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| Hiking | 14.86 Miles |
2,337 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.86 Miles | 6 Hrs 12 Mns | | 2.42 mph |
| 2,337 ft AEG | 4 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | A couple years ago, while bushwhacking down from the Skull Mesa ruins, one of my adventure buddies and I decided it would be fun to try bushwhacking all the way up Matty's Fork from Trail 4 to Quien Sabe trail. We finally decided to make it happen.
To get to where Matty's Fork crosses Trail 4, it's about 5.5 miles from Seven Springs, or about 6.5 from Spur Cross. We decided to start from Seven Springs, since it's more scenic up there anyways. Saw some cattle down in the narrow part of Cave Creek, which is a shame. More on that later.
Heading up Matty's Fork, the flow in the creek was light at first, with algae. Saw some nice ponds in some areas. Some areas were dry, but there was flow in most of it. Farther up, the water started to get colder (and clearer).
Things got interesting about half way up, where there is a narrow section with some small waterfalls, and one very refreshing-looking pool that you have to do some very light scrambling to bypass. It was really a nice little stretch of creek, and a little unexpected considering I had never heard anything about this place.
Upstream from the narrows, some faint paths appear, some of which seemed like trail that was at one point actually built. Shortly after that, we ran into what seems like an old homestead (or grow op) with a picnic table and a shack that is about to fall over. It has been around since before the early 90s, based on dates carved into the wood. Really interesting, but slightly eerie, place.
Past the cabin the creekbed starts to narrow, resulting in more plants to navigate, but still nothing terrible. Eventually we hit Quien Sabe trail, and took a break before the grunt up the hill.
Half way up the climb on Quien Sabe, we hit a section of the old Jeep road that has been cleared very recently. From there all the way down to the Cartwright Ranch, you can now drive a car on it. It's also cleared down towards Skunk Tank, and there's a cleared road down to a tank higher up the canyon from Skunk Tank, where there was heavy equipment. Someone is obviously doing something out there - my guess is it's cattle-related, and the fact that I saw cattle for the first time down in Cave Creek is not a coincidence. What a shame.
Aside from learning about the recent pillaging of a beautiful area, it was a pretty fun day, and I'll definitely visit Matty's Fork again. It was very pleasant as far as off-trail desert hiking is concerned. |
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Mattys Fork |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Good flow in most of the creek. A few dry stretches. |
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Quien Sabe Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| | | Plenty of water at trail crossing. | | _____________________
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