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| Hiking | 6.00 Miles |
2,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,100 ft AEG | | 6 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I pre-hydrated about 2.5 quarts of water. The dog chose not to hydrate. We started out along the Eugene Gulch from Poland Road. As Poland road quickly curves from West to East in a little loop, there is a clearing there with a fire ring (about 3.5 miles from Highway 69). This was our starting point. There is a jeep trail leading to Eugene mine that is on the north side of the clearing. We stayed in the gulch and right where it bisected with the jeep trail is where we banked north. The Eugene Gulch offered the usual boulder hopping and what not, as usual, the dog led, he tends to know "whats up" so I followed his lead. He decided to bank right and go north a bit too soon, but that was okay..... topo maps and satellite imagery showed some mines worthy of checking out along the way.
Had we stayed on the road about another 1/3rd of mile the jeep trail had another jeep trail that made a quick left turn (north) which turns into a trail (we captured this on the way back but for only about 1/4 mile of it). For our launch we stayed inside the drainage it was "bushwhack central". At times wildlife trailish. No view of Mt. Elliott, at least not until we topped the left ridgeline. Occasional views behind showed some of the homes and ranches along Poland Road (Breezy Pines). The view to Elliott looked pretty menacing...like it was saying "come and get me". At 0.8 miles we were 1 hour into our trip. We were in full sun and the dog was panting. I figured I would re-route our trip to Ticonderoga Gulch and "bag and tag" the Elliott Spring and give Tyson a chance to hydrate and cool off (he loves water). We stumbled upon trail 9429 at 1.1 miles which fattened up into a jeep trail. we had missed it at the start, but then again, was not really looking for it either.
I knew 9429 would take us over to 9404T and intersections of other jeep trails not named. Once we were above the Ticonderoga Gulch there was big old tree with a fire ring nearby which overlooked the Gulch. We meandered down into the Gulch and traveled West to find Elliott Spring. I heard a big splash, Tyson was cooling off and slurping as much as water as he possibly could. He was pretty happy at this point. I drank the quart I had and quickly refilled it. We followed the Gulch which was a running, babbling brook (about a gallon per minute). We bushwacked the hell out of the drainage, which, at times opened up with granite slab clearings with little pools galore.
The original plan was to make the ascent into the west drainage (3 o clock of the summit). I knew Ticonderoga veered NNW and would take us out of the way. At 2 1/4 miles decided to bee line WSW onto a ridgeline. Once again "bushwack central" in full sun. You really have to have an affinity for thorny chaparral or catclaw to tackle this adventure. The elevation gain was brutal and punishing. Once we got over to the drainage there was shade on the north face, ohh what a relief. This was not the drainage that was part of the planned route. At about 2.8 miles it was rock climbing and negotiating with prickly pear. Ohh how we love those little gems of love. At times I got the look from Tyson, like... "you gunna clear that up for me or what?". Lovely. This was a great climb onto north ridge of summit. All cleared up for you guys, your welcome. Once on the north ridgeline the views opened up to Mount Union, Mount Davis, Mount Tritle, Spruce Mountain, Lynx Lake, Granite Mountain, Glassford Hill, Bear Down Mountain (covering up Sun Devil Peak), Prescott Valley, SF Peaks, Dewey-Humboldt, Highway 169, Highway 69, and Mayer. There were little patches of snow that Tyson and I took full advantage of. The summit had a clearing under a tree with stacked rocks for a tent area. There was also a fire ring. No register noted, until now. I planted summit register and stuffed it some knick knacks like a lighter, band aids, Bucky's Casino Poker Chip, Heat pack, and a XXXXXX with "BobP's" name on it. There is also a little bottle of Absolut Vodka for Chumley and a 40 cal round. I guess the next triplog will muse us with what the "XXXXXX" is....
I took a 15 minute power nap on this tent clearing giving Tyson a chance to settle down. He licked all the sweat off my head and face. Thanks boss. Starting to get cold and a tad windy we went back down the drainage we came up. That was a mistake. It was the wrong drainage. Once we got down, we had to go up and over Elliott's east ridgeline (6400' to 6000'). Totally done with prickly pear. Totally done with chaparral. Exhausted. Choose to stop often. At one point cramped up and layed down for 10 minutes. Hate that. We stayed on the ridge until it connected with the north-south drainage which eventually connected with that unnamed trail which turned into a jeep trail, which connected onto the Eugene Gulch jeep trail. So happy to see the Yukon with its beautiful AZ pin striping. |
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"Before there was a trail..... there was no trail" |
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