| |
| Upper Cherry Crk Camping Trip - Day 4, AZ | |
|
| | Upper Cherry Crk Camping Trip - Day 4, AZ | | | |
|
|
Upper Cherry Crk Camping Trip - Day 4, AZ
| | |
|
| Hiking | 6.80 Miles |
2,060 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.80 Miles | | | |
| 2,060 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Woke up to a beautiful sunrise view of McFadden Horse Mountain from my campsite along FR203. After having an unsuccessful attempt to reach some cliff dwellings the day before I decided to go for something more doable - Horse Camp Compound V:1:172. An old road which descended into Cherry Creek from FR203 and then climbed up the east side of the canyon would make it easy and I had a good gps planning track for the off trail section of this hike.
It was a long climb up the east side but there were great views across the canyon to the west side. I took lots of telephoto pictures of cliff faces on the west side looking for cliff dwelling sites. Came up with one that appeared to have ruin walls in a cliff alcove but I forgot to take a zoomed out view for location reference and don't remember where it was located.  Up on top I spotted a long black snake sunning itself in a grassy area. The off trail to the ruin site was relatively easy - no scarey exposure like the hike yesterday and my planning track led me on cow trails through the manzanita thickets. The ruin was located right on my gps waypoint - duh - I had spotted this one on Google Earth while planning my hikes for this trip. Enjoyed snooping through the ruins and having a leisurely lunch sitting on a low ruin wall in the shade of a tree. This hilltop site had great views and the amount and size of the vegetation at this location was amazing.
On the way back I stopped at Cherry Creek to soak my hot feet and drank the last quart of water in my 4 quart Platypus container. Tried out my Sawyer mini-filter for the first time to get a quart of water for the hike up to FR203. The filter part worked good but filling the flat squeeze bag by dipping it into the creek didn't work too well. The next day Lee suggested carrying a cup to dip water and fill the squeeze bag - problem solved.
Back at the car I decided to drive the 7+ miles back up canyon to the Camp Grasshopper site where I would meet up with friendofThundergod Friday evening. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
