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| Hiking | 9.39 Miles |
592 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.39 Miles | 3 Hrs 54 Mns | | 2.41 mph |
| 592 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Most people start their hike at the Sandys Canyon Trailhead. But I like doing my own thing, finding my own way & proving things to myself, so I went a different route: I decided instead to start from near the Lake Mary Picnic Area.
On satellite recon, I had noticed some odd structural bits on Walnut Creek, just north of Lake Mary Rd. To me, they looked like an old, collapsed dam. So, I decided to make that whazzit? my trailhead, hiking an extra mile, each way, more than I would from the official trailhead.
I saw no pavement remains on FR 9487B, nothing was obvious on satellite recon, and I could find nothing on google. Maybe a very old alignment of Lake Mary Rd.? Let me know if you have an info on the bridge!
Walnut Creek was easy going at first, but that soon changed. The rocks got larger, require much greater care with footing. Footing made all the more problematic by an exponential increase in vegetation, nearly all of the trippy variety: The wait-a-minute vines were dense, often waist deep, and with little barbs along the leaf edges. Not enough to stab you, but enough to catch on clothing. Even if your feet don’t get caught in something, wait-a-minute vines dragging on your clothing, arms or hiking poles can be enough to throw one off balance. One of my two falls happened that way.
A mile and half into my hike, I found a trail.(Which, it turns out, is from the Canyon Vista Campground to ‘The Pit’ climbing area.) I eventually found my way up a high class 2 crack in The Pit's wall to AZT #31.
Three miles into my hike, I finally hooked up with Sandys Canyon Trail #137. Sandys Canyon Trail was as nice as could be. Unless you really enjoy bushwhacking and mosquitoes — I got eaten alive! — avoid the route I took.
There were flowers of dozens of varieties everywhere. However, most of the flowers were small, and the patches normally not very large, so the color was not dense, but more dappled. Lots of bugs were chowing down on petals and other flower parts. I saw a couple making baby bugs. 
You’ve heard of ‘slot canyons’, right? Well, this was a slot cave. Narrow, high-ceilinged and deep. At the main entrance, there is a decent sized alcove decorated with graffiti, no doubt by NAU students. From the alcove, the cave gets narrow, but easily navigable. It is much cooler than outdoors, causing the walls to be wet, and slimy, with condensation. 130 ft. in, there is a cavern. To the left is small passage to the outside. (I could see sunlight at the other end.) I could have low-crawled that. Heck, I made it in smaller holes when I explored Webber Mine.
Directly across the cavern from the main passage, is an even narrower passage. Six inches wide, at most. Even narrower than Fat Man’s Pass on South Mountain. Deeper too. I tried squeezing in. Despite turning sideways, I barely fit. No way could I have got past the opening without getting stuck. But then I am 40 lbs. overweight. Have any of you anorexic folks been back in there?
There was enough light to see much of the way into the cave, but not nearly enough to film past the first 30 ft. or so. I had brought a new flashlight with me, after my headlamp & previous flashlight proved so inadequate while exploring Hargan Mine. I was disappointed the flashlight was no brighter. At least it gave the video a spooky, Blair-Witch vibe. 
After checking out the slot cave, I headed back south on Sandys Canyon Trail #137. When I got to where AZT #31 splits off to Marshall Lake (where I came from after my cliff climb), I instead stayed on Trail #137 towards the Sandys Canyon Trailhead. From the trailhead, I followed the power line southeast, basically paralleling Lake Mary Rd. back to my start point on FR 9487B.
p.s. I somehow managed to get sunburned during the eclipse. Totally forgot about it. Actually got my best light while it was happening, at The Pit.
p.p.s. Need recommendation on bright wide beam, but lite, flashlight.
Sandys Canyon Video: [ youtube video ]
Slot Cave Video: [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Tons of flowers, but scattered, not dense. Saw *at least* two dozen different species. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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