HikeArizona.COM

We have all heard the stories of hikers stumbling across illegal dope grows out in the national forest, the Mexican Cartels, and the 'no go' areas of CA. These drug growers damage the forest, poach wildlife, and have been known to shoot hikers who happen across them. An article in USA Today, Aug 19, told that the latest CA fire was started by the Cartel boys while cooking dinner at one of their grows. As an environmentalist, it pisses me off that this is happening in our public lands.

We hikers can help keep our national forests safe by reporting grow sites and suspicious activity to the authorities. I found a grow two years ago in the Matazals, a quarter mile east of the Arizona Trail near a popular Boy Scout Camp site. So, M-16 toting illegal aliens are that close to your kids out there. No better reason to shut them down. I do not advocate others to go out looking for grows; but it is fun for those of us with nothing to lose, hiking off trail in the manzanita, seeing remotest of places.


I was wondering if there are any others in the club who like to go 'hunting', and if anyone has any tips or suggestions to help out. The best places to look are around reliable water sources, like springs, wells, creeks,etc. However, there are just so many miles and miles of territory out there to search, even with aids like sat maps and the like, it is difficult to find anything. The Bradshaws have had some busts, as have the Rim area and Matazals. Gila County is also a good area. This weekend will be a hike along the feeder streams of Cherry Creek, just east of the Sierra Anchas.

Lets keep the comments on topic and not about the question of legalization of marijuana, or whether getting stoned is a good idea or not. There is plenty of material here in which to bash or ridicule without the aid of those tired arguments. Yes, the mission is potentially dangerous, but not any more dangerous than walking through South Phoenix after dark. Besides, the odds of finding a grow are about zero unless you put in a bunch of miles intelligently.

Here is a pic of the trash left behind at the Matazal grow site. Thousands of starter dixie cups, plastic bird netting, a bone yard of poached wildlife, fertilizer bags, irrigation equiment, shoes, clothes, tortilla wrappers, Miracle Grow, etc. etc. Basically, the same trash you find at Organ Pipe National Monument or anywhere near the human trafficking routes.

In September 2005, bear hunters approached a pot farm along Deer Creek, in the Mazatzal Wilderness, and were fired upon by cartel guards. The hunters returned fire and retreated to notify police.

The following year, a Forest Service tactical team raided a site in the same area and took fire from a guard carrying a semiautomatic rifle. Two men were arrested, and one escaped. The rifleman, a Mexican national who was shot in the abdomen, was eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison.

That must have been what we ran into. Glad we got a late start.

Well, I'm personally HAPPY to report that I don't have any such firsthand stories...I hope I never will! ;)

JamesLyding wrote:From the Tucson Weekly April 9, 2009:

Yeah I remember that one too, that article is totally dope.

So what is considered the grow season? Or are there several?

From a semi-reputable source:

When cultivated outdoors, the chosen areas are those which receive twelve hours or more of sunlight in a given day. In the Northern Hemisphere cannabis seeds are typically planted in late May or early June, so the plants can have a full four months of growth. Typically, the plants are harvested anywhere from mid September to early October. In North America, northern locations are preferred (Humboldt County, California and British Columbia being particularly notable), but southern locations (such as Maui, Hawaii) are also known to be good producers.

summer light gives off more of the blue end of the light spectrum ( promoting foliage growth), the fall brings a more red end of the spectrum of light (promoting fruit or bud growth). no im not a pot farmer, but i am going to school for sustainable organic farming.

and.... the above link is not what you think it is...

It's some sort of mint-y thing, but it's the closest I could come up with!

yea it looks like mint.. lol really great crushed up in some lemonade!! mmm im thirsty now..

Or better in some rum

i knew i was just begging to be one-upped... well done dysfunction.. hahaha

Great stories and info, folks.

