hammocks at the Tony family ranch

[te_wa]

this is a group hike invitation to not only the hammock hanging crowd, but all can join.
There will be a focus on hammocks, the multitude of set-up options, and a general show and tell and gear talk (no different than any other trip right?)
Temps will be around 35° so make sure you have both bottom and top insulation that works. So far, Drewboy, Tyrone Anderson and Crocodile Ryan and Rally_Toad have all agreed on the date of February 7-8th.
We will take the Haunted Canyon trail from the bottom and stay the night at Tony Ranch. There is water near the cabin. Dozens of sites, numerous trees.
Day 2 I want to show you guys a 100' deep cave and stay in the canyon narrows (as recommended by Kurt)
Its about 10 miles round trip.

[drewboy]

Sounds like a fun trip te-wa, I'm in. That's one place I have been wanting to check out.

[te_wa]

better jump on it, the cabin and ranch fall just outside the wilderness and may someday be engulfed by the mining operations. it would be a tragedy to lose such a special place.

[Hoffmaster]

te-wa, is that the cave whose entrance looks like a skull when viewed from across the canyon? Good stuff.

[te_wa]

yes, the one I dubbed "skull cave"
i think we were there on 'talk like a pirate day' so the name was proper. glad you remembered.. youre awesome!

[rushthezeppelin]

I'll definitely be making this one. Weekend after finals so I will have no worries.

[drewboy]

I thought I'd read that the land in that area has been bought up by the Superstition Area Land Trust (SALT). Good news if true. I managed to dig up that article. You can read it here (also provides some interesting history of the area):

C1104C35d01.pdf

(425.07 KiB) Downloaded 135 times

better jump on it, the cabin and ranch fall just outside the wilderness and may someday be engulfed by the mining operations. it would be a tragedy to lose such a special place.

[Hoffmaster]

youre awesome!

Only on Mondays. But, thanks.

[te_wa]

good news for the Ranch and the cabin. although, the mine can still block access to that part of the wilderness, then it would be more or less necessary to come in from the west, a much longer hike, or the "tonys' backyard" hike that Joe described.
i dont foresee any reason for the mine to close access, so maybe the place will stay open forever.

[nonot]

They will close access if people start f'ing with their equipment and affecting their bottom line. Don't touch their stuff: hoses, backhoes, anything and hopefully we can maintain the uneasy peace.

[rushthezeppelin]

Hrmmmm I just realized I signed up for the four peaks pickup for the 7th.....I kind of wonder if I can maybe hike in later or what time where you planning on going in. I mean it's only 5 miles you said so shouldn't take me long.

[te_wa]

the four peaks pickup will be easy, i happened upon that area recently and it looks fairly clean.. so i cancelled in favor of this trip. so, im obligated to do my share somewhere, hope i can make the catclaw revenge party.

[rushthezeppelin]

Still is the TH for this easily accessible? If so I can come in later in the day pretty easily.

[te_wa]

oh, i dont know. there were some rocky areas at the bottom near the T/H but overall a sedan can make it, the roads are on mining land so they are graded constantly

[rushthezeppelin]

The TH access is next to Roosevelt Lake right?

[rushthezeppelin]

Nevermind I see how to get there. Hmmm I might only be able to do one or the other : /

[rushthezeppelin]

So we coming in from the east side or west side of the canyon?

[te_wa]

From Superior head out east on US 60. Pass through the Queen Creek Tunnel and continue 10 miles to mile marker 239.4 Turn left onto this paved road that enters the Pinto Mine. Follow the paved road 2.8 miles and turn left onto FS 287. Go slow at the numerous intersections. Public access signs are posted at the intersections. after about 7 miles you will come to a T intersection with a sign that says "peak well" (29?)
at this peak well sign, turn left and then you will shortly see a sign for the trailhead. park near the metal gate. the gate is almost always closed, so walk the road along the creek for about a mile and you'll come to the old trailhead parking lot where the official trail starts. It has a sign. the trail basically follows the direction of the creek, and where it bends South (consult map) the Tony Ranch site is right around the corner, maybe 1/4 mile

[te_wa]

just in case anyone missed the PM's, we are going to meet at the Lowe's on Higley/US60 on Saturday @ 7am.
Tyrone is coming from Payson and will ride w/ me. that leaves 2-3 spots open on my truck. There will be 6-8 others joining us from the Arizona Backpacking Club (that I, Drewboy, and RTZ are members) so be prepared for a "show and tell" of sorts since some of these guys are really interested in our rigs.

plan on having post-hike lunch at the AZ famous "Guyos El Rey" in Miami their cheese enchilada should not be missed

[Crocodile Ryan]

Looks like Im gonna have to cancel on this one, Im pretty bummed about it too I was really looking forward to getting out there with everybody but I thought the house I put an offer in was good to go, unfortunately looks like theres some serious roof problems so I gotta look at some others again that I had passed on - otherwise Ill be homeless come March 1st

take lots of pics so i can vicariously live through you!