Nick checked out some new territory in the Supes. Frog Tanks and Reavis Falls was on my mind, and this made for a great opportunity to pick up the northern part of the Reavis Ranch Trail.

Frog Tanks is a little gnarly. Plenty of cat claw and cactus dodging to keep you on your toes. Well worth the battle scars for the views down Fish Canyon, and the boulder hopping up Rogers Canyon. Back-to-back waterfalls up Rogers Canyon. This was by far my most favorite part of the hike. Having running water down the entire length of these canyons was a real treat.

We had Reavis Ranch all to ourselves for the night, which was nice, except when it came to finding fire wood. We hit the sleeping bags after it started to drizzle which continued on and off for most of the night. Around 3AM the wind kicked up for several hours and you could hear big gusts make their way from the top of valley all the way down to the ranch.

The next morning we hit Reavis Falls on the way out. The fall was running good, but nothing like some of the pictures I've seen on here. Well worth the side trip, and I actually really enjoyed the climb out, despite all the complaining I made on the way down . Near Maple Spring you see Juniper, Pine, and Saguaro all within 50 yards of one another, which I found to be pretty cool. The area feels very diverse.

Water is plentiful at the moment. Started with 3L, but eventually carried 0L - 1L between water sources. For a good portion of this hike, we were walking near, hopping over, or listening to flowing water. It felt more like spring than winter out there. It's getting green, the bugs are out, and the temperatures were mild.

This has been one of my favorite Superstitions trips to date.

Me and Alex headed to the Superstitions to tackle some new areas we haven't visited before. I wanted hit as much new stuff as possible, and I think I did well clocking in at about 75% new trail vs 25% already visited.

I liked Bluff Springs, western end of Peters Trail, JF Trail, and Rogers Canyon. Tortilla Pass to Rogers Trough was the highlight for both of us. Probably won't be visiting Peters Mesa, Woodbury, or Coffee Flats again anytime soon. Alex had similar opinions. We both felt this route was mostly drab and little flash, I probably wouldn't do this route again as it is plotted, I would take the parts I like and combine them with something else.

We checked out the Peralta Map and Rogers Canyon Ruins. Both were well worth the small side trips. Probably the 2 easiest ruins to "find" in the Supes, but still exciting and has us craving more.

The biggest surprise for both of us was how long these fall colors are holding on. Probably another week of good color.

We were fighting against the limited amount daylight the entire trip. Comfortable 20+ mile days this time of year, for me personally, is probably a little too optimistic. 10 hours of daylight, 2 mph, hard to get up early because its cold. You do the math. 15-17 mile per-day would probably be more enjoyable.

Water was not plentiful but the reliable sources are going strong after the rain. Bluff Springs to Kane Spring is pretty wet. Kane Spring to Clove Spring is dry. Pools near Clove Spring. Clove Spring to Reavis Ranch JCT is dry as a bone. Reavis Ranch JCT to Rogers Trough had the most water out of any drainage. Intermittent, varying sized pools along Coffee Flat Trail.

Trail Conditions
Peters Trail generally easy to follow, a couple of hiccups on top of the Mesa and near Tortilla Creek. A few spots of dodging prickly pear and agave on the Mesa, but mostly clean trail.

JF Trail Great trail from Tortilla Creek TH to Hoolie Bacon JCT. Several hiccups along ridge between Clove Spring and Tortilla Pass. Wear long pants.

Rogers Canyon Immaculate from Tortilla Pass to Angel Basin. A little brushy, and a couple hiccups between Roger Canyon Ruins and Reavis Ranch Trail JCT.

Woodbury Trail A couple of hiccups, vague tread at times. Lots of cattle activity...

Coffee Flat Several hiccups, usually just best to follow the wash. Lots of cattle activity...

Foliage
Nice colors at the lowest elevations, near La Barge and along Coffee Flat.

This area has eluded me for one reason or another over the past couple of months. I woke up this morning and decided today was the day I would get my feet wet in the central Supes. I had a couple of other hikes I was considering, all much more beefy than this one, but I was mostly interested in something new. I came across the La Barge Mountain hike on here last year, and it piqued my interests, so I thought I would give it a shot.

I downloaded the route, and off I went down Hewitt Canyon road.

JF Trail starts out along the closed road from Woodbury TH to some water tanks and troughs. One of the troughs was full of water, and that was the only water I saw for the entire day. I got suckered into a cattle trail at the tanks, heading northeast for a minute, but corrected once it started heading away from Randolph Canyon, instead of into it. That was the only navigational hiccup I had on JF, otherwise, from Woodbury TH to Tortilla Pass the trail is easy to follow and in pretty good shape.

About half way up the pass, I had an encounter with some Javelina. All but one ran away once they saw me. I wasn't sure if the one was frozen because it was afraid or if it meant business. I made some loud noises, and eventually it ran off.

At the pass, I didn't stop and immediately got started right into the off-trail portion of the hike. The route I was on started with sporadic use or game trails, with no cairns. I stayed near the fence heading up the first hill. The brush can be thick in a few places if you don't choose wisely. If you have the patience, it probably isn't that bad for most. I didn't today, and was pretty disheartened when I reached the top of the first hill to see much more brush along the hill sides where I thought the route was taking me. To be honest, I was expecting a use-trail with cairns like a lot of the other "off trail" hikes listed on HAZ. This one doesn't see much traffic, don't expect much. I wandered around the open areas for a minute before turning around, defeated for today, but I will be back.

I contemplated if I would have enough time to loop back around via Rogers Canyon, and a road-walk from Rogers Trough to Woodbury, but it wasn't going to work today. I hit a small high point along the ridge before finishing my back track to JF Trail. Then, before returning the way I came, I took a quick look up the Rogers Canyon Trail.

I really liked this area and plan on returning soon, but not just to finish the peak. I can see how you could easily get sucked into wandering around here.

I didn't see a single person on trail all day, which made this place feel much more remote. Given how close I still was to the Woodbury TH, I'm going to assume this was probably because it was a weekday.

The temps were mild today, and the light breeze on top of Tortilla Pass kept the sweat off my forehead. Peak bagged or not, it was a well spent day in the Supes, on my 25th Birthday.

Time for my last overnighter with Rick ---- O where to go ?? I say Reavis Ranch, been there, Rick hasn't, then do Circlestone, I haven't been there Well FOTG changed my mind and said throw in Mound Mtn. while your that close, I'll be there Saturday AM. Great plan, Rick was easy, said ok without much arm twisting 0910 was at our meeting place at Reavis and Fire Line, decided to go up a bit and stash our packs and just take up our waist packs up. Here comes FOTG and he brought along Linda and Blanco. Now I'm worried----- I got 3 of the top 10 mileage wise in front of me I gave Linda a and I she had a talk with the boys, so I wasn't to far behind when I reached Circlestone One benefit of being slow and steady and following everyone, is they broke the wall of Mazzies and gave me some small opening to follow, except when I couldn't see them because of the dense thickets, but I had Lee's Track downloaded onto my Garmin ( Rick's favorite thing to hike thru ) But if you want the special views and destinations you have to grin and bear it, or you'll never see anything. Glad to meet everyone and hope to see you again, and Blanco will never leave anyone behind, but that's how he was raised thanks to Lee.