Hit the trial with my youngest daughter for the first time. She loved it....well for about the first .5 mile. Then she was asleep for the rest of the ride. But that's ok. The trails were in great condition. There was very little traffic.

Started on South Trail. Then hit Goat Camp. From Goat Camp, I jumped on Bajada leading to Mule Deer which brought us back to the trail head. Beautiful day!

Another gorgeous day in the White Tank Mountains. Last week I did Ford Canyon down Willows so today it was Goat Camp down Mesquite. And of course I did both hikes from the exact same parking spot.

I met a few hikers early on but they all had the same plan of turning around before ascending the mountain. So the mountain belonged to Rowdy and me yes me. At about the 6 mile point we stopped and had lunch. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Rowdy had a roasted chicken breast boneless by the way.

After lunch we continued on our way. Heading down Mesquite we got to see more Mule deer than we had seen last week.
It was a beautiful day out and nice and peaceful.

Well it was a nice cool morning so I decided on getting a early start. I hit the trail around 11:30am and I was the only car at the trailhead. Just one of the advantages of a early start.
The last time I tried this hike I got extremely sick and had to turn back. I knew then I would have to come back and finish this hike and today was the day .
The hike started out pretty slow as there really wasn't much to see. The best part of the hike was going down Willow Canyon which I almost didn't do. You know one of those last second changes I saw a sign that said one mile so why not as I knew it would connect with Mesquite further down. I not sure what we came upon but it might have been a old homestead. It really was in a great spot with a waterfall when it rains and some really nice shaded areas around it .
As we got closer to where Mesquite connects to the road we did get to see four deer and they didn't seem to mind us being there. It was a really nice hike and I had to make so changes at the end as I really did not like the way the Haz Map had the hike finish.

Well I had planned on doing a loop but that didn't happen. . After the first mile I began to feel real bad and had to sit a while as I got really light headed. After a while I tried again but had to stop a quarter mile further and take another break. I thought about pulling the plug and heading home. But I decided to try again and I did.
As I went up I started to feel better and of course I kept on going. I did have a few people stop along the to see if I was ok, which was nice.
I did not know that there was a 50K run today which made it busy. 50K that's over 30miles and I am not sure how many finished it. As I continued up I saw some of the same people that passed me earlier coming down and they all said they give up. after a while I decide it was time for me to give up and head back home. There's always another day for me to comeback and finish what I started.
And I will.

headed west this morning after work for the two high points in the white tanks
up goat camp to just past the three mile mark, then found the use trail that goes up to the radio towers
it must get plenty of traffic, because there is zero route-finding needed
signed the summit register but there were a lot of bees nearby, so i didn't stay long
took the road over to barry goldwater peak
saw that patrick, 9l and kyle have signed in this year
back down the road to the cairned use trail that descends to just above the five mile mark on goat camp
went back down goat camp
this route provides the most efficient access to both peaks, although it's not my favorite trail in the white tanks
expansive vistas in the higher regions and interesting rock formations along the trails and in the drainages
lots of dust in the air this morning
saw a couple dozen people on goat camp, but no one once i got off trail
light breeze, cool temps and some haze at times
a good day for it

Bajada - Goat Camp - wash/service road - Barry - Mesquite - first half of Waterfall Trail - south half of Black Rock - Mule Deer - Bajada

Headed up the wash just before mile 5 on GC for the first time - I think I'll stick to the Jeep trail on the ridge.
Last entry in the summit log(s) was from 10/28.
Saw a group of deer along the Jeep trail. They headed into Slick Rock Canyon. The myriad of game trails on satellite imagery suggest they like to hang out around there. It's on the list/was considered today, but...
Good weather, hardly anyone on the trails (except Waterfall, of course), good day. Might even skip the ibuprofen tonight.
Longest hike of the year so far.

Bajada - Mule Deer - Mesquite - Waddell - Ford - Willow - Mesquite - Goat Camp - Bajada

Nice and cool out all day. People were everywhere, except for Goat Camp (probably because it was late). I kept a solid pace throughout, and generally only stopped for a handful of pictures and yielding. At the spur trail for Barry Goldwater Peak, I had a sit for about 10 minutes to eat some crackers. My energy was running mega low thanks to not bringing enough food. I would have been in better shape if it wasn't for my impromptu swing around Willow and the upper section of Mesquite.

