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Lime Point springs a leak by bmbeard This is essentially walking along a rough road that is FR2260 on the Teapot Mtn quadrangle. Take the first left (few hundred yards) and hike up a small hill and down to a fork (fork is FR2260 and FR319). Take the left fork and hike the road up over a hill and switchbacks down. You will see, as you go down the switchbacks, the cottonwoods at the spring down at the bottom. Stay on the road, go slightly uphill, and look for a slight road going left (west) to the spring. A road/trail takes you down to the spring, which consists of a tank and a concrete well. The hike goes past an old stone house, stone cattle walls, and through diabase, pinal schist, andesite tuffs, and some quartzites. Taking the left, instead of going right to the spring, takes you up the hill to some old prospects. If you look at the topos, it is possible to link this hike into Wood Canyon or White Canyon(upper,lower). Those hikes would involve hiking along cattle trails and good orienteering skills. Check out the Triplogs. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.
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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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Whitewater Spring from AZ177
I was a bit tired from my New Year's weekend hikes but didn't want to let a day off go to waste, especially not with all the water that has been flowing around the desert mountains lately.
White Canyon has been on my radar since Arizona Wilderness introduced it's Crystal-Pepsi-like uneducated tarzan swinger White Canyon Stout ... which is blonde colored but tastes like a stout.
(Yes, I realized I wanted to visit somewhere because of the name of a beer!) 
After visiting the spine and seeing 1-800-the-joey put together a big loop out here a few weeks back, it was fresh in my mind. I was hoping to see good water flowing through the falls in the canyon. I decided that the drive and miles of creek hiking from the south were a bit more than I wanted to tackle on Monday, so I chose the north route from FR319 (the hike description title should probably be renamed sometime so as to not confuse future hikers).
I almost drove all the way to the spring on FR2260, but stopped where a jeep had parked at the top of the hill. 4wd would be required to descend the hill, but primarily because of the one main switchback which has some big boulders as you make the sharp turn. The rest of it is a standard rough 4wd road. Of course, it's not a long walk, so if you don't enjoy roads like this, just park and walk the extra mile or two when you don't feel comfortable driving anymore.
The upper canyon had a light flow of water both above and below the spring, but much less than I was hoping for or expecting. I passed the jeep people as they were on their way out. They were hunting fox but came up empty on the day. To say they were shocked to see me would be an understatement. They had no idea people actually just go out here to hike and explore!
The upper canyon is easy to travel in and a couple of well-worn bypasses leave the creek bottom and are marked with cairns. When I reached the top of the box, I stayed on the north side and looked for a way down to the bottom. Along the way I found a very nice 40 foot waterfall from a side drainage. It was interesting that this drainage was flowing more than the much larger main drainage!
Once I had worked my way to the bottom, I attempted to head back upstream toward the fifteen foot falls in the box. There was a short swimmer that I couldn't bypass, and I waded in hoping to find a reasonable way across. Nope. I stripped down and jumped in! With air temps in the low 50s, calling the water refreshing would be an understatement!
Unfortunately, at the end of the pool is a small 2 foot cascade, but unable to touch bottom and the water flow hitting me from above, I couldn't manage to climb up. Defeated, I retreated to the beach and put on some warm, dry clothes.
Next I climbed back upstream a bit looking for a descent down the western wall. About halfway down, I felt uncomfortable with the unsure footing on a short pitch I would have to downclimb, and I retreated back up. Next I tried to crab butt-scoot down the angled slope of sheer rock adjacent to a vertical wall. This worked remarkably well and I reached the bottom of the box just below the fifteen foot waterfall. Sadly, it wasn't that exciting.](./dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
I explored downstream in the box to the cascade and pool that had turned me away earlier. I enjoyed this section. On the way out, I learned quickly that getting up the sloped rock I had descended was not a good plan. But the pitch I didn't want to climb down earlier proved to be much more reassuring on the ascent and I was out of the box in no time.
