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| Barnhardt to S. Fork Deadmans, AZ | |
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| | Barnhardt to S. Fork Deadmans, AZ | | | |
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Barnhardt to S. Fork Deadmans, AZ
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| Backpack | 26.06 Miles |
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| | Backpack | 26.06 Miles | 2 Days | | |
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| partners | | My fall break dedicated to hiking brought me to the Mazzies for my final two days. My only real plan was to stay at Chilson Camp and try to locate some lesser traveled trails in the area for some future back packs and mega day hikes. Karl and Kathy were late additions to hike and could only day hike in Saturday. However, it worked out perfect for my plans as Karl had an interest in the same trail and area as me.
The hike into Chilson Camp was great! The major Falls were flowing, Barnhardt Canyon was roaring, the weather was cool and we made pretty solid time considering I was lugging a slightly heavier pack. From Chilson I hung my gear and switched to my day pack for some pretty rugged "on-trail" exploring. Kathy passed on our trail finding mission and headed up the AZT Trail.
We were actually able to locate the beginnings of Davenport Trail pretty easily and were both surprised at how easy it was to follow despite being over-grown, the victim of several dead fall areas, eroded, steep and rocky. We were able to stay generally on trail until probably the final three to four tenths drop into the South Fork of Deadman's Creek. The hillside is badly overgrown with waste high grass, the footing was not so great, and it was really steep. We did locate the section of trail we had missed on way out. However, on way in the few feet we were off-trail were very rough and probably the roughest and most stressful of day. Mainly because the dogs were long over-due for a water break and I was getting frustrated by the complete lack of trail, or in hindsight my inability to find trail. But as usual the reward was well worth the small struggle as the S. Fork was flowing strong complete with cool little cascades and small swimming holes. The dogs definitely enjoyed the destination and we were both happy to knock out a seldom traveled section of the Davenport Trail.
We got back to Chilson just after three. Chatted it up a bit with Kathy and Karl and then they hit the trail; I began my regular camp routines. The only drawback was water, the dead lizard in my initial source of water eventually led to a quarter mile detour down Brody Seep where the wash was pushing some crystal clear cold rain water, a longer walk, but much better alternative.
Perfect outdoor sleeping conditions. I woke up and went down to the Falls area along the N. Fork. All of the major washes and creeks were still flowing strong along with Deadmans. I know this area is capable of holding much higher levels of water and the Falls only get nicer with more rains and snows. However, the modest amount of run-off in the Mazzies this weekend really transformed the area, a sharp contrast to my previous July visits!
After my short morning hike, my hike out was pretty uneventful. It was nice to have water the whole way for the dogs and Barnhardt felt like a highway after a day of following Karl ;)
The Mazzies capped off a very productive fall break that also included the Primitive Blue Range and Eastern Supes not exactly the easiest terrain and trail to rack up 70 plus miles. In hindsight, I may have been able to squeeze in one more trip, but no worries, Christmas break is right around the corner ;) |
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