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| Hiking | 7.44 Miles |
2,228 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.44 Miles | 7 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.10 mph |
| 2,228 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 7 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Bear Down Mountain is the second highest peak of this outer northeast grouping of the Bradshaw Mountain range...(Mount Elliott 6980' is about 3 miles south, its high peak). The range runs north to south from Mile Post 275 (Poland Junction) on Highway 69 and peters out by the Stoneridge Country Club in Prescott Valley. Glassford Hill Road is the ranges "mountain divide".
There is a longer, kinder, gentler way to get to this peak. That would be parking at the Charcoal Gulch TH, and taking the Charcoal Gulch Trail #9419 until its junction with Salida Gulch Trail #93, THEN, off trail to the summit ridgeline and return. Then again, if your into pain, if your into shear madness, stupidity, agony, self punishment, and have an extreme affinity for off-trail bushwacking, and when I say "bush wacking" I mean yeah, your BUSH WHACKING.... you take the wicked crazy stupid route we did. We knew this going in...it was all about the "mine" add-on. Had to check out that mine.
We parked on Shirley Lane and had to cross private property for 1/4 mile to connect onto trail 9405. "Security Cameras in Use" and "No Trespassing", yeah, will skip that property, the vacant mobil home that looks like its going to fall down, yeah lets cut their. Trail 9405 was a nice, fat, quad trail, took us right to Fain Tank which was bone dry, as it went into the drainage of an unnamed mini-canyon, it narrowed into a foot trail and was heavily wooded. As bright and sunny as it was when we started the shade of the trees was a treat. We spent some considerable time looking for the unnamed spring in hopes to waypoint it. Not a chance. Bone dry. We could have stayed on 9405 and wrapped up and around and connect with 9419 south of Bear Down but we had our sights set on a large mine tailing pile as noted on USGS maps and Google Earth (we got a visual on the tailings pile just after Fain tank). Almost immediately, the drainage became a full on bushwack. Amy went straight for it on south of the drainage, I continued on the drainage and flanked from the north. Either way was pretty brutal. She had an advantage: long pants, long sleeves and shin guards. Stupid me "shorts for the memories" and short sleeves. We met up at the top of the tailings pile, no mine. All that work for nothing. The mine was a bust. Busted pumpkin for nothing. The tailings pile was at 6005' the ridge junction of 9419 & 83 was at 6607'. We were going to have climb another 600' in elevation gain of all balls bush whack.
Amy stayed to the south and center of ridge while I was trying to move true West and on its north side. She beat me to the top of this unnamed ridge by about 10 minutes where we took our first break. After 15 minutes of chowing down on some homemade turkey jerkey, pumpkin seeds, tamarind seed, and shredded coconut we pressed on. We connected onto 9419 then headed north until it junctioned with 83. We were on the Bear Down Mountain ridgeline. We stumbled upon a "pet cemetery" of 3 buried dogs right off the 83 & 9419 junction. The 83 meandered along the ridge which was an absolute delight from the hell we just came up. Studying this formerly unnamed path I knew that it would eventually bank west and drop and this would be where we press NW to summit. Amy waypointed the summit turnoff and measured it as 660' predominately rock climb and boulder hop with prickly pear land mines. Feeling completely drained, I told her it was going to be the longest 660' of my life. We kept screaming "Bear Down". Its summit ridgeline was about 1/3 mile with 4 up and down mini-peaks. Its true summit had to be the 3rd one down, great. We set a summit register and logged its first entry. Polished off a grapefruit and popped open to share my last quart of water with the dog before the daunting task of making a beeline route back to the car.
We took the north face down to the Charcoal Gulch, about 1100' in drop with the wicked evil catclaw. Down in the drainage the dog found water and got his second wind. He was happy. I saved my last cup of water as the reward for the 250' climb onto the Charcoal ridge summit crest. Ahhh, no more elevation gain. We were chasing the sun. This was one long day.
Bear Down Mountain can be a great hike via the 9419 trail and just off trailing the summit ridgeline. |
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"Before there was a trail..... there was no trail" |
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