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| Hiking | 10.61 Miles |
2,331 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.61 Miles | 5 Hrs 36 Mns | | 2.23 mph |
| 2,331 ft AEG | 50 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | After a longtime interest in the "wondrous place" that lies just off to the side of this trail I decided that today would be a good day to give it a go...
Cottonwood and the surrounding are received an inch of rain the night before and upon my arrival at the lower TH the ground was saturated and the skies were still producing a steady sprinkle.
This is my first time hiking on an actual trail in such a long time and I felt like I was on a super highway  Is this how normal people travel?
Anyway it felt good to stretch the legs and gain modest elevation without bushwhacking but the only downside to this beautiful trail was the moron who proceeded to spray paint pointless orange arrows on more boulders than I could count! ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
A quick reminder why my hikes are usually off trail treks far far away from those type of bozos.
Maybe why not far from there I broke off #114 to one of the faint very steep canyoneering trails that lead down to the entrance of the Lower Ward Pocket.
My head was spinning with scenery overload, not only was there the gushing amount of water inside Black Canyon but there were numerous massive ephemeral waterfalls just pouring from every side canyon and drainage, truly a remarkable sight.
I carefully made my way down to the edge to what I believe is part of the lower narrows and peered down into a intimidating deep dark hole just rumbling and roaring with water.
As a matter of fact the Ward Pocket has a quite a fierce and formidable look to it, perhaps the falling sleet and background of clouds and fog just added to the mystique but I can imagine in any light it is certainly quite the sight.
Instead of busting out my camera and working that scene like I should have I for some reason I had the hearty but foolish ambition to hump it up to my goal destination which was near the top of BC #114 and it was already nearly 4pm.
A few miles later I realized as I was not going to make it so instead of going home emptyhanded I decided to descend down for some tripod time into the prominent drainage just before the trail climbs into the manzanita forest.
The remainder of the hike back down was under the guidance of a headlamp and sometime around 7:30pm the skies finally broke and hours of gentle rainfall finally came to a halt which made the rest of the walk down peaceful and pleasant.
My original mission was not accomplished so I'll be back tomorrow better to fix my cravings.
It would be an understatement to say I've been day dreaming about this place all week long, once I get my eyes on a place of this magnitude I become rather infatuated to say the least! |
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