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| Hiking | 6.50 Miles |
700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.50 Miles | 7 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.04 mph |
| 700 ft AEG | 1 Hour 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | | Never having utilized the Woodbury trailhead and wanting a loop hike that was of moderate difficulty and less than 8 miles long, we chose to do the Whetrock Canyon Loop. To be clear, we didn't actually utilize the Woodbury trailhead. Rather, we parked at the locked gate that blocks the road to the JF ranch. From there we followed a GPS route already posted on HAZ and went in a clockwise direction as we wanted to be sure we didn't miss the left-hand turn to go up Whetrock Canyon (which could happen in you go counter-clockwise). The hike started out rather easy, following along a fenceline and ending up on old FR1928. We passed the mining chute and came across the Superstition Wilderness sign that disallows motorized vehicles, bikes, and, of all things, hang-gliding (which was a first for us all). We continued on what seemed like it was still FR1928 (but could have just been a road used for mining). Around the bend we saw one of two mines we came across during the hike. There wasn't a whole lot to see, just timbers and mine tailings, as the mine had been filled up with dirt. Shortly after the first mine, the road ended and we headed down and to our right to get to Whetrock Canyon. At this point our pace slowed as there was loose rock and time involved finding the best way down. I don't recall if it was before or after entering Whetrock Canyon, we saw the second mine, the dairy truck (how in the world did it get there???), an old refrigerator and a rusty 55-gallon drum. I'll be honest, our time in Whetrock Canyon wasn't exactly fun. It was serious bushwacking with really nasty cat's claw that went right through hiking shirts and pants. And if we crossed that stream once, we must have crossed it a hundred times. We finally got out of the canyon and took a right to head up Fraser Canyon on the Coffee Flat Trail (#108). It was much easier going in Fraser Canyon and we saw the JF Ranch, but by this time we were all kinda' pooped. The last section of the hike was on FR172B and it just went up, and up, and up. Needless to say, we were quite happy to get back to our camp for cold refreshments! I don't think any in the group would recommend this hike to others. But, if you do, note that there isn't much shade and, if there's been a lot of rain (like we've had thus far this year), you should expect Whetrock Canyon to be running high enough to require constant effort to keep your feet dry. On the upside, we did see a very interesting crested saguaro. So, I guess the hike had one redeeming quality. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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| Stephanie and Blake Barnard |
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Route Editor
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