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| Backpack | 14.00 Miles |
3,400 AEG |
| | Backpack | 14.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 3,400 ft AEG | | 55 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Got your coffee??? 
As I write this, my entire backpacking life hangs out in the backyard, drying out...Between gear decisions, gear failure, and inexperience with gear placement, just about everything I had with me, got wet, either from rain, or condensation...  Small indication of how the last half of this Trip went and Lesson Learned #1. (From here on out, known as LL,  )Don't believe the weather reports completely... I knew about the wind being high and expected it, but the weather report also called for a 20% Chance of a Thunderstorm...Which I was ok with...  Only my second Backpack Trip ever, and my first Solo. Lots of LLs, and hindsight is always bittersweet... Didn't help that it was the first time I've done anything in this area... 
The Master Plan
Fish Creek Cyn - Bridge to Roger's Canyon using nonot's Official Route, doing the Loop, going counterclockwise. Plotted the Route, with a bailout if I needed it, out to Roger's Trough. Hindsight note: Should have thought about a bailout on Frog Tanks to #109, at least that would have put me on the same side of the Range as my vehicle and made a Shuttle a whole helluva lot easier...Not sure about the Frog Tanks Trail though, haven't heard many good things...Coordinated my Route with a couple of fellow HAZers, one of which, BEEBEE, was going to hike up Fish Creek Canyon and meet me on Tuesday. He was also my shuttle driver from there or if I needed to bail out at Roger's...Thought I did a fairly good job of planning, but not as much as I could have, apparently...Fortunately, it all worked out rather nicely, in spite of myself, thanks to the extreme kindness of a complete stranger and my foresight of carrying a little gas money with... 
Day 1
Didn't get much sleep the night before and didn't want to start off this Trip already in sleep deprivation, so I slept a little longer and started the Hike 3 hours later than I wanted to. Already behind on the itinerary... I purposely packed a heavy pack for training purposes, coming in at 55 lbs, with 18 of that being Water...  Yep, the legs and glutes were a burnin' pretty good, even on the level terrain which wasn't too often... I had to Hike in from the Apache Trail, as I had read on previous reports that the Road to the actual TH was strictly 4x4. Hiking in that first 1/4 mile, it was easy to see why, it was really gnarly...Too bad, because after that first stretch, my Escape would have made that drive just fine...
Get to the actual TH and took a break. Now it's pretty warm out, no, it's actually hot, which is kinda what I was hoping to avoid with an earlier start... Get moving again, but didn't make it very far. Hadn't reached the Hoolie Bacon junction yet, and I started getting a Heat/Effort Headache. Knew I needed to stop and take care of it or I would become incapacitated when it got worse. Found a Mesquite Tree for shade, along with 100 Caterpillars (there were hundreds on this Hike), took some meds, some electrolytes, and laid down for a bit. Ended up napping for about 1/2 hour and then the headache was gone...  Back to the Trail, now I'm even more behind. My plan was to try to make the Pass this first day...Didn't happen. Got a little confused with the Topo Maps I had, thought I was closer than I was, but in the end, I was 2 miles short. So roughly only about 7 miles the first day...  Only found Water in one spot this first day. Topped off there. Only Water I would see until Randolph Canyon towards the end of the Trip...Reached a large plateau area at about Sunset and decided this was my Camp for this night. And the Wind started up, with a vengeance. Took some pics of the awesome Sunset, and then proceeded to try to set up with the Gale getting worse...LL#2 Don't set up the Bivy/Tent so close to Cacti...Got my Sleeping Pad inflated and as I was inserting it into the Bivy, the Wind took the one end, whipped it around and slammed it down onto a Prickly Pear! DOH! ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") Decided at that point, that I'm am so done with inflatable anythings!!! I hate them!!! I paid for that brief unfortunate moment that night and the next...  I was so tired, I didn't even eat dinner, just a Tuna Snack and more Gatorade to wash down the Ibuprofen...Doubt if I could have got the Jetboil fired up anyway, with the Wind...
Day 2
The Wind howled all night...Breaking Camp was interesting to say the least, but fortunately, there were no more mishaps. Only time you'll see me wear a hat though...I did have to chase it once...  The Wind continued to gust all day, felt like at least 50+ MPH at times with sustained gales in between... It turned out to be rather tiring to say the least...Halfway through this day, I knew I was going to have to bail...Came to the realization that it would be downright stupid to attempt Fish Creek Canyon with this much weight...Smartest decision of the Trip...Took a break tucked away under a large Mesquite Tree, just after Tortilla Creek, and finally got the Jetboil fired up and had an actual meal... Finally got to Tortilla Pass, very much behind schedule and started trying to get a phone signal to get ahold of Brian to let him know. Never did get a good enough phone signal to get a text out and I changed my Bailout plan, deciding to just stay on the JF Trail down to the Woodbury TH. I figured I could Hike out to 172 from there and intercept Brian when he came through looking for me...If nothing else, it would save him a little more drive time...I really wanted to get ahold of him, so he didn't even go to Fish Creek, but it was a failure and I ended up burning up my Cell Phone battery trying...
