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| Hiking | 24.67 Miles |
4,850 AEG |
| | Hiking | 24.67 Miles | | | |
| 4,850 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This is Arizona winter hiking and Boondocking at it's best!
For Thanksgiving weekend 2015 we decided to explore the Florence Kelvin Highway area that boarders AZT Section 16 called "The Gila River Canyons." To start with I have visited almost every corner of Arizona yet I had never heard much about this area. A friend told me about the Ghost Town of Cochran on the Gila River and I decided that it was time to discover this hidden gem!
The first trip out was a quick one to search for potential places to set up our Boondocking base camp east of the Town of Florence and to plan for a Boy Scout Troop outing. The Florence Kelvin Highway leads east of town paved all the way to it's turnoff to the 12 mile easy going dirt road to Cochran. There were 4 to 5 great places to camp with a trailer along the way to Cochran. The well graded road is easy going up to around the 8 mile point. Then it gets rougher very scenic as it climbs a ridge and starts to descend down towards the Gila River and Cochran Ghost Town site. I would NOT recommend hauling any large trailers past the 8 mile wash! Just east before arriving at the Ghost Town of Cochran you see the Coke Ovens across the Gila River in the distance. The only thing left in Cochran are the Railroad tracks and foundations of a couple buildings, perhaps one of them was the old general store and town post office? There are mature trees providing abundant shaded tent camping and we were able to get a small supply trailer filled with the Boy Scouts equipment in, yet it is somewhat four wheelish at the very last wash entering Cochran.
We decided to enjoy a nice Boondocking spot found nearby a four wheel drive mountain at the beginning of the Cochran Road and named it appropriately as; "The Boulders" because of the huge granite boulder field it sits on the edge of. The kids had a blast enjoying the wonderland of boulder climbing just outside our front door! Sunset was stunning and made for a fantastic base camp to explore the area from.
Saturday November 28, 2015
The Arizona Trail Section 16 Gila River Canyons, actually starts at the end of the Florence Kelvin highway at the Kelvin Bridge. Our plan of attack started at the Florence Kelvin Trailhead actually located inside segment 15 just a few miles before section 16 starts. Our kiddos can easily hike 6 to 7 miles now so we choose this as our starting point, leaving a second truck shuttle ending bug out point just east of the beautiful A-Diamond Ranch parked a safe distance away from yet alongside the railroad tracks, a couple miles from the Trailhead (see the attached picture map).
Hiking from the Florence Kelvin Trailhead was great from the get go! We were a little worried about the reported "Wasp Nest" in a Saguaro Cactus near the start heading towards Kelvin but saw what seemed to be only remains of their former colony.
Late October to Spring is a fantastic time to hike this section because of the cool crisp morning and perfect temperatures. After crossing a few ridges the trail switchbacks down lower to the 1773 foot level near the Kelvin Bridge (Mile 265 from Mexico)as it makes it's way across the Gila River. Cooler winter temps had only begun to change the green leaves to golden brown as we made our way across the Gila River taking plenty of pictures along the way! Not far from the bridged crossing we arrived at the brand new giant Arizona Trail Gila River Section parking lot which would make another fantastic Boondocking base camp for anyone hauling in a camping or staging a horse trailer! There was actually only one other party that overnighted in a fully contained truck camper, when we passed through. There is also a porta potty about a quarter mile down river from the parking lot. We took a set of sweet family pictures at the brand new AZT Gate!
In no time at all the AZT climbs up into the mountains overlooking the Kelvin area and the Sonoran Desert scenery takes the center stage! Please enjoy the multitude of pictures we snapped along the way. I was very impressed with our six year old Bianka and our other children Ben and Bryce as there was very little complaining as they took the elevation gains as if they were nothing hard at all! It was awesome to look back down towards the Gila River and see what we had accomplished in climbing up nearly 500 feet in elevation! Just as the kids started thinking they could go no further, we started descending sharply lower towards the AZT "Dale Shewalter" Completion Marker and our planed bug out Railroad Bridged Gila River Crossing point! All in all six and one half more miles in the books!
