With some challenging off-trail and route finding required, this was my fourth (and last) day hike on day five of Oregon_Hiker and my planned 6nt/7day Sierra Ancha Wilderness Vehicle Camping Trip on upper Workman Creek Road (FR487).

I had originally hiked this remote and very scenic, enjoyable Sierra Ancha Wilderness area nine years ago in May, 2010, with our late HAZ-GPSjoe. It had left a lasting memory, especially our primary destination [ photo ] and I was very pleased to have interested Oregon_Hiker in adding it on our trip hike agenda for this week trip/monsoon period revisit to enjoy cooler Summer temperatures above ~7000 feet.

With all the off-trail bushwhacking that we do enjoy hiking which most always includes a certain amount of overgrowth, down trees, and etc. that we just take for granted, I should mention that for this 7/22/19 loop hike on these three official trail sections linked above, that there is presently a significant amount of heavy Spring overgrowth with down trees to negotiate over, under, and around.. but still a beautiful, peaceful, and remote deep forest/spectacular canyons area to be and to enjoy.. which we did!

I headed out to the Ancha with @carriejane on Sunday. We hiked from the Reynolds Creek Trailhead to Aztec Peak and then back the way we came.

Reynolds Creek Trail is a little rough in spots due to some downfall and a little erosion here and there, but it’s still a nice trail. There were a few patches of snow along the way and the trickling Reynolds Creek Falls were frozen over, however, it is evident that this has been a very dry winter up there. We had the peak to ourselves and enjoyed a long break on the summit.

*I linked Aztec via Abby Way to get that peak credit, sorry not sorry...

The Sierra Ancha is a special place. If it were closer to home, I'd be here all the time. But then if it were closer to home it would be too over run with people. We saw no no hikers and only 3 occupied camp sites along the FR's during our hike.

We started at Cienega Spring and walked up FR 410 to the Reynolds Creek TH and Reynolds Creek Trail #150. A GPS will help get you through the overgrown sections and sections that have dead fall. Nothing too bad at all. The Falls were but a trickle but still a neat area. At the wilderness boundary it's a steady (steepish) climb towards the Old Murphy Ranch. There are 2 trails in the area that cut across directly to the rim here. One of these days I'll have to sample those. I'm not sure if they are named. This whole area is mixed conifer and deciduous trees, with plenty of Maple. There was no sign of the 2016 Juniper fire until you get up to the Ranch. The locust saplings seem to be what is going to take hold here.

At the old Murphy Ranch, we hit the FR's towards Aztec Peak and over to Peak 7662. Great views of the old Ranch from up here as well as an overview of the Ancha. This is a must do if you are in the area.

Next to Murphy. On top, we took a casual look for the Peak Marker with no luck. After reading the @FLYING_FLIVER triplog from last year just now, I'm glad we didn't spend any time REALLY looking.

Next up was the Center Mountain Trail #142. From the south this trail is thin in spots. Another one that a GPS with a track will help. You are basically following the ridgeline. It will obscurely drop to the saddle and then continue down the west side of the saddle. If you reached the intersection with the 2 crosscut trails (like we did) you went about 70 yds to far. Back up and look for the sign-less post for the turn. On this climb, you will be rewarded with some breathtaking views. A great place to catch your wind. The trail continues up, but along the edge of the cliffs making frequent stops mandatory. The trail gets thin in spots where new growth pine and dead fall has occurred. The top of Center Mountain is void of trees in one area, allowing for some pretty sweet views.

The drop towards the Lucky Strike Trail #144 is also rocky and steepish, but once again the views make up for it. We followed the old path/road along the rim to the North past the Metate Mine trail that @Oregon_Hiker has frequented, then dropped down to FR 145 for our return.

Another Great day in the Ancha
Video [ youtube video ]

** Note ** For anyone planning on driving FR 145 to the Billy Lawrence TH in the near future.
This road is currently closed just past The Cienega Spring TH. The road is dug up and blocked off while they fix the Spring source that has eroded the road. As of 6/3/2017, there had been recent activity with the repair.

CCW from Cinega TH up FR410 to Reynolds #150. The stinging nettle Wally warned of 2 years ago is still a hearty resident of the first quarter mile of Reynolds followed by a good patch of poison ivy. A nice hike to the Falls and Knoles Hole Spring wherever it may be.

Always nice to gander at Murphy Ranch. We took 487 roads up to an off trail jaunt to make it loop. 7662 was my favorite view of the day looking down on the ranch with shade and nice sitting rocks. The_Eagle barked at my break request as lunch was near. Not much further and we were on Murphy 7732. Off trail was nothing rough then back down to #150. We lunched two thirds of the short way down in the shade of the pines.

