#cynic

@BrettVet Your comment concerned me, so I have looked into it. As far as my research shows, this portion of the CDT (middle fork from snow lake on down) appears to have been fully logged of all the debris and fallen trees. While I cannot confirm this in person, I plan to do so in about a month! (An...

Grasshopper campsite #1 is nice, but might be tough to get a trailer in there, and still high clearance needed. The last 2 miles or so of road to the Billy Lawrence trailhead is strictly 4WD. As a backup plan you could probably plan to park at the Reynolds TH itself. Better camping options for trail...

The exit route is nothing to worry about, assuming you find the right spot to exit. It's about 1/3rd of a mile upriver from the plaque.

I have been doing research as was thinking of going in spring but changed to a summer trip. Basically - most things to the south/west of the west fork of the gila river has burned, as well as everything within about 4 miles of Mogollon Baldy Peak. That said, you can see from the trail maps which tra...

@nonot Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought at first except that the cattle can just walk around either side. Seems to defeat the purpose. It's possible the fence to the sides has either fallen into disrepair or been torn down? Some of them are quite old and no longer serve a purpose since r...

flexible fences, usually for cattle. In areas where there can be flowing rivers/debris, the fence allows the crap to flow through.

Grand Canyon, the redwall layer is obvious. Can't place the exact side canyon though.

Actually, I think this is a fraud, as you have a Navajo sandstone canyon in the foreground with the Grand canyon - about mid-canyon, in the background. Probably pasted two different images together.

It will spike over knee deep when it rains. In general it would probably be knee deep now, but last week it would have probably been waist deep. Here's a good gauge to monitor, you can see it rose over a foot after the storm. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_defa...

@kenjacobsen Yes, I've almost stepped on rattlers, and on one occasion, headbutted one when crawling through some thick manzanita. One struck at me when I had no choice but to jump over it. For the most part, snakes are scared of you. Show them respect and give them a wide berth. On a surprise enco...

Sedona has good hiking accessible from paved roads. Not sure you will find much backpacking in the area with only rental vehicle access. There's also good hiking in the Flagstaff area. Maybe do a few days in each city?

We did the trip in July, I think. The crossings at that time were about calf to knee deep in the middle fork, and the same except one crossing up to about thigh deep on the west fork. So bring shoes that you can hike in wet - there are too many crossing to make changing shoes practical. I do not thi...

Chums stated it pretty well. Your biggest problem is hypothermia. Do you know how to avoid hypothermia? Hypothermia will be brought on if you get wet - so you need to be able to keep dry while moving. You will also need a good tent to stay dry at night. You should know how to get a fire going even w...

Reavis Ranch has reliable water sources: On the south side, there is a creek that flows over the trail near the intersection with fireline. On the north side there is water a bit south of where the gap trail comes into the ranch.

As you head north on Frog tanks you will pass a cattle trough area before you start to climb out of the canyon (somewhere near Frog Spring I think), there is a lot of room to camp there. I've also camped on Frog near the intersection with Fish Creek Canyon.

4152 is better for views IMO

I think March is perfect for the lower desert, so consider a Superstitions Backpack: Peralta to Charlesbois for night 1, shuttle over to LaBarge Spring for night 2, and bring it back home via Bluff Springs.

Years ago did a Turkey Creek, Granny Mtn, Gila River loop that was pretty nice. Trail was a bit vague on Granny mtn, Side trip up or down Turkey with a day pack is recommended ( above the hot springs, but that area is nice too). According to guide book about 46 miles recommended 6-8 days but I thin...

skatchkins wrote:*I somehow managed to not immediately poop in the road

Hmm, that makes you smarter than 98% of the population. That means you get to join Mensa!

Looking at the distances, I think I traded a hefty day 3 for a hefty day 2. Going for the gap trail rather than fireline to connect to campaign is certainly going to add some miles. So big load's suggestion might be better than mine for how far you can realistically make it on day 2- there really is...