Not wanting to return the way I had already been, I headed downstream looking for an exit point on the east side of the canyon. I saw one spot that looked promising, but decided to continue downstream and explore a bit more with the time I had remaining. There's a horseshoe bend in a narrow slot with high vertical walls before the canyon opens up about a quarter mile below the box.
Here I made my exit, encountering an obstacle consisting of about a 15 foot vertical layer that included a dryfall near the top of the drainage. There was a crack on the right that was nicely protected from exposure and allowed me to get above it with a short class 4 scramble.
Once above the canyon, it was just a pleasant stroll along the edge of the canyon, taking in the views from a variety of outlook points. Once I had returned above the box, I descended this side into the canyon above the fifteen foot falls, discovering yet another fall, this one in a narrow slot of smooth rock that dropped into a nearly hidden circular pot.
For the most part, I was able to stay in the canyon from here back to the top with the exception of one narrow section that would have required me to get wet again, which I chose not to do. With darkness approaching, I made swift time on the return, getting back to my truck in less than an hour.
White Canyon, you've got me hooked. Can't wait to get back and check out the lower part and explore some more. The geology out here is awesome! So is the stout!
White Canyon has been on my radar since Arizona Wilderness introduced it's Crystal-Pepsi-like uneducated tarzan swinger White Canyon Stout ... which is blonde colored but tastes like a stout.
(Yes, I realized I wanted to visit somewhere because of the name of a beer!)
After visiting the spine and seeing 1-800-the-joey put together a big loop out here a few weeks back, it was fresh in my mind. I was hoping to see good water flowing through the falls in the canyon. I decided that the drive and miles of creek hiking from the south were a bit more than I wanted to tackle on Monday, so I chose the north route from FR319 (the hike description title should probably be renamed sometime so as to not confuse future hikers).
I almost drove all the way to the spring on FR2260, but stopped where a jeep had parked at the top of the hill. 4wd would be required to descend the hill, but primarily because of the one main switchback which has some big boulders as you make the sharp turn. The rest of it is a standard rough 4wd road. Of course, it's not a long walk, so if you don't enjoy roads like this, just park and walk the extra mile or two when you don't feel comfortable driving anymore.
The upper canyon had a light flow of water both above and below the spring, but much less than I was hoping for or expecting. I passed the jeep people as they were on their way out. They were hunting fox but came up empty on the day. To say they were shocked to see me would be an understatement. They had no idea people actually just go out here to hike and explore!
The upper canyon is easy to travel in and a couple of well-worn bypasses leave the creek bottom and are marked with cairns. When I reached the top of the box, I stayed on the north side and looked for a way down to the bottom. Along the way I found a very nice 40 foot waterfall from a side drainage. It was interesting that this drainage was flowing more than the much larger main drainage!
Once I had worked my way to the bottom, I attempted to head back upstream toward the fifteen foot falls in the box. There was a short swimmer that I couldn't bypass, and I waded in hoping to find a reasonable way across. Nope. I stripped down and jumped in! With air temps in the low 50s, calling the water refreshing would be an understatement!
Unfortunately, at the end of the pool is a small 2 foot cascade, but unable to touch bottom and the water flow hitting me from above, I couldn't manage to climb up. Defeated, I retreated to the beach and put on some warm, dry clothes.
Next I climbed back upstream a bit looking for a descent down the western wall. About halfway down, I felt uncomfortable with the unsure footing on a short pitch I would have to downclimb, and I retreated back up. Next I tried to crab butt-scoot down the angled slope of sheer rock adjacent to a vertical wall. This worked remarkably well and I reached the bottom of the box just below the fifteen foot waterfall. Sadly, it wasn't that exciting.
I explored downstream in the box to the cascade and pool that had turned me away earlier. I enjoyed this section. On the way out, I learned quickly that getting up the sloped rock I had descended was not a good plan. But the pitch I didn't want to climb down earlier proved to be much more reassuring on the ascent and I was out of the box in no time.