I love the Cherry Creek story, Azbackpacker, good thing nobody got hurt on that one. Those kids have some serious guts to sneak into an active grow site and take a 20 bound bag for a souvenir. Ha! I was just over there two weekends ago, hiking a little 15 mile loop up Bronco Canyon from Cherry Creek, then back down South Cooper Forks Creek. Plenty of water there. The Bermuda Falls area is pretty cool. You have to walk along the top of the ridge to get around the drops, and the half mile stretch below the falls (the falls part is dry right now) is accessible only by rope, or at least from what I could tell. Saw a little bear on that trip, that was about it. There are a few a spots north from there me and a buddy are going to check out this weekend.

James, I had a weird encounter at Mount Ord back in '94 while walking around with a metal detector. I was prospecting around the mine shafts and adits in Reno Pass and noticed an irrigation hose coming out of one of the mines. I thought nothing of it, figuring it was for drainage, but I could see that it was not necessary as the water flowed out on its own. As I walked back down the road toward Bushnell Tanks, a caravan of high dollar 4Xs came up, with one of them parking his rig across the road, blocking it so no other vehicles could pass. When the others came up, some dude with a handlebar mustache, armed to the gills, bluntly gave me the 20 questions. He wanted to know where I had been, where I was going, etc. etc. It was totally fishy. Either they were growing dope up there or they were poaching black bear for gall bladders.

berkforbes wrote:and.... the above link is not what you think it is...

No im a 1000 percent sure those are not pot plants...

joshvk121 wrote:

berkforbes wrote:and.... the above link is not what you think it is...

No im a 1000 percent sure those are not pot plants...

smoke 'em anyway! the worst thing that could happen is you'd get fresh breath..

a few months ago, someone I know encountered some random marijuana plants growing at fish creek in the sups -- I can't imagine there being a growing operation back there anywhere but you have to wonder how and why the plants were there in the first place...

oceanwithin wrote:a few months ago, someone I know encountered some random marijuana plants growing at fish creek in the sups -- I can't imagine there being a growing operation back there anywhere but you have to wonder how and why the plants were there in the first place...

Hmm.... break open a bud, toss some seeds and voila! you have pot plants... it is a weed afterall.....

te-wa wrote:smoke 'em anyway! the worst thing that could happen is you'd get fresh breath..

Nah, don't bother with leaf!

berkforbes wrote:

oceanwithin wrote:a few months ago, someone I know encountered some random marijuana plants growing at fish creek in the sups -- I can't imagine there being a growing operation back there anywhere but you have to wonder how and why the plants were there in the first place...

Hmm.... break open a bud, toss some seeds and voila! you have pot plants... it is a weed afterall.....

So, you're saying someone was smoking weed in upper Fish Creek? Nahh... With the sort of people that frequent the Fish Creek Bridge area, I couldn't imagine anyone would be smoking pot... plz:

There is quite an article on today's New York Times website about grows in northern CA wilderness areas.

i quite frequently ride my quad n. of lake pleasant and s. of crown king and have been on countless old trails and rds. back there . many are so old it takes a very keen eye to identify them. usually at the end of these rds ill find old mining sites complete sometimes w/ buildings and almost always some kind of water source. ive been exploring this area for about 10 years now by quad and it is always in the back of my mind that i may come upon a grow site.kind of pisses me off that i have to worry about armed jrkoffs while out exploring these very historic and interesting areas, but at the same time it adds a bit of adrenilin rush when getting offthe beaten path. i am very much aware of the danger im putting myself in because riding a polaris 500 sportsman is not very stealthy and any pot growers will probably here me coming well before i hit there grow. wont do me any good if i get ambushed but im always armed to the teeth when i do these exploration trips, such as last weekend i had my mini 14 w/400 rounds of ammo in my carry box and my s.a. xd .45 onmy hip w/40 rds and my s.w..38 in my pocket. so if i can't run i will certainly fight i was just out there this past weekend and saw nothing suspicious even tho i could take you to several prime growing areas . and for those of you that enjoy 4 wheeling the crown king 4x4 rd is becoming quite brutal as well as [ ill call it the upper french creek rd ] which brings you out to the wagoneer rd. i often wonder what i would do if i came upon a situation like in the movie no country for old men would i report it or.......