Center Mountain is fab. I love the views just over a quarter mile up past 7677. The mountain drops off to the east with breathtaking views. Hands down among the best ten feet off trail view points around. Pines for a good 1.5 miles then a short burn section with nice open views. Some areas are tough to follow, Fenix is boss in these areas.

A very short portion along the top of Lucky Strike #144 is road, the views are bomb diggity. This is the edge of the big fire that rolled through in recent years. Torch city looking down on areas I was lucky to have hiked with all stars over the years.

From Billy Lawrence it was a nice pine road walk back down to Cinega TH. A secondary seep aside Cinega proper has the road closed awaiting a culvert.

The term cool wasn't used on the hike. It was toasty a couple times. We got lucky with nice cloud relieve for long stretches and the loop has a lot of pines. Said 89 at the end. Felt more 80-85 in the afternoon. Cicadas were loud through the morning. Crows were going nuts all day. We swore they were swarming just waiting for one of us to trip all day. Another nice hike in the Onkuhs!

Wildflowers
Large patches of western wallflower at Reynolds Trailhead. Some paintbrush and other isolated flowers.

Afternoon shorty hike to Knoles Hole from the eastern trailhead with Liz and Faydra, while group camping near upper Parker Creek Trailhead. No leaves on the deciduous trees yet. My first trip into the southern Sierra Ancha since the May 2016 Juniper Fire, and the forests looked pretty rough up there. Sad to see.

Originally I was hoping to catch some fall colors since they typically seem to linger in Reynolds Creek much longer than I would think based on the elevation. But after midweek rain, I was pretty confident that there wouldn't be much left. Sure enough most of the leaves were on the ground making a carpeted forest of rain-soaked foliage.

My second priority was to see the effects of the Juniper fire, and for that I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The Reynolds Creek drainage was almost entirely affected only by low-intensity ground fire. In many areas I would think that fire managers actually would have hoped for more burning as there is still quite a bit of fuel to burn. There were some small pockets of crown burn, but they were quite limited in this area. (Looked like the Parker Creek drainage was not spared this fate). I'd still like to see the FS post a burn severity map, but I wasn't able to find one online.

Weather was perfect in the 40s to start, 60s by the end of the day. The trail conditions were generally excellent, which was a surprise to me given the potential for fire erosion. The exception being the trail section above Pueblo Canyon from the Center Mtn trail up the switchbacks to the 7400 foot contour. There were spots here where post-fire erosion has destroyed any former trail tread. It's a short section though and not difficult to travel without the trail. (While this section is on topo maps, it is not a signed or named trail, so it's possible that it will not be repaired/maintained).

Turned out to be a pretty good day. It's nice to hike at elevation at this time of year to actually feel like it's autumn!

Foliage
Mostly on the ground after rainy weather. Poison Ivy looked best!

My first time in the Sierra Anchas. Stopped by Workman Creek Falls before hitting this trail, and had the place to ourselves. Beautiful area.

Wanted to see some good fall colors, and judging from triplogs from previous years this seemed like the week to go. Unfortunately we were at least a week too early. The best colors of the day were actually along FR410 getting to the TH. Beautiful drive, and a nice rough road to test my new truck. Surprised to see a few other cars at the TH, but we didn't see anyone on the trail. Stats are approximate, as Route Scout stopped recording a mile and a half into our hike for some reason.

We got a late start, and ended up losing the trail about a mile in and wasted time finding it again, so unfortunately we didn't have time to do the whole hike. Didn't quite make it to Knoles Hole to see if the aspens had turned yet. Really enjoyed the first couple miles of this trail though, and the variety of flora. There was water in the creek, but it had also been a rainy day, so I'm not sure how wet it usually is.

Need to try this one again next fall. After the hike we drove up to Young and had a delicious dinner at Antlers Cafe before making the drive home. Nice little day trip.

Foliage
At least a week too early. Still some nice colors, mostly near the TH and along FR410.

Luckily Wally warned us of the stinging nettle in the first quarter mile. Just as I was relieved to be out of the nettle mine field I realized it was being choked out by a more vicious beast, large leaf poison ivy.

Pants would be wise. Somehow I didn't get torn to shreds by the fair amount of wicked red raspberry.

We didn't see another soul. Bummer. Guess all the people haters are on the popular trails.

Does anyone know the correct location for Knoles Hole Spring?

I'm still a fan of descending Murphy Ranch Trail #141. It does need fallen tree maintenance. If you look at it on satellite it looks bleak. Must be a February shot when the oaks have no leaves because it's not bleak on trail.

