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| Greenback Peak Circumference, AZ | |
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| | Greenback Peak Circumference, AZ | | | |
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Greenback Peak Circumference, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.10 Miles |
1,135 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.10 Miles | 3 Hrs 49 Mns | | 1.71 mph |
| 1,135 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | Another two-day weekend for Tracey so it's off to cooler climes as well as solitude... we hoped...
Where to go? somewhere in the Sierra Ancha for sure, but where? Hmmm, It's been over 3 years now, about Greenback Peak again? Tracey asked, to which I replied, do you remember all the Manzanita we crashed through? Ok, so we won't be climbing Greenback, let's try following Forest Road 2731 as far as it will go to the southeast of Greenback and see what captures our interest.
So that's what we started out to do. The first 1/3 of the hike was completely uneventful, just following the forest road. Upon reaching the very end we were greeted by an awesome view in almost every direction. Gazing down into Salome Creek, across to Boyer Ridge, Chubb Mountain, Three Sisters Mountain, Red Blanket Peak, Boneyback Peak and of course the other side of Greenback Peak.
Oh man! This is the life!
Ok, so now what, traipse back along the same seldom-used forest road? Ha! No way! That's much too easy, how about we traverse the southern (and yes, steepest) slope of Greenback until we connect with Forest Road 2733 on the west side of Greenback? Of course, not ever having been on FR 2733, who knows exactly where it is so we'll take it on faith.
While she didn't say it out loud, I could hear Tracey saying Ha! Famous last words!
At that point all I knew was on the other side of Greenback FR 2733 went somewhere along the western side of Greenback, but that was enough to make it worth a try. The first and last part of the southern traverse went pretty well by following reasonably well-traveled game trails.
But the center part of the traverse was a different thing. We were greeted by cat's-claw and the proverbial thickets of Manzanita.
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
While the game trails were still there, they weren't much for trails and we weren't able to squeeze through all the places that deer may have passed through. Without a pack and crawling on all on all fours, maybe... so it just took a bit longer for the dead-ends we had to back-track and detour.
Once out of the thick brush we were greeted by fields and fields of yellow flowers.... and billions of bees. Ok, maybe millions, but there were a lot! As long as they were busy bees minding their own business and we did the same, they let us pass peacefully through.
Yes! We found Forest Road 2733!
Although a bit rocky, it was nice to have the clear path of a road again, along with some awesome views to the west along the way. We reconnected back with FR 2731 and followed it back to the Jeep, which we had parked at the FR 236/FR 2731 junction. Even though there was a few sections of 3-4' deep ruts on one incline, the Cherokee could have handled it with ease and could have gone all the way to the end. But if we did that we wouldn't be hiking now, would we?
Plenty of time left for another hike but we figured it was time to find a campsite first. While I really expect to find solitude at Dupont Cabin with all he hunters about, it was worth a try. Nope!
Oh well, if we continue north a half-mile on FR 236 and took a left on old FR 639, a seldom-used dead-end road, we should have no problem being alone. Which is exactly what we did and we were totally alone!
A quick setup of camp with our little back-packing tent, a short siesta and we were off on our hike to Buck Peak... but that's a story for another trip-log.
No video this trip. 
I made up for that with TONS of Greenback Peak photos! Be forewarned, 40% of the photoset is all Greenback. But they will provide viewpoints most folks don't get to see, so take a look. |
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