DESTINATION Generic 184 Photosets
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| Rock Creek - Bull Basin - Haunted Tony- Loop, AZ | |
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| | Rock Creek - Bull Basin - Haunted Tony- Loop, AZ | | | |
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Rock Creek - Bull Basin - Haunted Tony- Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 19.82 Miles |
4,434 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.82 Miles | 11 Hrs 18 Mns | | 1.88 mph |
| 4,434 ft AEG | 45 Mns Break | 16 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | The drive on FR650 was a first for me. Rumored to be High Clearance but 4 x 4 not required. I concur. High clearance is a must as well as a good set of tires. I only hit the trailer receiver hitch once going down into a steep section. We parked at 8.75 miles in, but I would have thought we'd traveled twice that far. It took us 56 minutes to make the drive from US60 (and I'm not known for driving slow). Past the point where we parked, I would call it 4 x 4 only based on the sharp, steep, loose switchbacks. http://hikearizona.com/photo=400001.
Load the GPS track for this loop hike.
Up FR650 for 3 miles to the decommissioned Rock Creek #195 TH (ie no sign). We were able to get in an extra .5 miles of hiking after passing it up. The beginning is hard to see, but after 100 yards or so down, you can see the tread and it's pretty easy to follow. Rock Creek #195 is cairned pretty well. If you have not seen a Cairn for awhile, you are probably off trail. Now I don't want to mislead you, it is not a Supes Corridor type trail, and takes some trail finding, but is is not the overgrown mess that it's been made out to be. This is actually one of the prettier areas in the Superstitions.... assuming you like trees, water, and total solitude. I clocked 4.3 miles on this trail.
Rock Creek Trail
http://youtu.be/ihlIReiOCeQ
Next up, we made the turn onto the Bull Basin #270 trail.
I enjoyed the climb on the first mile of this trail. The views were top notch, but the views gave way to brush. You hit the highpoint of the loop at 5090' and start steeply downhill. This was my least favorite section of the hike. This Trail was in worse shape than the non-trail we just got off of. It stayed like this until we joined the Haunted Canyon trail at Mile 12.5
Bull Basin #270 Trail
http://youtu.be/JSZj-q-27dQ
The Haunted Canyon #203 trail is a super highway. Flat, picturesque, mountains, trees, running water, nice camping areas... still not a single person seen though. Tony's cabin is interesting. I did not go inside to see that 12 Boy Scouts had signed in earlier in the day. Would like to have spent more time exploring (ie. some rumored cave in the area), but we were burning daylight with more things to see before running out of light.
Haunted Canyon
http://youtu.be/MMTkPh4thFg
Tony's Backyard was a surprise winner., not quite as nice as Rock Creek, but close. I filtered some water and Joe showed me Beaker Falls (I see it now). Joe tells me this is an old Horse trail. It's thin in spots, but has been flagged within the last 2 years.
Tony's Backyard
http://youtu.be/Q7wgY_LS5Y4
A stop at Wood Camp Cabin, in the almost total darkness and we were ready for the trek back out on FR650.
We were both surprised and blown away by the Rock Creek Trail... A must do out there
Lots of sign of Bear, Lion, Deer, Racoon, Coti, and even Honey Bunny tracks were seen. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Blue Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Not sure on actual Spring location, but there was a nice flow in the creek bed in the area of the spring |
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Rock Creek |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Water almost all the way from the western side to Bull Basin. |
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Rock Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Not sure about the spring, but there was a slight flow and nice pools to filter from. |
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Tony Ranch Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Trough was full of filterable water. Covered springbox water looked more appetizing. |
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Upper Haunted Canyon Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Did not investigate the Spring area as it was in thick brush, but there was flow below the springs area leading me to believe the spring was flowing | | _____________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry  |
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