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| Hiking | 7.00 Miles |
2,500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | After a late night concert in Flagstaff, I awoke in Gilbert with Mazatzal fever. I drove up Forest Road 201 with plans of hiking the Cornucopia-Thicket Spring Loop. I changed plans however, and decided to try something different. This was that something. The Reno Pass topo and Google satellite showed this route as actually existing, and I was curious.
Hiking down to the Oneida Mine, I wondered how my mom and step dad had managed to get their Ford Bronco 2 down this God-awful road back in 1983. This was my first visit to the Oneida Mine since our camping trip there, and I was excited to see if my childhood memories were correct. The mine area looked like what I remembered, but the old log cabin with its metal spring bed and junk was long gone. The cabin foundation and the remnant of a single log was there, though. After poking around, I continued west into new territory for me. The Mazatzals hold a very special place in my heart, and I was in Heaven. 
Reaching the divide, I was surprised to find that the "pack trail" on the topo map was actually a forest road (if you can call it that!). The hike down FR 3722 was filled with outstanding views of rugged Mazatzal country.
Down at the West Fork of Sycamore Creek, I turned north onto the Cornucopia Trail, following it up to the Cornucopia Mine and on to the infamous blue truck, where I turned around. On the hike back, I was treated to a lingering sunset over the Sierra Ancha and the rest of the Mazatzal range.
I stopped at the Oneida Mine one last time to inspect the retort and try to figure out exactly where we had camped three decades ago. Success! We had camped near the retort. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not  . I reached my truck at dark, and enjoyed a night time drive through my favorite country. Today, all was right with the world. Nothing else mattered.  |
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| "…you never know when a hike might break out" -Jim Gaffigan |
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