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| Backpack | 6.75 Miles |
821 AEG |
| | Backpack | 6.75 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 821 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Wendy originally called this "The Beginners Backpack Near Tucson". She wanted to leave the location open so that she could pick based on weather, water, etc. She found a good one with the hike to Sycamore Reservoir, plant your camp, and then hike back to the dam and then up Bear Creek.
We carpooled to the TH parking lot as entry into the Camping area is closed. We geared up and headed out. After going over a hill and past the drainage, you walk through a dry bed for the first little while until you head up the hill to the Saddle (Shreve). It's a pretty little area through here. Once at the Saddle, your jaw drops of course, because the view is OUTSTANDING  . Wendy pointed out a few of the landmarks from there. I think I could even see the ridge we had hiked as part of our Bearbino Loop in Oct 2011.
It's all down hill from here and it goes rather fast although I would stop to take in the view as well as film a little. Wendy pointed out some of the rock/cement posts left over for the big pipes that carried the water up to the Prison Camp. Soon you come upon the vista looking down into the green-treed reservoir area. It was stunning, I think mostly cuz you don't expect it (I hadn't really done my usual recon of pics before this trip).
As I round a corner in the reservoir area, I see everyone starting to put their packs down. I say to Wendy "but we've only gone 2.57 miles?". She says, "this is camp". Well Wendy has never taken me on THIS short of a trip  . But since this was it I started looking for a spot for my tent. Once we got set up & had a short lunch it was off to the dam. I was pleased to see water flowing over it though there was some funny looking stuff at the bottom. I looked at some pics that Wendy took on a Sept trip and wow, THAT was a lot of water. Nonetheless, I was just glad to see it flowing.
From there we headed back past camp and up Bear Canyon in pursuit of whatever cool stuff we might find. Eventually the canyon narrows to a rocky area (a bit hard on my dumb foot) where you are soon rewarded by a deep pool  with water flowing into it. We stopped here for a bit before heading onward. We eventually encounter a tall grassy area and once we are past that, it comes to Wendy's attention that one or two of the group is without water. (If she had known, we could have filtered some water at the pool we saw earlier  ; oh well).
We all started heading back but Wendy went up the hill (I didn't know she was doing that or I would have gone with her) to see what she could see. She figured another 20 minutes or so would have got us close to the falls. Well I just looked at the hike desc of Sycamore Reservoir to Bear Falls and we probably would have had another 45 minutes or so as it looks like we were about 8 tenths away. Anyway, we can sure save it for another time I hope!
We stopped at the pool and filtered water. Karen jumped in but had a devil of a time getting out cuz it was a little slippery. She said the water was great. I filmed her and got a couple pictures of a frog crossing the pool and an orange skimmer who had landed on a branch. We hung out here for about 1/2 hour; so nice  .
Once back at camp we all hung around, ate snacks (and in my case, drank a pumpkin spice beer) and talked about all sorts of things before making our dinner (we waited for Sirena to join us). We got a little fire going to try and keep the bugs at bay and to warm us as the sun went down. Wendy got her Irish on; it was fun to watch the other hikers enjoy her song with big smiles on their faces. We stayed up until about 9:30 before hitting the hay  .
The next morning we all got up around 6:15ish or so, had our breakfast, packed up and were on the trail by 8. It was rather breezy. Once again I got lucky on the uphill portion of a hike to have a nice cool breeze to keep me company. It's a pretty good climb out of the reservoir of 1.2 miles and 769 feet. We encountered a few people on the way out including Sirena (AZTrail Liaison) who had gone ahead but was stopped talking with some thru-hikers from FL. She gave them her phone number in case they needed assistance. She also gave them her coconut water. So if you encounter thru hikers, offer up if you have any extra food or water just in case they might like it.
From the saddle and after enjoying the views, it was all downhill again . As we got to the Prison Camp Wendy pointed out some of the old foundations and retaining walls. Today it seems a lovely campsite that is closed off for some reason. We were back to our vehicles at 9:20, helped one of our party get out of deep sand he got stuck in and headed back to get Miley's vehicle and Tonto.
Wendy drove Bu in front to get me back to Ina Road. Ironically, I ended up taking the same route back that I came up on after having to use my phone's navigator (after getting lost  ). I thot I had seen a Q-Trip on Ina near the freeway but apparently not so I stopped at the Circle K on the south side of I-10. I may not have gotten the frozen coffee drink I like but I got fuel for $3.02/gallon  .
Hike to Sycamore Reservoir Campsite: http://youtu.be/07rDvoYOKQc
Hike up Bear Canyon/Bear Creek including Karen's jump into the water hole: http://youtu.be/IZqIxKoYr6I
For best quality watch in the large player, change quality setting to HD 1080. |
| _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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