This was my first time heading over to the overlook. I enjoyed the hike over if not more than the overlook. While it was warmer than up on Reynolds there was more of a breeze being on the edge of the rim. The views change and Cold Spring Canyon is a gem. Edwards Spring is "nice". Surprisingly I had cell service on my cheapie plan.

The Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth dad is getting old, he was complaining about kids these days and their music...lol

Consumed 2.5 liters, Chris knocked out 7.5 and ran out with 2 miles to go.

minute - thirty nine seconds
https://youtu.be/iH ... ZVds

Wildflowers
a few nice flowers in season. Nothing unusual.

•••Sierra Ancha backpacking tour '15•••

Meeting up with Wally at the Parker Creek Trailhead, Shauna and I climbed into his ride and continued up to Reynolds Creek Trailhead. The 3 of us started up the trail on an unusually cool May afternoon. Freshly emerged maple leaves and wildflowers were everywhere. Reaching our turnoff, Shauna and I stashed our packs, and then the three of us continued on toward a cliff dwelling. As we began to cross an open, rocky area, an unearthly scream pierced the air. Many more screams followed. Mountain lion was my first thought. Stopping, we scanned the rocks and located a distressed bear cub about a thousand feet away, very close to the cliff dwelling. Not wanting to run into the mama bear, we retreated. Ugh, so close to our goal!

Back at our packs, the three of us parted ways, and Wally headed back to his vehicle. Shauna and I continued up the trail, and set up our first night's camp in Knole's Hole, tucked away among the aspens and ferns. Bean burros, chips and salsa, and cervezas were on the menu. A small fire provided warmth as the temps dipped into the 30's.

We slept in on Sunday, which felt great. Shauna did a watercolor of our campsite while I destroyed all traces of our campfire and packed up. We hit the trail by early afternoon and continued south to Murphy Ranch trailhead. Reaching the windswept summit of Aztec Peak, we ate a late lunch with a view from a ledge near the Flintstone's furniture.

The final leg of the day's journey took us down Abbey's Way Trail, which I had not hiked since the 2000 Coon Creek Fire. Old growth white fir forest had given way to locust trees and ghostly tree skeletons, but some coniferous recovery was underway in places.

Arriving in Peterson Meadow, we dropped our packs and set up camp beneath an old apple tree, near a campfire ring. Water was located in Workman Creek after a short off trail jaunt. Dinner was spiral pasta with a gritty soil garnish, created after I managed to knock over my top heavy stove. Still tasty. Campfire, stars, and satellites provided entertainment.

We awoke Monday morning to sun rays chasing away the night's freezing temperatures, and began to pack up. Stashing our packs behind a log, Shauna and I walked down Workman Creek road to the falls. She decided against the scramble, so I made a solo climb up to the Workman Creek ruin. We were soon trudging back up the road to our packs, and then on to Carr Peak Trailhead to descend Parker Creek Trail.

As we hiked through the burn area, we were a bit warm for the first time all weekend. I fondly recalled the fun winter hike with Joe and John Chapman back in 2007 as I noticed numerous pottery sherds in the trail. The Pottery Magician returneth! I'm curious as to where the source of those sherds is. Along this stretch of trail, we were surprised to see a gigantic gopher snake in the middle of the trail, quite agitated, hissing at us and shaking its tail. I wasn't fooled and told it to move on, and so did we.

The shady descent down beautiful Parker Canyon was a welcome break from the sun. I always forget how lush this canyon is. I don't care for the re routed, last half mile of the trail back to highway 288. Seems out of character with the rest of the trail, hiking through sun exposure and scrub oak.

Arriving back at the Parker Creek trailhead, we happened upon a bizarre photo shoot with a young woman dressed as an anime pixie skank or something. I thought the heat had baked my brain. They moved on, we cooled off, and then headed for Globe to enjoy Mexican food at Chalo's for dinner. Delicious as always.

Many thanks to Wally!!! Great trip!

Mike and I did a Sierra Anchas loop. We parked/started at the Parker Creek TH and headed up to the Rim trail. We took the Rim trail to Pueblo Canyon overlook. We didn't stay too long because the temps were a bit toasty .
We back tracked to Murphy Ranch trail and went down Reynolds Creek trail. It was great hiking on a soft dirt trail. I had forgotten how nice and shady Reynolds creek is. I’ll have to return again this summer.

We returned back to FR486 and hiked down the road back to Parker Creek trail , then the TH.

This is a great hike on a warm/hot day. There’s enough shade on the Parker Creek trail to keep the temps down until you hit the upper trails. The Rim trail has some sun exposure, so it may not be a good choice in the heat of the summer.