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| Backpack | 22.40 Miles |
3,760 AEG |
| | Backpack | 22.40 Miles | 2 Days 4 Hrs | | |
| 3,760 ft AEG | | 38 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | FriendofThundergod invited me to join him and his two friends, Brian and Jim, on Memorial Day weekend for a backpack trip up Haunted Canyon. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. We got started at the Pinto Creek trailhead around 8:00 AM on Saturday. It was a short backpack 5.5 miles up the canyon to a campsite near the north end of the Tony Ranch property where we made camp for the next two nights. A short distance in to the hike we encountered large bear foot prints in the thick dust of the trail. Most of the hike up Haunted Canyon was in the shade of the large trees growing along the creek. Several of the large Arizona Cyprus trees had bear claw marks as high as 6 to 7 feet above ground. You could see indentations in the ground around the tree trunk where the bears stood on their hind legs while scratching the tree. Lush thickets of poison Ivy were scattered along the trail for a couple miles and could not be avoided. About 2.5 miles up the canyon we started seeing water in the creek bottom - a good sign that there would be plenty of water where we planned to camp. We reached our planned campsite by noon and found Jim there waiting for us. He had been there since Thursday. That afternoon after setting up camp we did some exploring a short distance up the Tony's Backyard trail and up the Haunted Canyon trail to its intersection with the Bull Basin Loop Trail.
On Sunday morning friendofThundergod, Brian and I did a 6.4 mile loop hike following the Haunted Canyon trail to its intersection with the Paradise Trail and then following the ridge line west across the top of Government Hill to connect with the Bull Basin Loop Trail for the return. There were the faint remains of an old trail across the Government Hill ridge which helped us navigate through the few brush thickets encountered on this route. We stopped for a snack on top of Government Hill and found a register to sign in the cairn there. I also discovered my lunch was back at camp which seemed to amuse my comrades but they soon offered to share their food. Once we got to the Bull Basin trail it was all downhill back to camp but that section of trail is overgrown with brush and difficult to follow. Fortunately friendofThundergod had been on this trail before and mostly kept us on track so we were soon back at camp.
It's interesting the things you find out about your hiking buddies on a backpacking trip. For instance, who would have guessed that an experienced camper and backpacker like friendofThundergod wouldn't know how to use a can opener - you know, the type on every boyscout knife.  But then who would expect an experienced backpacker to carry canned food? 
Monday morning we packed up and had an easy hike down canyon to the trailhead but it was getting really warm by 11:30 AM when we got to the car. I probably won't be doing any more hiking in the Superstitions until it cools off in the fall. |
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Route Editor
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