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| Hiking | 18.90 Miles |
2,350 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.90 Miles | 50 Hrs | | 0.38 mph |
| 2,350 ft AEG | | 27 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Despite the expected winter storm, I decided to take advantage of a long weekend I had to backpack to Taylor Cabin. This trip was just my dog and I. After driving on the surprisingly well maintained dirt road, we hit the trail around 9 AM. The wind and gray clouds in the distance immediately spoke of the incoming storm, so we hiked briskly all day, reaching Taylor Cabin around mid-afternoon. The hike in had fantastic scenery almost the entire time - truly never a dull moment on the trail.
Anyway, given the previous photosets from this time of year and the amount of snow I saw during my hike in, I expected there to be water in the pools near Taylor Cabin (at least some!). But the pools were bone dry. I looked around the river bed for about an hour trying to find water, looking near spots of green and beneath snow, but never found any. With the winds constantly gusting, the clouds getting closer, and the sun setting, I set to work gathering snow in a bunch of plastic bags and gathering some fire wood so I could get some water. I was certainly glad that Taylor Cabin had a fire place with a working chimney. It made melting snow during the storm quite pleasant as it rained and hailed outside. I couldn't figure out how to work the wood stove. Taylor Cabin has to be one of the best and cleanest backcountry cabins I've seen in AZ - I certainly tried taking good care of it and appreciated all the work that has obviously gone into maintaining it.
Once I'd eaten and obtained a lot of water, my dog and I went to bed in our tent to see a low of 27 F. I had planned on day-hiking from Taylor Cabin, but given the water situation, I decided to break up the hike back to my car into 2 days (I had spotted a pool of iced over water a couple miles from the cabin on my way in which I would take advantage of). Day 2 was nice and sunny, but windy yet again. I saw a high of about 40 degrees and by 5 pm it was already down to 30. My little thermometer recorded a low of 17 F in our tent that night, but my dog and I managed to stay surprisingly warm.
I started packing up camp on day 3 while it was still dark outside - this was a very cold morning, somewhere around 10 degrees, but it would eventually warm up to 20 degrees in the sun on our hike out.
Overall, the hike proved to be quite an adventure. I saw no one the entire time and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty this wilderness had to offer. The trail was in pretty good shape and mostly easy to find, but a couple spots were terribly over grown (almost impassible). I would love to return and do this trail again, hopefully when there is water near Taylor Cabin (I will certainly be packing in more for reserve next time). |
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