Saddle Ridge Trail #14 Photoset • MountainMatt • 2018-03-14 • HikeArizona.COM

Saddle Ridge Trail #14, AZ

	2018-03-14
	12 by MountainMatt

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Saddle Ridge Trail #14

Payson, AZ

Saddle Ridge Trail #14

Payson, AZ

Hiking	21.67 Miles	3,256 AEG

Hiking	21.67 Miles	10 Hrs 21 Mns		2.49 mph
	3,256 ft AEG	1 Hour 38 Mns Break	30 LBS Pack

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Whiterock Mesa - AZT #25

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Some much needed humpday fun deciding on Bull Springs or Polles Mesa, I went for the Polles choice walking halfway down the LF Ranch road since there would be more water options along that trail considering it was a warm day.
Turning the corner of Boardinghouse Canyon I heard what sounded like girls splashing around in water and sure enough 8-10 girls were enjoying the random pools and flowing water in this section.
They were all nurses and part of a wilderness therapy group and backpacked to the Bull Trap cabin the past couple of days, I didn't stay long but probably should have talked more as they were all a big fan of Miss Payton.

LF Ranch was closed to hikers today so I continued on the Saddle Ridge Trail and headed up to Polles.
I stopped at the gem of Polk Spring and stashed some water to lighten my load and relaxed in the idyllic riparian are before continuing out into the sun.
Once up on Polles I left the trail and began my cross country bone hunting expedition and almost immediately was greeted with a nice little two point.
I made my way to most of the tanks and draws on the mesa's south-side, very easy walking and never really had to bushwhack.

Near one of the tanks I encountered the most bizarre arrangement of supplies that had to be hauled in by horseback or even illegally brought in by quad/utv just because of the sheer quantity of gear.
I'm talking enough rations to keep 10 people fed for a month, 20 gallons of water, expensive solar chargers and many other miscellaneous tools and camp supplies.
I saw a coffee cup with an AZ trail association sticker on it so figured maybe its part of a trail maintenance group but wouldn't make sense considering its remote area and the many miles away from the actual AZ trail.
I talked to one of the locals who says he knows of a hunting guide that stashes supplies on the mesa to make future trips easier for clients and himself so as of now that is my best guess.

At 5pm and still many miles to go I picked up my pace on my loop back and surprisingly ended up finding the most sheds with a freakish finale of a trophy coues antler!

Made it back to the road by nightfall and just had couple of headlamp miles back to Doll Baby with perfect weather and a ride waiting for me.

A great and much needed personal day in the Mazzies!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Polk Spring

	Boardinghouse Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Random pools and even flowing water in the middle slickrock section of the canyon.

	Polk Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Basically it’s own creek crystal clear water that’s a tad bit warmer than nearby water sources.

	Rock Creek	Medium flow	Medium flow
	A cool clear healthy creek with solid flow.

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