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| | Moody Point Trail Meander - Sierra Ancha, AZ | | | |
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Moody Point Trail Meander - Sierra Ancha, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.30 Miles |
714 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.30 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 0.66 mph |
| 714 ft AEG | | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | It was the last hiking day of a 7 day camping trip to the Sierra Ancha with Grasshopper. GH wanted to spend the day in camp starting his long process of packing for the return drive the next day. I decided to explore the top of a bench protruding from the hillside sloping down from FR487 on the north side of the Moody Point Trail. On my previous hike down Moody Point Trail I had seen the bench top and noticed that it was mostly clear of the dreaded thickets of New Mexico Locust. My old Garmin Southwest topo map showed an old abandoned trail or road going across this bench which piqued my curiosity and it also looked like it would have been a good place for ancient habitation.
I started out down Moody Point Trail looking for a thorn free route up to the top of the bench. Along the way I explored some small clearings on the south side of the trail - surprised a Coues deer and saw more than a few fresh bear tracks. We had discovered on our hike the previous day on the Reynolds Creek Trail #150 that there are a lot of critters that you never see hiding in the dense thickets of brush on this hillside. Returning on that trail in the afternoon we noticed that our footprints left in a stretch of soft dirt four hours earlier had been completely covered with many different critter tracks - mostly smaller animals and deer.
After descending the trail for about 1.3 miles I found a clearing in the brush going up the hill side to the top of the bench. Huge slaps of red sandstone dotted the bench top. Much of the bench top had been burned off by the wildfire turned into a controlled burn in 2016. I followed the bench for about a half mile zig-zagging back and forth looking for signs of ancient habitation with none found. I also didn't find any sign of the trail/road shown on my Garmin map. A herd of elk was lounging in the shade of some tall pines but quickly vanished into the brush at the edge of the bench. By noon it was starting to get a little too warm for hiking so I decided to lounge in the shade of the pine trees vacated by the elk and cool off before starting the hike back up the hill. Ended up staying there for 1.5 hours playing with my two cameras and my smartphone and enjoying the views. On the way back I had to push my way through about 10 yds of New Mexico Locust to reconnect with the trail.  Even the new shoots have half inch thorns. Although the hike had not produced any new finds it was a relaxing way to end the week. |
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