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| Backpack | 24.14 Miles |
5,798 AEG |
| | Backpack | 24.14 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 5,798 ft AEG | | 41 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Anita Park Backpack
Day 1: Rustler Park to Anita Park via Booger Spring, Ojo Agua Fria
I got up early to get a few hours of work in before heading off to the Wilderness. Joel had to work the full day, so I was going to be backpacking with a couple of friends from SAHC carrying all the gear. We drove up to Rustler Park and then hiked in to our camp. Along the way it was really smoke due to the Horseshoe 2 fire. I was happy not to have too much elevation change since I have asthma. I've been going to Anita Park every year since 2007 (in 2008 we visited it twice) and it amazes me the changes I see every year. There are many new crops of Aspen that are growing nicely along the crest trail. We stopped near Bootlegger Saddle to have a snack on the rocks. Near there the iris patches were getting ready to bloom. The wilderness boundary is showing more growth. Round Park is also full of iris plants. I decided to check out Booger Spring while the guys went on to wait for me at Cima Park. The trail had been cleared from Round Park. The cement tub was dry, but where the water comes out of the ground there was the main catchment which had over two feet of water which was covered by a cement lid (which was too heavy for me to lift). There was also some water draining on to the ground. All around were skunk cabbage - a great indicator of a spring. The rest of the old Booger Loop trail was overgrown and had a lot of downfall. I ended up having to use my GPS to get back to the trail near Cima Park. I did get in a visit to Cima Saddle. Anita Spring had barely 3 inches of water. It was the dries I had seen it in 5 years. The water was very concentrated and hard to filter. By the time we had about 3 liters of water the level had dropped to about 1 inch. We decided to get the rest of our water from Ojo Agua Fria, which I had bushwhacked to about 4 or 5 years ago. At that time it was a beautiful spring. I figured that since Anita still had some water, Ojo would too. My thoughts were based on the fact that the tank it drained into was a lot larger that the cement catchment at Anita. The trail to the spring is no longer signed as it leaves the Crest trail. After you leave the Old Headquarters Camp area you can still find the trail but one of the switchbacks is totally socked in with downfall. The spring was still there and we were able to get plenty of water for our weekend. On the way back, I found an old pocket watch - I've read that the Headquarters Camp was in use from 1908 - 1938 - maybe the watch is from that time period. That night we enjoyed the sunset from an old burn area close to camp. The remains of the trees make for interesting photos. Thanks to the smoke, the colors were very nice.
Day 2: Anita Park to Monte Vista Peak including Bear Spring, Paint Rock, Chiricahua Peak, and Chiricahua Vista.
In the morning, we went down to check out Anita Spring before going on our journey. Some of the water had been replenished, but we noticed that most of the water was avoiding the catchment and going down the drainage. We were waiting for Joel to show up so we didn't leave until 9:30 - which happened to be the exact moment that Joel arrived. We went ahead while he unpacked. After we left Chiricahua saddle we started to get views of the smoke from Horseshoe 2. It was a very dramatic scene. It was hard not to feel sad. The smoke was coming over over the crest in many colors due to the fire and the chemicals used to fight the fire. After Paint Rock, Joel caught up to us. We got up to Monte Vista Peak and the Lookout around lunch time. The Lookout ranger's dogs greeted us. The ranger invited us up to get a look at the smoke from the fire. Rumor has it that the fire was started by drug smugglers - which causes me anger. She was concerned about us staying at Ania - so she called in to see whether we should pack up and leave. She mentioned that they were closing the Crest Trail. She did get word back that we could stay the night at Anita. On the way back to Anita, we decided to check out Bear Spring. The water is flowing nicely there and the ranger had a jug collecting her water. We stopped at Paint Rock so that Joel and I could bag the Peak again. My last time on top was in April of 2008. Luckily, this peak isn't visited often so we easily found our old entry (Joel had been the last one to sign in which was in 2010). Paint Rock has great views in all directions. We could see the Lookout, Cochise Head, Chiricahua Peak, and the Crest where the fire was starting to come up and over. It's shocking what just a few hours can do. I talked one of the guys into going up to Chiricahua Peak. It's an uneventful peak, however, the views as you go up are great due to fires in the past. Don't forget to stop and take them in. We hung out in camp for a while and then I decided I wanted to check out Chiricahua Vista to see if there were any Claret Cups. I was lucky and there was one flower open. I then took the old route down to the junction with the Chiricahua Peak and Crest trails. When it got close to sunset, we headed out to our favorite sunset viewing area. We were not disappointed! The sunset was nice, as always.
Day 3: Anita Park to Rustler Park via Booger Spring
We headed back to the cars. We deviated so I could show the guys Booger Springs. We made it back to the cars in about 2.5 hours, which included a few stops. Along the last stretch, I checked on Hill Side Spring which is still producing some water, but not a lot.
Overall, I had a great trip to one of my favorite places. I hope that the Horseshoe 2 fire is contained quickly and that Anita Park is forever preserved (or if a fire passed through it's a good fire). |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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Anita Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | The water that is coming out of the spring is not going into the catchment. When we got water from the spring on Friday night, there was about 3 inches in the cement container. After a few liters it went down to about 1 inch that so we decided to go look for the rest of our water elsewhere. In the morning, it was back up some, but it is filling very, very slowly. |
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Bear Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Good water here. The Fire Lookout Rangers collect their water from this spring. |
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Booger Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | It's hard to say exactly how much is coming out of the spring because most of it is contained in a covered catchment. But the water depth is over 2 feet. |
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Hillside Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Not much water standing in the catchment. | | _____________________
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