January 2nd, 2016 Happy New Year!
Our plan of attack for the next segment started a month ago by exploring the area by truck from the Florence Kelvin Highway turnoff to the radio towers. First we took in the 360* degree views from the radio tower peak. We could see the entire Gila River AZT section 16 we would eventually be hiking down below. This included the dominant Greyback Mountain to the west as well as Battle Axe Butte across The Gila following Walnut Canyon, Copper Butte Mine and The Spine inside White Canyon Wilderness were also standing out.
Along the road to the Radio Towers is a turnoff to the west just underneath some power lines that leads to a substation where you open and close a gate behind you then take the rough dirt road to the north of the substation about a quarter mile later the river access road that leads due north past the east of prominent Greyback Mountain down to the opposite bank from Walnut Canyon. The worst section of this backroad is from the substation for about the next mile until it joins the wash. Just take it slow and easy through the rutted out section that is not quite four wheel but close! From the wash to the Gila River it is very easy going and smooth. Upon reaching the Gila River and train tracks on our first exploration we continued on east along the railroad tracks to a horse corral (one mile) and the road continued underneath the tracks to a Jeep Crossing. This area was shallow and there was a Jeeping Club enjoying lunch after coming in from the Battle Axe side across the river. This area makes for a fantastic tent camp with shady trees on the north side of the Gila, as it is easily accessible from the Arizona Trail. Furthermore it makes for the best location to stage a car shuttle as it is shallow and can be easily crossed during the winter months.
We however chose to stage our truck on the south side of the Walnut Canyon / Gila River Crossing underneath the railroad tracks. This area was a mile closer to Cochran where we would start our hike! Seemed like a good idea at the time but we found out later that our planned 6 mile hike would turn into an 8 miler some of which by moonlight, because the river crossing at Walnut was too deep and swift flowing. Bottom line consider the Battle Axe crossing your shallow and safe bet!
We started our days hike from the Ghost Town of Cochran a bit late around 11:00 AM after staging our truck earlier. The Gila River Crossing was only knee deep so we took off our shoes and I carried Bianka across while Ben, Bryce, and Karolien followed. After drying off our feet and putting our dry shoes back on in no time at all we bushwhacked up to the AZT Red Hills corner junction and set our sights eastward after a couple pictures. The first cool thing we reached was a small mining cave and then there were the many Saguaro Cactus photos. In no time at all we were climbed up to a very nice overlook where we could look down on the river and see from whence we came! Around 1:30 to 2:00 we ate lunch at a shady and rather green wash slope which was a little over half way. Around this time a heard of 20 bikers made their way by us, saying they started at the Picketpost Trailhead earlier. The route seemed to me to be rather technical at places so I have great respect for anyone who does these passages on mountain bikes!
After a relaxing lunch we picked up the pace and were impressed with some granit boulders and beautiful vistas lined with plenty Saguaros as we made our way towards Walnut Canyon. The late evening sun made for some great pictures and set as we arrived at Walnut Creek. We quickly arrived at our planned river crossing and could see our truck under the tracks on the other side, yet the water was somewhat deep and swift flowing so we decided to play it safe and go to the shallow crossing. We hiked back a quarter mile to the AZT which is a double track old 4X4 Jeep trail trekking east a mile further east then back down to the river we followed the Jeep tracks to (Mile 274.8 from Mexico) After making the successful ford we still had to back track yet another mile or so to our truck following the railroad tracks by moon and starlight. The crossing was easy and shallow, I carried Bianka and this time we kept our shoes on for better traction since it was dark outside. The final mile back was tiring yet the kids handled it without complaints. In no time at all we were back safely at our truck after logging in about 8 miles on the extended day. This would leave us with just the section at the shallow Battle Axe Crossing (Mile 274.8 to 268.4 from Mexico) at where the train bridge crosses the Gila River near the A-Diamond Ranch as our last 6 to 7 miles left to finish on our next journey!