I decided to go up Ford simply because I can't remember the last time I did. If I had to do a loop of this sort again on my own accord, it'll definitely be clockwise. The constant up of counter isn't so much strenuous as much as it is a nuisance. I'd rather get it all taken care of in the first 3 miles of Goat Camp.

Parking the car near the end of Goat Camp worked out beautifully. It's nice to get the flat sections of Mule Deer, Mesquite, and Waddell out of the way first so you don't have to have that death-march when you're tired.

So long, 2012! 411.49 miles

Started on a dark, cool, clear morning in the Valley. The guy at the park entrance said I was his first customer on the day.

It'd been awhile since I'd been out to the White Tanks, and it sure felt good to not have to drive at least a couple of hours to get out of the heat to hike.

Ford Canyon is one of my favorites in the park, so I started my big loop there. I enjoy both Willow and Mesquite, so I did some off trail to the top of Willow Spring and then included the upper portions of Willow then Mesquite. Now on Goat Camp on my way to Barry Goldwater Peak, I kept my eyes open for any signs. None. I followed a wash to the road that goes to Barry Goldwater peak. I sat and enjoyed the views while I ate my lunch. I actually got a bit cold up there.

My least favorite part of this hike was the steep, rough, uneven downhill portion of Goat Camp Trail. I'd forgotten how bad that portion of the track is.

My goals were simple for the day:
1) Get to a spot where I could see Willow Spring from above - Check
2) Get to the top of Barry Goldwater Peak - Check
3) Hike the part Of the Goat Camp Trail that I hadn't done before - Check
4) Put together a loop in for some good exercise - Check
5) See a Goat on Goat Camp Trail - Nope....

Started at area 9, and took Ford to Mule Deer to Bajada to Goat Camp and then back on Ford.
Chose to take Bajada instead of following Mule to South as that part can really drag on sometimes. I don't touch Bajada very often, so it was a decent change of scenery.

Pretty typical day with the exception of a loud whirring sound that made me jump pretty well. I immediately started looking around because it sounded so much like a firework had been launched, but there was nothing. I don't think it was a gunshot, either. Maybe a fly broke the sound barrier... Maybe I'm starting to crack...

Goat Camp has a handful of poppies sprouting up. I saw about 10 or 15 along a mile stretch. I think that qualifies as "isolated" as there is no option for "very isolated."

Set out on the Waterfall trail just before 5am and headed above the falls. The following hour and a half was spent rock hopping and pushing though catclaw and other exciting plants of the thorny persuasion. We came to our first major obstacle where the canyon (Dripping Springs Canyon at this point) bends to the south. It was some boulder climbing that I made extremely difficult, and after 15 minutes of standing still we were back on our way.

Once at the fork in the wash, we headed left into Yellow Bull Canyon. Knowing there was a 200+ft rock wall ahead of us, I figured that would be our dead-end and we would climb out of the canyon, but of course, we headed up just along the side it. I made it to a bit of a big step and stood there for what felt like a good 20 minutes. Finally built up the courage to take the step which turned out to be pretty easy. The views at the top of the wall were pretty nice - Radio Summit to the back, and the canyon to the front. Killed some more time up there. Before heading to what I refer to as "The Goat Thumb," we headed a short ways down the end of the wash to look down the cliff that we were just looking up at. Awesome!

About 10 minutes of light bushwhacking put us right behind Goat Thumb (the large and prominent outcrop on the north side of Goat Canyon). There are 3 or 4 peaks west of it that get gradually smaller. I made it about half way up the second one and gave up. The Thumb will have to wait until I can get rid of my fear of heights, exposure, shoe grip, and all of those other factors that ruin my climbing opportunities. Wishing it were winter, we slipped our way down into Goat Canyon where we met up with the trail. Took that to Bajada trail, then hopped on the main road to begin our final mile and a half in those refreshing 100 degree temps with virtually no remaining water.