desert passages in January

[Preacher]

I intend to bust through the trail from Oracle to Superior in January. Any sources of water that are reliable. I am no spring chicken and my mileage per day is maybe 12 over this terrain. The long stretch from oracle to Winkleman bothers me. doesn't look like any water atall no how. Are the dirt roads coming in from the San Pedro passable to plant water with a 2 wheel drive pickup with reasonable clearance. 55 miles with no reliable water means i ain't doing it. That would be lugging 4 gallons of water and conserving that drastically.

any help is a big help.

thanks

[garyc57]

@Preacher
When my son and I hiked the Black Hills and Tortilla Mountains segments, we cached water. For the Black Hills segment, Sredfield gave me these tracks:
[ Route Editor ]
My wife and I followed the green route to the end, and then followed the red until it crosses the main yellow AZT # 14 - Black Hills trail. That point is very close to the exact middle of the Black Hills segment. We put our Suburban in 4-wheel drive, and drove carefully. Turning around in the wash was nerve wracking, but we did it! Your "2 wheel drive pickup" should be OK. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to drive on sand. Watch, listen, and obey!

For the Tortilla Mountains segment, we cached water here: (Now that I think about it, if I remember correctly, @Sredfield gave me this track, too!)
[ Route Editor ]
Follow the black route as far as you care to. My wife and I parked at a small campsite about 2/3rds of a mile in on the right (east) side of the road. From there we walked the rest of the way. Again, 4-wheel drive was our friend, but not really necessary on this stretch. It all depends on how far you drive in. Further in, near the end, there are some HUGE erosion ruts crossing the road. I wouldn't have been able to cross them in the Suburban. Maybe a 4-wheeler or Razor(?)?

There are steel water caching bins(?) boxes(?) containers(?) at the start of the Black Hills and Tortilla Mountain segments, as well as another just before the parking lot where the trail crosses the Florence/Kelvin Highway. Sometimes there's water in them, sometimes not. You take your chances!

The only other semi-reliable water supply is the caching box near the end of the Gila River Canyons segment, and the start of the Alamo Canyon segment. I've never been there, so I can't vouch for its reliability. I've heard that it is jeep accessible. I don't know. Check with the trail stewards. They'll have better information.

Have fun, and be SURE to report back, and let us know how it went! Pictures are always appreciated!

Gary

[Preacher]

@garyc57
Thanks. Tub spring at FR4 crossing was good two years ago. Thanks for the others.

[Sredfield]

Mountain View Tank is quite reliable, as is Beehive Well. Check the databook, water source page and if you have it, the Guthook App.

Driving in those washes is nerve-wracking. The longer they go with no rain on them the softer they get. Personally, I would not go out there without 4WD, and some carpet for the wheels for getting out of a rut. We put some gates in last year and had to drive in them. Everyone had everything in 4WD and kept the foot in it.

[Preacher]

@Sredfield
Thank you. Have the trail guide and guthook. Looks awfully sparse. Appreciate your responses

[Preacher]

@Preacher
Was there any water at Mountain View during the Oracle Run yesterday?

[Trew]

Preacher, did you get to do this section? If so, any reliable water out there?

I would like to do this section in March sometime.

I am still getting over hip surgery otherwise I would have liked to try this with you- 12 miles is a good day for me, too.

[Preacher]

@Trew
Doing it starting Monday. Will let you know. We are going super lite and adding water. Once we make mountain View, we'll adjust load.

[Trew]

@Preacher
Did you cache any water? I can put some out on the Kevin-Florence road for you. There is a cache box there for hikers.

Who are you doing this with?

[Preacher]

@Trew
thanks for the offer. Only going as far as Freeman Road this trip. Wanna join us???? Will do Freeman to Kelvin Bridge probably third weekend in March or maybe 5 February. Will be in Florence Sunday at 4. We could pick you up. call me if interested. 928 245 1667. We are hoping to make 12 the first day, but we are flexible.

[Trew]

@Preacher
Too soon for me to be out since hip surgery. I hope to be ready to go by March, but this is looking like a very dry year.

I plan on getting into Miles TH to see how Pinto Creek looks but my guess Campaign Ck is dry this year, which would be sad.

We'll keep in touch. I have been looking for a partner that is not afraid of off trail hiking for a trip to Colorado in July.

We can discuss this at another time.

I look forward to hearing from you about this upcoming trip.