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| Hiking | 7.60 Miles |
430 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.60 Miles | 6 Hrs | | 1.27 mph |
| 430 ft AEG | | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | This was my fourth day hike while car camping in the White Mountains roughly 12 miles east of the Mt Baldy Wilderness. The day before I had set up camp in the late afternoon beside a little used ATV/4x4 track that led toward Boneyard Canyon from FR586. This campsite provided easy off-trail hiking access down a wide meadow covered drainage to Boneyard Canyon. I relaxed in camp cooking dinner that evening as the shadows cast by the setting sun slowly enveloped the large meadow gently sloping down to the southeast. Large patches of blue sky were opening up as the afternoon thunderstorm clouds retreated to the east. I was hoping to see some elk venture out into the meadow as dusk approached but no such luck.
The next morning I scanned the meadow for elk shortly after sunrise but only spotted a lone coyote crossing the meadow near camp. He stopped and stared at the camp for sometime before deciding to retreat back to the forest. He would come back at sunrise the next morning with the whole pack to serenade me with their howls. The hike down the drainage towards its confluence with Boneyard Canyon led past a pond (tank) full of water. The drainage narrowed to a canyon with several springs which provided a couple of small pools but the stream bed was mostly dry. The drainage entered Boneyard Canyon where it widened out into a large meadow. A fence indicated this may be private property but I didn't see any signs and my Garmin gps topo map didn't show it as being private. Route Scout's CalTopo did show it as private property so I decided to minimize my intrusion by only crossing the north west corner to continue my planned hike down Boneyard Canyon. A fairly large ranch house with a separate garage and shop was located about a half mile away on the other side of the meadow. A small reservoir, Lake Sierra Blanca, lies on the southeast side of the ranch property. I don't know if the lake has public access. From the lack of cars and boats I would assume not.
I followed Boneyard Creek down stream for about 1.2 miles before turning around. The stream is small enough to leap over except in the slow running stretches where there are wider pools. It looked like a trout stream but all I saw were minnows, crawdads and one unidentified fish about 4 inches long. This is a very picturesque canyon with the stream meandering through lush meadow dotted with wild flowers. There were several small fenced enclosures to protect the wetland habitat. The plants looked just as lush outside the enclosures so I don't see the need to mar this beautiful landscape with those ugly fences. At my turnaround location I encountered two other hikers, the only ones I saw in 4 days. On the way back I continued up Boneyard Canyon past my entry location then looped back to camp. By then the thunderstorm had rolled in and I had to hunker down in a drainage while lightning struck the ridge tops above. Nothing like a couple of flash-booms to add a little excitement to a hike. |
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Route Editor
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