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| Hiking | 23.00 Miles |
8,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 23.00 Miles | 36 Hrs | | 0.96 mph |
| 8,000 ft AEG | 12 Hrs Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The mission was to check out a couple of springs in the Mazatzal Wilderness along Bear Creek.
The craggy peaks and canyons west of the Mazatzal Divide are very remote and receive few visitors. It is the type of country where you have the chance to find something of value or interest, so long as you stay off the beaten path. Beaten paths are few and far between out there, as most of interior trail system is in poor condition.
The route was the same hike that I did in June of 2010, walking down Bear Creek to the Davenport/Club Cabin Trail, and then heading back up the mountain through Mazatzal Wash. Bear Creek is usually dry in the upper four miles, other than a nice spring about halfway up. The lower section of the creek near Club Cabin flows continually and supports a few fish. The pools are shallow so only the smallest of minnows can live there on account of the bears having caught all the fish worth eating.
Five weeks of rain has ended the summer dry season; green foliage and colorful flowers abound. Even the creeks are running again, and better tasting water would be hard to find. The upper aquifer took several weeks to recharge, but water is now gushing out in earnest from the fault zones between the four and five thousand foot mark. There are a couple of places where the mountain is so full of fissures that water seeps from just about everywhere, even the tops of rocky crags, which is rather unusual. The water temperature was on the warm side, so there might be some volcanic heating going on underground.
I bailed on the Mazatzal Wash route on account of tired legs, opting to take the easier trail system instead. Mazatzal Wash is intermittent, but it does have a nice waterfall and spring around the 5000’ mark. Ranchers used to run cattle and sheep in the area, and there is an iron pipe that once brought water down from the spring. Perhaps I will hike that area next time. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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Bear Creek |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | The creek never dries out near Club Cabin. |
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Sheep Creek Seep |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | This seep is a lousy place to find water, further up the trail water can be found. | | _____________________
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