Mt. Peeley sobo to McFarland Canyon?

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

I'm thinking about an overnighter from Mt. Peeley to McFarland (and back) in a week.

Anything special that I need to know?

Will McFarland still have water?

(I'm assuming that going nobo, along the Mazatzal Divide, has no water?)

[xsproutx]

I know there's water 10 miles south of the Mt Peeley trailhead; not sure about the inbetween but stuff is starting to dry up. Going north, you'll have water at Bear Spring which is about 8.5 miles or so north. You'll also find water about a mile north but that's not really much use. For the last few years there's been a large cache of water jugs on the saddle about... 5 miles? north but that cache is finally empty as of this year.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
Thanks! I didn't know about Bear Spring. (I hope there aren't bears there, in addition to my worry about rattlesnakes.)

I'll check it out and perhaps go north on the first day, come back to the water a mile north of Mt. P the next day and continue south to McFarland for a second night.

(8.5 miles one way - uphill I presume - will be a challenge for me... although if there's water, I presume there will some downhill at the end. I'll start looking at the topo's.)

[xsproutx]

I would only consider the water closer to the trailhead to be reliable for the next week or so; it's mostly just pools now that are starting to show their green. If you're planning on going north and then doing a second night south, though, you could always just stash water at the trail intersection. It's only a half mile to the intersection of the divide trail from the Mt Peeley TH, so would only have to carry the extra water that far.

Bear Spring is a nice area. Lots of camping spots north of the spring along the trail which is a 1/4 mile south of the camp area or so, maybe a little less.

[nonot]

@TooOld2HikeQ

Along your planned route heading south you will pass Thicket Spring in about 3 miles, at the junction of Cornucopia trail and Thicket Trail. There will be water there at Thicket Spring. When you reach McFarland Canyon, every time I have been there it has been dry, at least until you near the intersection with Sheep Creek trail. Based on the large rainfall we got earlier in Spring, I would say there is a chance that water is still flowing in the streambed near that intersection where Sheep Creek trail meets Thicket trail. However, I have been there before when it is dry there, or just down to mud. Water reports there are mixed, generally water in the spring that dries out by fall.

For future use, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the features of this great website. If you bring up the map (Plan->Map) the website will put little water drop symbols near water sources you will pass. You can click on them to get recent water reports specific to that spot. In some cases the latest report might be years old, or at a different time of year, so it is worth observing the trend of the data for the time of year you want to visit.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@nonot
Tnx for the heads up on the website's water reports. (I have tried them in the past and, as you said, the ones that I saw were not current.)

And thanks for the warning about possibly no water at McFarland. It was flowing okay a couple of weeks ago. But I'm learning that things change fast. And there hasn't been any rain since I was last there.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

Now that I looked at some maps, I'm considering an alternative plan. I could do a loop from Barnhardt (instead of Mt. Peeley TH). I could take TR 44 and go nobo on the AZT to Horse Camp Seep, and return to Barnhardt via TR 42 + 288. One advantage is that the drive to the Barnhardt TH might not be as long. If FR 201 to Mt. Peeley is anything like FR 25, then it will take me 2 hours to drive my old Blazer the 10 miles to Mt. Peeley. OTOH, if I drive to Barnhardt, which looks to be a nicer road, I will spend an hour each way hiking to the AZT. But since hiking is the purpose ...

But I saw a video from an AZT volunteer who was going to the MDT from Barnhardt. He talked about how difficult the connector was. Maybe he was talking about TR 43 + 231?

And too, these connectors I'm looking at might not be as well known or maintained, if I have any problems. (From the satellite, it seems that TR 288 could be hard to find/follow.)

Your thoughts please?

[xsproutx]

The road to Mt Peeley trailhead will take you around ~40 minutes or so. I was up there last weekend and while the winter hit the road a bit, it's still in pretty good shape for the most part. From the highway, Barnhardt TH will probably take about 20 minutes. Similar conditions but it's straight and not curvy.
Barnhardt to the divide trail is in great condition. 231 is horrible and can't really be considered a trail; more route finding bushwhacking these days. I suspect they were talking about that one.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
Tnx for the near real-time report on the road.

