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| Backpack | 18.70 Miles |
950 AEG |
| | Backpack | 18.70 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 950 ft AEG | | 40 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | | I did the west loop last month,now I've made it back for the east loop and I'm so glad I did them in this order. The east loop is more challenging and just beautiful all the way! My youngest child Sara came with me on her first backpacking trip and that made it extra, extra special! We camped at the trailhead at Pinchot cabin Friday night and hit the trail early. Preston the Yeti's directions were great,except we missed the turn pasted the brown stock tank (watch for the cairn about twenty feet off trail in the grass). The upper canyon crossings were green, lush and Barbershop had some water in it. As we ate lunch sitting within the walls of Dane cabin a couple of guys came up on four-wheelers and peered over the wall and startled themselves to find us there. The spring at the cabin was running strong and cool.It started to rain as we left and continued off and on till late that night but it wasn't cold at all,we just threw on some light ponchos to keep things dry. Another kind of sketchy place to follow the trail was right after you catch Barbershop trail at (I think Coyote springs)the signs direct you into the meadow but there is no trail,slashes,cairns,nada, until you look across the meadow and find a carsonite post on the other side. From this post you can see another post through the trees but basically you just get up on the road. The trail has obviously been used quite a bit since the description, it really wasn't a prolem to follow. There was one other place. The last meadow going west before the Houstan Bros. junction. When you enter from the east,exit to the drainage directly to the west. The foliage is waist high but you'll see it when you get closer. There is a slash and a fire ring to the northwest and even a decent(for a while)trail that heads off that way. Wrong way. You'll notice there are no slashes. After we got into Houstan Draw at about 10 am, we heard from the small ridge just to our left a classic wolf like howl! The two of us looked like the three stooges there for a second! I caught a glimpse of him dart between the trees above us, he was big and grey,not at all like the coyotes we see in the desert around Yuma. I didn't think the wolves had migrated this far yet and I told Sara that but I wasn't 100% sure at the time!We later met some day hikers and told them about our excitement. They said they had seen a large coyote come off the ridge and run across thier trail. He said he'd heard them howl like that before, it was still a nice punctuatin to the trip. We kicked back at Aspen springs for a while,soaked our feet and reminisced about our adventure. What a great time and great memory! |
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| I can't stay, so I have to keep moving; but my ambition, is to be there. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
