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| Hiking | 3.00 Miles |
700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.00 Miles | | | |
| 700 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | I almost didn't recognize FR315. There is a far greater mining presence along this road than when I was here a year and a half ago. There are 3 separate operations going on before you get to the big hill and the whole road has been graded to be reasonably good. We parked ahead of the hill and walked back up the road a little ways to what could be loosely interpreted as a trail and headed west.
According to Google Earth, this route would take us where others have gone before to the highest point on the ridge. Very quickly, the landscape went from rugged to ridiculous, a vast boulder field with a very dense population of catclaw and other various skin shredding plants. If there was any kind of a trail here, it was the Bovine Highway, as we were dodging cow patties most of the way. You're on your own to get to the edge and whatever path you take will be just as good/bad as any other. Just stay out of the drainages. The catclaw down there is ferocious, as I found out the hard way. I was wearing shorts and and managed to get my legs so tangled up in it that two hands with trekking poles were not sufficient to regain my freedom. John, who was smart enough to be hiking higher up, had to come down there and rescue me. I was pulling little claws out of my skin for a while after that. :stretch: As the hike wore on, we determined that following the cow patties was best, as the Bovine approved route seemed to be the path of least resistance.
Other highlights of the trip:
The rim was lined with piles of huge boulders that you had to climb up on the see over the edge. The view was pretty cool from up there. You get a very unique perspective of Weaver's Needle... so unique that I didn't even know what it was (I had to ask! :oops: )
We were surprised to see several pools of water along the drainage. One in particular was rather inviting and caused a spontaneous 20 minute break.
I came upon a Mojave Rattlesnake sunning itself at the base of a rock I was about to step on. It didn't rattle and I'm surprised I even noticed it. Much of it was under the rock and it refused to come out and play. It was the mellowest snake I've ever seen, which is probably a good thing, as it's also the most lethal.
Before we left, I just had to tackle the 'big hill'. Last time, I couldn't get up it in the truck and kept backsliding (but the 4WD wasn't working at the time). Since they graded the road, the hill is pretty solid, rather than made up of loose gravel, rocks and small boulders. I had the Jeep this time and I made it up easily in 4WDL. So, word to any masochists headed to Devil's Canyon - a decent 4WD will get you a lot closer to it now than it did before. :y:
* Correction > The 'Mojave' rattlesnake was most likely a Black-tail. My bad.  |
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I'm at home in the wilderness... it's civilization I have problems with! ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") |
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