I'm leaning to looping from the Barnhardt trail then. So it will either be TR 44 in and return TR 42 + 288, or vice versa, depending on which looks more uphill when I can put eyes on them.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

Here's the video I had seen before. At 2.:22 he talks about the way in being very steep. It appears, from his map, that it's TR 43. I recall him saying before that his friend was debilitated for a day after the hike in. But I can't find that part now.

Anyway, that particular connector is probably too much for me at this point in my newbie-ness. I'll have to take a longer way in.

[xsproutx]

@TooOld2HikeQ
You can pull up the elevation profile on this site. It's a fair bit of elevation but graded pretty well. Not sure what longer way you're talking is; if you want to get into the Mazzies, you have to climb. Barnhardt is easily the most used/maintained/easiest trail so if you think that one is too difficult, then you should probably stay away from the wilderness.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
TR 44, what AllTrails calls the Y-Bar trail, and what Osmand calls <s>Snake</s> Shake Tree Trail. Alltrails says it's 6 miles. A bit less grade.

As for TR 228, which is shown on AZT.org as connecting to the Barnhard TH, all the other maps that I have show the trail fading out about 2 miles beforehand.

So I don't know if that will be like TR 231. From satellite, it doesn't look like it's overgrown (bushwacking). But I would be on my own for the last 2 miles.

We'll see.

[big_load]

If I have it right, that's about 1300 AEG in a little over 4 mi, the worst but being 1k over 2.5mi. That's about as good as it gets IMO.

[xsproutx]

Hikeaz has a lot of good resources. Read the triplogs.
Y-Bar. You trade a little different elevation profile for a crappier footing.
For 228, do you mean 288? That'd be Halfmoon connecting to rock creek. I don't use alltrails but would suspect maybe it looks like it's "fading out" because it's just not showing rock creek. Again, look up on this site/triplogs/etc. Wouldn't be my first choice for getting into the area as a beginner but what do I know.
Play around with the mapping/planning features of this site and combine it with triplogs and you'll get an idea of what is more beginner friendly and what isn't.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
Yes, 288. I seem to becoming a little dyslexic as I age.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

This info today from Ranger Ron:

Arizona Trail Association volunteers have been working that area pretty regularly this season. I know that the 42 Rock Creek is in good shape until near the top where it connects to the #23 divide trail where it is pretty overgrown with manzinita. Another work event is taking place there this weekend I believe but I don’t know if they will have everything completed by then.

They have also been working the 288 half moon trail and have made great progress. That connection between the 42 Rock Creek and 43 Barnhardt should be open and easy to navigate.

43 Barnhardt should also be in good shape as volunteers have reported it open for the most part and in good standing.

My intel on the 44 Y-Bar trail is limited as they have been consentrating the majority of their efforst out there this season to opening up the 42, 23, 43, 288 loop. I will look into the 44 trail though and see if any progress out there have been made.

I know this isn’t in your ask but I wanted to let you know that we have also been working on a grant for crew funding for the 88 sheep creak trail just to the south west of the above mentioned trails. With that work completed we will have some more viable options for loops that area.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

I'm looking at the "Water Map" for my planned trip. I'm viewing the default "Terrain" view.

Some of the Mazatzals are shaded green. The green shading doesn't appear to be elevation related.

I can't find a Legend.

Is there a legend? And/or, please, what does the green shading mean?

[nonot]

On most of the map layers, green represents forest/areas with trees.

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@nonot
Tnx. I was beginning to wonder if it represented a tree line. Although I don't know how the map would know that. (In aviation maps, large cities are shown in yellow. It turns out that the cartographers use night shots of the earth from the Shuttle to outline city and town lights.)

[joebartels]

[ Google Maps Terrain Legend ]