I must say, the Hike down to Randolph Canyon was downright enjoyable and I had my first unplanned encounter with a Gila Monster on the Trail.  He was nice enough to pose for one picture, before trying to crawl in the brush to hide... Got to the bottom of Randolph Canyon to a small trickle and some nice pools in the Creek. Pumped a little more Water and then headed back up. It got a little interesting just past the Windmill. I had the AZLot69's Description of this Trail with me, and until this spot, it had been dead on...Came to the signed intersection of Woodbury/JF Trails. Description says "Turn right at the windmill and follow the old road bearing right at the Woodbury trail and continue to the gate and trailhead known as Woodbury." It makes it sound like you leave the JF Trail and bear right on the Woodbury Trail....Every ounce of my being told me that it just wasn't right. Although I had never been here before, my sense of direction is pretty good, and "left" on Woodbury or "straight" on the continuing JF Trail seemed way better...I spent over 10 minutes agonizing and second guessing and decided that since I really didn't know for sure, to have faith in the written word and I went right...LL#3 Follow your gut... I descended (again ), and followed the Trail around. I could see a nice dirt road not too far away that was also descending so at that point, I thought I was on the right track. But ultimately my goal was to hit the road, not necessarily the TH as I was planning on Hiking out the road anyway. I got back to the bottom of the Canyon and started getting frustrated, knowing I was going to have to go back up the road. Finally, I bailed off the Trail, climbed a small ridge and bam! there's the road... Started the uphill slog back up the road, looked back, and saw a "Ranch" which I found out later was JF Ranch. Finally hit a gate/barricade and found out that I was on 172B, at the 172 intersection. There was a sign saying that the Woodbury TH was 1/2 mile past that spot. Why do I hate it when my gut is right???
It was now getting late and the clouds that had been gathering all day were really starting to look ugly. This was a good place to call it a day, and if I got extremely lucky, maybe I would run into someone coming into the Woodbury TH. I figure that if nothing else, I could get them to make a phone call for me, since I still didn't have service...Barely got my Camp setup and the Rains came. Unfortunately, it ultimately was not a "passing" thunderstorm...It poured all night until about 8:30 the next morning... It became very difficult to "vent" the Bivy and I ended up with alot of condensation among other problems, but somehow, even with poor placement (LL#4), I only got damp, never wet, and I stayed warm. Fitful night of sleep, occasionally blowing up the now leaking Sleeping Pad...
Day 3
Woke up about 8:00 am and it's still raining so decided not to get wet trying to exit and risk getting too cold, so I stayed put and try to ride it out a little longer....About 8:30 I hear a sound...A Vehicle??? Really??? On a weekday, at a seldom used TH, while it's raining??? What are the chances of that!!! Sure enough, I poke my head out and there's a Jeep with a solo guy driving up the road towards me. I waved and said hello and he stopped. He stated that he was out to do a "quick" loop of Hiking and I asked him if he would be willing to make a phone call for me when he got back out...He was more than gracious and offered me a ride, when he got done with his Hike!!!   So while he went for his Hike, I sprung into action, got Camp packed up. Found that the Dry Bag, that has only been used once before this Trip, leaked, and what spare clothes I had, plus the bottom of my Camera Bag were soaked!!!  Luckily, my Camera is suspended in the bag, and the Camera itself didn't get wet... My Backpack and anything in it that wasn't in a Ziplock was also pretty wet. Everything in the Bivy was either damp or wet... It had finally quit raining although the skies were still very dark, so I kept my Rainsuit on. I wandered around taking a few pics before the awesome fellow Hiker finished his Trek and picked me up in his open air Jeep...  He lived in AJ so he was willing to give me ride all the way in. He didn't seem to have any time constraints and seemed to really love being out and about, so I got really brave and propositioned him... I offered up gas and time money if he would take me all the way to my vehicle at the Tortilla TH and he seemed more than happy to do that... Not only did this guy save me some logistical issues, but he completely restored my faith in humanity!!! And who knows, we might get a new HAZer out of the deal!  He loves Hiking to historical sites, somehow, I think he would fit right in... We had some great conversation on the drive and it turns out, that it really can be a small world after all... He drops me at my Vehicle and wouldn't take anything other than a little gas money...AmAZing! How can you top that??? I am forever indebted to this guy...
I drove down Fish Creek Hill just in time to catch Brian, who had just gotten back to his Jeep after a 2 mile jaunt up into Fish Creek Canyon...Considering it all, couldn't have timed that much better!!! At least he got a Hike in... Drove out after having lunch at Canyon Lake and going over the whole 3 days...
Final Thoughts
Given it all, would I do it again??? Tough Question...Ideally, not really the way I want to Hike. My own fault, but due to my "planning and agenda", I felt "rushed". Although I took breaks when I absolutely needed to, I didn't have much time to "enjoy" if that makes sense. Total picture count for 3 days? 39...Gives you a small indication of how hard I had to push, and that took a little bit of the enjoyment out of it. Also a little bit of stress not being able to communicate my change of plan, worrying about possible consequences at the other end...However, with that being said, couldn't have picked a better training Hike/Backpack. Both physically and mentally. Learned lots of small lessons, didn't really make any major mistakes, and I guess when it came right down to it, made all the right decisions when it counted... And got lucky on a few things, especially with the kindness of a complete stranger....Have some serious work to do on equipment, both with weight management, alterations, etc. Also need to get more physical training in, which really is no surprise... All in all, I count the Trip a success, if for no other reason than SAR was not involved... Somehow, even with a last minute decision to bail on an unplanned Route, it all worked...AmAZing...Very Special Thanks to Brian (BEEBEE), and Hank (Grasshopper), for their advice, input, time and concern and also to Paul, one incredibly kind, generous stranger, now friend...
Postscript/Question
How is it that the Woodbury Trail never even hits the Woodbury TH, but the JF does????  |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of Agave and Cacti blooming, very few Poppies, but sporadic other Wildflowers blooming. |
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Clover Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Pools, no Flow downstream where JF Trail intersects the Drainage. |
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Randolph Canyon |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Small Flow with large pools at intersection with JF Trail. | | _____________________
| Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming, "Wow What a Ride!" |
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Route Editor
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