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| Upper West Fork Oak Creek, AZ | | -
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| | Upper West Fork Oak Creek, AZ | | | |
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Upper West Fork Oak Creek, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.58 Miles |
965 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.58 Miles | 4 Hrs 35 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 965 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Having finished up at Secret Mountain with early exit it was only 10am. So I headed down to the Upper West Fork of Oak Creek to explore the canyon. Recent damage to the bridge where FR 231 crosses the creek has prompted forest service to close the road on both sides. The road is partially blocked about mile or so up the FR 231 where I started my hike. I took a side canyon into Upper West Fork which was fairly easy access and cut off some of the mileage which I didn’t mind since West Fork was dry at this point.
Reaching West Fork about 0.9 miles into the hike it was still dry. Continued down West Fork for ¾ mile before seeing any water which was 2 small pools. After that it was dry again and stayed that way for another mile before the water started to show up. Light flow at first but then more water and larger pools. About ½ after seeing first water I hit a chest deep pool but managed to cross. Then I made it no more than 200 feet further and hit another larger pool. Unfortunately I didn’t have any dry bags so this was my turn around point. I tested the depth and swam about half way across the pool and couldn’t touch bottom so time to turn around.
Took an extended break and enjoyed the peace and quiet of this stretch of West Fork…nobody on this section today. Then packed up and headed back the same way. I’ll be back to check this out again and will bring plenty of dry bag gear to manage the pools. |
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Route Editor
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