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| Backpack | 22.25 Miles |
4,150 AEG |
| | Backpack | 22.25 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 4,150 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Claire & I had a three day weekend for President’s Day and FOTG wanted to return to Upper Fish Creek. The long weekend & warm temps gave us the perfect chance to explore the area.
We left Tempe on Saturday morning and made the drive to Woodbury Trailhead. The road is bumpy and annoying but in good shape overall. We started hiking the JF Trail around 11am and saw Toddak by the Windmill. He was doing a large day hike from the Tortilla Trailhead. After chatting up with him we made the climb to Tortilla Pass which took some effort with the hot sun beating down and the heavy pack. Once over the pass we cruised down to Angel’s Basin and connected onto the Frog Tanks Trail. We arrived at our camp within the hour. We settled into camp and gathered an obnoxious amount of firewood. The evening was spent making dinner and enjoying the fire.
Our day two started slowly. We planned on day hiking down Fish Creek and knew we had a swimmer within the first half mile. We wanted the sunlight for warmth. We left camp around 9:30am and made the half mile hike to the swimmer. Once there we scoped out the bypass on left. FOTG looked for a bypass on the right and checked out a possible ruin site that yielded some shards but nothing significant. The right bypass was a no go and he returned back to us at the swimmer. While away the girls and I talked and were not too excited about making the cold swim. The left bypass looked sketchy & I was thinking about other options for the day. FOTG came back to us and immediately tossed his boots across the pool and then jumped in and swam across. He reached the other side and didn’t say anything for a long moment. I knew it had to be a cold swim. He got back in the water and hugged the wall where I passed him our packs. I was up next. I slid into the water and felt all the air get sucked out of me! The water was freezing and I quickly swam to the other side where I immediately got into the sunlight to warm up. The girls were up next and were able to hug the wall and with FOTG’s help they were able to keep their upper half out of the pool. Finally we were all across!
From there we went about two miles down Fish Creek. Our going was slow as we rock hopped & crossed back and forth across the creek. We kept dry & took a break near Goat Canyon & decided to turn around and head back for the swimmer. The return flew by and we found ourselves back at the swimmer. I went first and swam across holding my day pack above the water. The water was really cold but doable. Next up was FOTG and then Jackie and finally Claire. It took some work to get Claire’s pack across dry. FOTG stepped up and assisted with Claire’s pack. Thanks Lee I owe you one! Once back across all of us returned to camp.
It was mid-afternoon at this point so we all decided to do a short hike north up Frog Tanks. We hiked a little over a mile and took a break in the creek and then returned to camp. We gathered more firewood and settled in for night two. All of us were tired from the day and turned in relatively early.
On day three we pretty much woke up and tore down camp and started the hike out. The going was much easier with lighter packs. We topped off water at Angel’s Basin and made a couple of short stops to water the dogs. Overall it was an uneventful hike out and were back to the FOTG’s truck around 1:30pm.
This was another fun trip with a great group. I enjoyed Fish Creek but will never hike it again as an out & back. I’d like to check out the lower section near the bridge at some point later this year. It would be ideal during the fall when the leaves are turning. Thanks Lee for organizing and getting us across the swimmer. Wet canyoneering is not my favorite during February! |
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