| |
| Sabino Box and Brinkley Point, AZ | |
|
| | Sabino Box and Brinkley Point, AZ | | | |
|
|
Sabino Box and Brinkley Point, AZ
| | |
|
| Hiking | 8.03 Miles |
2,998 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.03 Miles | 8 Hrs 26 Mns | | 1.63 mph |
| 2,998 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 31 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | After having an awesome vacation it seemed like nearly anything I could plan would be a major let down so I had to get a bit creative. I like Sabino Box, but on it's own it's too short. I also like Brinkley Point but again on it's own it's too short. We've already explored from the Box to Aspen trail and from the Box to Sunset Trail so this time we had to go down canyon then go up to Brinkley. And as usual, people signed up for the crazy Alt Hike...
We started out on the Box Camp trail and then went down the Box Spring trail. After the cut off for Brinkley point the trail can be hard to follow. We were constantly climbing over things on the steep, steep hillside. Then the fun began, the POISON IVY was lush and it was EVERYWHERE as we approached the creek!
We go into Sabino and headed straight for the Box before having a break. The box is a beautiful area. Gary and I went to check things out. It was definitely higher than last year and the water was running a bit faster. But everything looked good to go. Gary rigged some hand lines so that when people plunged into the narrow spot under the waterfall they could maneuver without problems. It was especially good because none of us could touch bottom. It was fun watching peoples faces as they realized they couldn't touch and that the water was kind of cold!
We continued rock hopping downstream. It was fun because if we needed we could just slide into the water since we were already soaked. The views were awesome! It's so nice to be in an area you haven't explored yet!
We came across a pool that looked great for jumping in so we had our tall guy, Mike, go in and see if he could touch. Since he couldn't we tossed our packs in and jumped! What a rush! Then we convinced Gary to jump. So he throw his pack in and then kind of jumped/slid down. While watching I realized that he was sinking. I swam over and gave him a boost and then suddenly found myself plunging underwater. We continued this cycle a few times. I was actually kind of concerned that we'd drown. But finally I was able to get him closer to where we could touch. Plus someone sent out a pack that Gary could grab. Note to self, don't leave home without the pool float!
No long after that we had a few downclimbs that were not great for short people (myself included). Therefore we utilized Mike again but this time as a ladder. In one spot it didn't work so well as he had his hands out to catch Andrea and his thumb somehow was inserted into her eye socket. I guess it was a strange and uncomfortable (painful for Andrea) for both of them. Luckily no damage was done!
Shortly after that I attempted to sprain my ankle. With all three incident happening pretty closely together it was kind of stressful for me. At some point I noticed that I had lost some of my vision (migraine was coming on).
Not long after that Joel was climbing up and around a bunch of pools with dropoffs and his hiking pole fell down into the creek and sank. Joel, Gary, and I looked for it for a bit and finally found it. After that I called for a break so I could find some drugs.
Just a few minutes into our break it started to rain. Big drops came down. We had a quick discussion and decided that instead of continuing down the .3 miles to where I wanted to go up to Brinkley that we would go up a near by drainage. Since the water level was already somewhat high it seemed to be a good idea to be out of the canyon during heavy rain. So up we went. The drainage went straight up but was fairly clear of brush and for the most part easy to navigate. We continued up scrambling. At some point Mike claim the award for first to bleed. We ended up in some brush and we pushed through the pokey stuff. At some I stabbed my hand in an agave and started to drip, bummer if it had only been a few minutes earlier...
We keep climbing until finally we hit the ridge that goes to Brinkley. I wasn't up to just going back to the cars so in the pouring rain we continued on to Brinkley. It was thundering some so I was glad we had some tree cover.
The rain lightened some when we got to Brinkley. So we got to scramble up and check out the view. But we didn't hang out too long because of the weather. We turned around to head back to the cars.
At some point on the ridge line the rain stopped. We climbed up and up the ridge back to the trail.
On the trail we ran into a few people which was surprising considering the weather. We hit the car just after 4 PM.
We all agreed that it was a great, nice, long day hike! I was glad that all ended well! |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