Not wanting to return the way I had already been, I headed downstream looking for an exit point on the east side of the canyon. I saw one spot that looked promising, but decided to continue downstream and explore a bit more with the time I had remaining. There's a horseshoe bend in a narrow slot with high vertical walls before the canyon opens up about a quarter mile below the box.
Here I made my exit, encountering an obstacle consisting of about a 15 foot vertical layer that included a dryfall near the top of the drainage. There was a crack on the right that was nicely protected from exposure and allowed me to get above it with a short class 4 scramble.
Once above the canyon, it was just a pleasant stroll along the edge of the canyon, taking in the views from a variety of outlook points. Once I had returned above the box, I descended this side into the canyon above the fifteen foot falls, discovering yet another fall, this one in a narrow slot of smooth rock that dropped into a nearly hidden circular pot.
For the most part, I was able to stay in the canyon from here back to the top with the exception of one narrow section that would have required me to get wet again, which I chose not to do. With darkness approaching, I made swift time on the return, getting back to my truck in less than an hour.
White Canyon, you've got me hooked. Can't wait to get back and check out the lower part and explore some more. The geology out here is awesome! So is the stout!
2017-01-02 chumley
Whitewater Spring from AZ177
White Canyon Loop - White Canyon Wilderness
Six years ago while hiking the old route of AZT 16 in this area, Joe made a comment that stuck with me. "I don't know why they didn't route the AZT through White Canyon. That area is incredible." That always stuck with me, but it took me this long to draw something up that visited this area.
An easy mile road walk gets you into the northern arm of White Canyon, close to White Water Spring. This canyon gets more impressive the farther you get in.
At 3 miles in, you will have a decision point. Staying in the canyon (without equipment) is not an option, as we'd find out later. We went up to the left and enjoyed the views into the canyon from above. We ultimately dropped back in at mile 4.75. There is plenty to explore up top..
THIS IS A SPECIAL AREA
We continued down the canyon until we hit the FR and then continued to the old routing of AZT 16. After some lunch, we made the decision to climb straight up to unnamed Peak 3635. It was steep and loose, but not too bad. Then it was a matter of following the ridge line back down to White Canyon.
youtube.com/watch?v ... csms
The plan was to follow the canyon back to where we'd originally gotten out of it. Plenty of water and small falls, pools, and a few areas we had to traverse around. Plenty of geology lessons and even a bat cave.
Getting close, we came to a point we could not get through. We contemplated swimming it, but luckily decided against it. We went high right to get out, with no luck. Back down in the canyon, we went high left, and this worked. Looking at the bypass area from above, there were a few swimmers and no friendly exits.
The rest was just pushing daylight getting back to the Truck. It was a chilly 41 when we finished.
This is a sweet area to explore.....
An easy mile road walk gets you into the northern arm of White Canyon, close to White Water Spring. This canyon gets more impressive the farther you get in.
At 3 miles in, you will have a decision point. Staying in the canyon (without equipment) is not an option, as we'd find out later. We went up to the left and enjoyed the views into the canyon from above. We ultimately dropped back in at mile 4.75. There is plenty to explore up top..
THIS IS A SPECIAL AREA
We continued down the canyon until we hit the FR and then continued to the old routing of AZT 16. After some lunch, we made the decision to climb straight up to unnamed Peak 3635. It was steep and loose, but not too bad. Then it was a matter of following the ridge line back down to White Canyon.
youtube.com/watch?v ... csms
The plan was to follow the canyon back to where we'd originally gotten out of it. Plenty of water and small falls, pools, and a few areas we had to traverse around. Plenty of geology lessons and even a bat cave.
Getting close, we came to a point we could not get through. We contemplated swimming it, but luckily decided against it. We went high right to get out, with no luck. Back down in the canyon, we went high left, and this worked. Looking at the bypass area from above, there were a few swimmers and no friendly exits.
The rest was just pushing daylight getting back to the Truck. It was a chilly 41 when we finished.
This is a sweet area to explore.....
2016-12-17 The_Eagle