January 16th, 2016:
Today's journey started with a six mile, two truck shuttle out to the Battle Axe Butte "Safe Shallow Crossing" (See picture # 211 of my map marked X....Located on the "Official AZT Maps" as roughly Mile 274.8 from Mexico). The map is slightly incorrect where it places a blue dot nearby a ATV Barrier, this barrier is located in the next wash WEST of the one on the map. We took a picture at sunset by this barrier!
Recently we had 4 days of rain in early January 2016 so we knew the crossing would have a bit more water but it was very minimal compared to the ankle deep water we experienced here on January 2nd's hike. After a couple quick pictures of the crossing's condition we staged one truck on the north side of the crossing so that after our hike we were not going to get wet, and then made our way back one mile alongside the Rail Road Tracks and then back up the most westerly road to the power substation following the power lines east to the well graded Radio Tower side road and finally back on the Florence Kelvin Highway (a total of six miles). We then headed to our first and original "Bug Out Spot" east of the A-Diamond Ranch, parking along-side, yet a safe distance from the Rail Road Tracks.
Hitting the rails at 11:00 AM we slowly stepped our way across the Train Bridge one by one until we could see a couple of Equestrians coming down the AZT Completion Ridge on the other side. A small trail off to the NE side of the bridge leads directly over to rejoin the AZT. There is a shallow river crossing just south of the bridge and a small scramble down from the tracks to the north before you reach the bridge walking from A-Diamond. That scramble goes underneath the bridge to the south shallow Gila River crossing point pictured.
Once back on the Arizona Trail were able to greet the two Equestrians who moved from Colorado to near Patagonia on their horses named Sugar and Spice, and Bianka loved petting them! They made the early morning ride starting at the Florence Kelvin Trailhead and were at the train bridge six miles later approaching noon! From the train bridge they were going to turn around and hoof back. We continued hiking west uphill where the train bridge took center stage in pictures. The kids liked playing on Granite boulders and around the corner hiking northwards we found literally thousands of Saguaro lining a ridge which I thought was called "The Spine" but that would come up later on. After making our way over to the saddle turning back west we enjoyed a shady, green grassy snack break of 20 or so minutes.
Once back on the trail west we climbed in and out of a few washes and underneath the power lines over some ridges and then down into yet another very nice shaded lunch location inside a rather large river wash, located just east of "The Spine." Here we enjoyed Karolien's Gourmet Lunch! Cheese and Crackers with Summer Sausage, Avocado. and more! Hiking back out of the river wash we started up hill entering "The Spine" and into the short Gila River Canyon section. I call it this because of the Topographical Relief shaded areas being rather steep and "Canyon Like" here! (See the panorama picture). Bianka and I took the lead far ahead of the rest here and enjoyed the views along the way, setting a small Geo-Cache for Karolien and the boys to find when they passed by! The late afternoon sun was moving towards sunset so we picked up the pace and in no time at all we first ascended towards river level then back up sharply before the Gila River Canyon area opened back up to beautiful sunset views as we entered Battle Axe Jeep Trail wash towards our truck shuttle at the river crossing! (Located on the "Official AZT Maps" as Mile 274.8 from Mexico). The map is slightly incorrect where it places a blue dot nearby a ATV Barrier, this barrier is located in the next wash WEST of the one on the map. We took a picture at sunset by this barrier! It is that wash that leads to the safe shallow crossing and nice tenting riverside location.
This linked together our January 2nd, 2016 and our hike from late November 2015 thus completing our journey along the Gila River from The Florence Kelvin Trailhead to Cochran Corner! We are currently planning on coming back in late February or March or later on in Spring. Access to this section from Cochran Corner leading north towards Picketpost for our family will be segmented at Telegraph Canyon. From Telegraph Canyon to Cochran Corner requires an overnight for our young hikers who are only up to 8 miles maximum so breaking this next one up camping under the stars should be fun! The distance is only 12 or 13 miles yet there is limited access points other than Telegraph Canyon, so we will plan a pleasure hike with packs for the first time and overnight camping...........coming soon!  |
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