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Im thinking of doing this trail, leaving Twin Buttes area and going down into the Verde River section where it meets a)Fossil Creek and b)East Verde river. Check out this extensive trip report for info: Twin Buttes
This date being two full days after Thanksgiving, I thought many of us would be free. We can also access this area by the much shorter 4 mile long version by leaving from Deadman Mesa
theres also this writeup from the author
There appears to be good camping spots on some sandbars right near the river. Excellent!

We'll see what my plans are for Turkey Day

I wish; I have been wanting to do this for awhile. But I have company that whole w/e. And no, I can't bring them.

But really, Mike, you would be so far ahead of me that you would not even know I was on the trail, so as far as you are concerned, it makes no difference if I go or don't go!

Alright, I have a clean calendar at this point for Fri, Sat & Sun. My van will probably make it to the twin Buttes trail head but not the Deadman Mesa trailhead. If you think a 2WD van wont make the twin Buttes TH, let me know so I can find a solution.

hey no problem, I have 4x4 Montero Sport that seats 5.
I just havent decided whether I want to hike 10 miles to the E. Verde, or do an easy 4 miles to Fossil/Verde confluence. If the latter is chosen that gives us plenty of daylight to explore. Any thoughts?

I'll find out today whether or not I can make it, looks like a good trip

te-wa wrote:hey no problem, I have 4x4 Montero Sport that seats 5.
I just havent decided whether I want to hike 10 miles to the E. Verde, or do an easy 4 miles to Fossil/Verde confluence. If the latter is chosen that gives us plenty of daylight to explore. Any thoughts?

If this is just an overnight, it might be more fun to do the shorter route and have some extra time to check out the area.

How many days & miles?

ok, I can agree with that.
so Joe, the days will be Saturday hike, camp that night, hike out Sunday the 25th. 8 official miles r/t, but with some needed exploration.

What about making it a loop route? Down deadman and up Hardscrabble, or vice-versa?

nonot wrote:What about making it a loop route? Down deadman and up Hardscrabble, or vice-versa?

well, sorta the reason why I was leaning towards the "light" route was that I dont really want to see the same 10 miles twice. I dont know what kind of loop that could make but my maps show it might be a pain in the high-knee.

if we ever wanted to do a really good shuttle, park at Doll Baby ranch and hike E. Verde downstream to the confluence, then head north to the Deadman Mesa trailhead. looks like that one would be about 15 miles.

I guess it's more of a shuttle, oh well.

I'm in.

Looks like a cold weekend.. I'm packin my three season bag!
Yeehaa!

aa7jc wrote:Looks like a cold weekend.. I'm packin my three season bag!
Yeehaa!

oh yeah? I hadnt checked the prediction, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. So far, anything around normal temps is good for me, since we will camp at 2400' elevation I hope it will be at least cool.

You are probably right.
I was thinking that there might be a tendency for the freezing air to sink down the slopes (on both sides of the creek) in the morning before dawn. I comute 70 miles to work and the coldest spot on my route every morning (before dawn) is the low points in the valley (3500ft). There is often a 18+ degree spread in temperature when compared to the high elevation point (5000ft) especially when there is very low humidity.
I dont know if the cold air would continue to sink if the valley was as 7 or 800 feet deeper.. There has got to be a point of diminishing returns.

I had to cancel due to a death I was just made aware of. Sorry

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate news.

i cant shake this stomach bug, i tried, not going to make the trip. yall have fun without me

Hmm, well I sure can't make that road in my car. If we ever try this again, I'd like to do it as a loop route between the two trailheads you were debating about, with an overnight somewhere near the verde confluence with fossil creek.