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| Hiking | 11.70 Miles |
3,936 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.70 Miles | 4 Hrs 54 Mns | | 2.62 mph |
| 3,936 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | I decided to knock off one of the last few Santa Rita bucket listers on the Madera side of the mountain. While the figure-eightish loop style route I opted for undoubtedly scores high in the creatively department, there are definitely some enhancements I would’ve implemented, had it not been a workday:
-check out some of the nearby mines listed on the topo, which include: the Old Madera Mine and the Lucky Ledge Mine
-pay 2nd visits to: McCleary Peak, 88 Mac, and/or that other big UN peak by Pine Saddle in the direction of Mt. Ian
-continue down the East Sawmill Canyon Trail #146
-continue down the SWEET looking ridgeline that leads down from the smaller prominent point on Florida Peak
If it weren’t a workday, I probably would’ve tackled Florida Peak by way of the Florida Canyon Trail #145… and then ended up riding out that SWEET ridgeline, which extends from the lower prominent point [8142’] of Florida Peak down to UN 7397’; and then exiting the ridgeline such that I’d hit up the Florida Mine site before finally looping around to connect back with the Florida Canyon trail. That would make for one fun loop… and from what I saw, it was extremely well routed… so very tempting! If my vehicle weren’t parked up at Madera, I totally would’ve gone for it.
I also want to check out the East Sawmill Canyon Trail #146. I’ve been told from reliable sources that this trail has been abandoned and is badly overgrown; [and the handful of HAZ reports on this trail hikearizona.com/x.p ... ID=0 seem to confirm what I was told]. However, the short part of it that I traversed en route to Florida Peak was in very good condition, [better than parts of the much more popular 4Springs Trail]. Mind you, I was on the East Sawmill Canyon Trail for only a very short distance; I cannot speak for the rest of it…
And finally, if anyone reads this and is planning to bag Florida Peak, it needs another jar/container for the log book. The old glass container shattered as I had carefully started to remove the rocks that it was resting under. I felt terrible but I definitely think the jar was ready to go… [kind of like when one person is trying for several minutes to unscrew a lid and can’t get it, and then gives it to someone else who barely uses any force before they’re able to unscrew it]. Luckily, I had a heavier duty, Ziploc plastic bag in my hiking pack to keep some of my belongings organized. I removed my belongings, and then took the summit log, along with the few loose papers and pencils, and secured them in the bag; then ziplocked it shut and carefully put it under the rock pile in the same location where the jar had been. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few things here and there... what stood out the most were some NICE patches of yellow Columbine along the creek, in-between Kent & Sylvester Springs. |
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Armour Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Almost nothing; but in a survival situation, you could definitely get something out of the small puddle! |
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Kent Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Bone dry... but the creek that is a few feet away had some nice light flow that could totally be filtered! |
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Sylvester Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | These ratings are hard to apply to the enclosed concrete springs... I gave it the best rating cuz the concrete tank was literally filled to the brim and overflowing. There were bugs on the bottom, but for the concrete springs in the Santa Ritas, this was one of the best [clearest] I've ever seen it. If you have a filter, this would be an awesome water source. | | _____________________
| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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