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| Visiting the Twins - Sandy and Deadman, AZ | |
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| | Visiting the Twins - Sandy and Deadman, AZ | | | |
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Visiting the Twins - Sandy and Deadman, AZ
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| Hiking | 22.02 Miles |
5,807 AEG |
| | Hiking | 22.02 Miles | 13 Hrs 7 Mns | | 1.82 mph |
| 5,807 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | 14 LBS Pack | | |
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| Partners |
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[ show ]
| partners | | This destination is in my top 5 in the state.
Every year I try to plan something around the snow melt in the Mazatzals to take advantage of the geology.
We twisted it up a bit this year and turned it into loop since @chumley did battle with the Catclaw on the Half Moon Trail.
A 7am start at the Barndart Trailhead and we met @The_N, Nick awakening and waiting for @DallinW and the rest of the gang to arrive for their Backpack.
The Barnhardt Trail is a beauty. It's always a great one in first light. With the snow melt going on right now in the Mazatzals, everything is running. Hawaiian Mist and the Big Kahuna were flowing as strong as I've ever seen them flow.
A huge thanks to whatever army cleared the trail above Big Kahuna falls. It's a superhighway now. 
The Mazatzals Divide has seen some love, but there is a few areas where you have to skirt around fallen trees.
The drop into the unnamed canyon to get to North Fork of Deadmans, took longer than in past years. This wasdue to much higher water flow than previous years. Where we'd been able to walk in the bottom of the canyon in past years, we had to skirt around this time.
Even in Deadmans, though travel was easier that the unnamed canyon, it was still slower than in the past.
We checked out the Lower Deadman Falls, then made our escape to the top.
Shortly after we arrived at the top, we met two couples, backpacking and spending the night there.
Both Deadman Falls and Sandy Saddle Falls were flowing as good as I've ever seen. We had some lunch at the top of Deadman Falls and then started over to Rock Creek Trail.
Some Falls  [ youtube video ] .
From the Mazatzal Divide trail, it's 0.60 mile and 600' up to the high point of the hike, at better than 7,000'. There are Cairns that mark the "Area" this trail is supposed to start at the Mazatzal Divide trail, but no real sign of a trail. We tried following the GPS track, but the lower 1/3rd is almost impossible. The manzanita just beat the crap out of your shins all the way up. Part way up you start see the tread of the old trail, but it's still a slog through the brush.
From the top to Rock Creek Falls, it's about 1.5 miles while loosing 900' in elevation. Rock Creek falls are impressive, but dwarfed by what we just came from.
We had a bit of trouble finding the start of the Half Moon Trail. After a few false starts we were off like a heard of Turtles. This trail was easy to follow for the most part, thanks to senior @Chumley and a chain saw. We lost our sunlight while crossing Rock Creek, having to wade through this one as well as Barnhart Creek on the exit. There was no keeping dry on those two.
A long, hard beautiful day in the Mazatzals with Brush Commander Bartels and the Turtle Express! |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Chilson Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Did not go off trail to check, but the trail below was wet | | _____________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry  |
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