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| Crooks Creek / Bradshaws, AZ | | -
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| | Crooks Creek / Bradshaws, AZ | | | |
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Crooks Creek / Bradshaws, AZ
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| Hiking | 18.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.00 Miles | 13 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.38 mph |
| 2,000 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The mission for the day was to walk Crooks Creek up to the road, cross over to Ash Creek due west, then walk it back to the truck. Why? Because it is there, and 'thar be gold in them thar hills.'
I hiked these creeks back in 2007, so I was aware of the water availability, as the springs flow all summer in places along the route.
Hiking Crooks Canyon and Alder Canyons is fairly easy, rating about a 6 on off-trail excursions, ten being the hardest/worst. The rock hopping is minimal and there are only a few big drops to portage around. This being the summer season, most of the pools were dried up, much to the detriment of the tadpoles and bugs, pitifully writhing about in the last remnants of the spring runoff.
Cottonwood and ash trees line a good portion of both creeks, both having a few lengthy dry sections with little vegetation. The canyon slopes are lined with pinion pines mixed with manzanita and oak. It is easy to get out of there if in a pinch, as the road is high up on the ridge line, though it cannot be seen from the creek.
The day began at 8:00 AM at an easy access spot just north of the Baldwin Place. There are some huge cottonwoods lining the mouth of Crooks Canyon, along with a decent amount of water flow. Some prospectors dug a few shallow holes here and there, nothing of great size or consequence.
The lower half of Crooks Creek has several places where the water is still running, but the upper section is quite a bit more dry, except for the last quarter mile. There are a few decent swimming holes in there, but nothing worth making the trip out. Most of the folks that come in there are miners, as I was to discover later in the day.
Slogging along in the Heat, I looked up and thought I saw a bear in the distance....or is that just a big, black dog? Dog it was, and he came running at me with bad intentions. Then the owner appeared and tried to call the dog off, except the animal refused to obey. I said,"Hey buddy, the dog is going to get the boot here in a second." Luckily, Shep was more bark than bite and we ended up friends. The fellow was working a club mining claim, digging for gold on a Tuesday afternoon. We talked for about half an hour about the trials and tribulations of gold mining, how more often-than-not we end up broke in the end.
He was a cool cat, making a living as a taxidermist and a trapper. Interesting folks you meet out in the woods...still waiting to find one of those naked chicks I always read about. His buddy was in the early stages of gold fever, talking nonsense about 'gold bars' and whatnot. Let me tell you: I have heard that same gold bar story so many times; do not believe it! The best and surest cure for gold fever is to dig holes in the ground for three months, moving hundreds of cubic yards, and only get a few pennyweights of gold for your efforts.....I am cured, no rehab required!
Ash Creek is much more interesting of the two, and quite a bit easier to walk. I saw two decent sized bull elk bedded down near a flat in section 34. They crashed up the hill through some manzanita, stopping only after a short distance to catch their breath, tongues hanging out. They looked back as if to say, "OK, it is too hot to be out here doing this. We are just going to stand here until you go away." Away I went, time was a ticking. What is cool about the upper two miles or so of Ash Creek is the fact that miners had put flats along much of the banks, creating grassy patches of easy walking. It may have been used as a road, but this has long been in disuse.
Ash Creek was a breeze, aside from a couple snake stops, and I arrived at the road right at dark, walking the last mile or so with a headlamp, Miller time being exactly 2130 hours.
This is not the sort of walk most of you would enjoy, a member requested a triplog, so here she be! |
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