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| Hiking | 13.67 Miles |
2,738 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.67 Miles | 5 Hrs 59 Mns | | 2.53 mph |
| 2,738 ft AEG | 35 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Got this idea from a loop that @The_Eagle did about 10 years ago. Arrived at the Salt Flat TH at about 10 AM. It was in the low 30's. There was just one other truck parked with no one present.
Started out on Nelson Trail for just a bit. When I planned this out my thought was to go clockwise, but ended up changing my mind at the last minute. That may in fact be the better way to go in retrospect.
Just before the Pine Flat Trail takes off into Beehouse Canyon I ran into a young couple who were camping practically right on the trail. About 20 feet past their campsite was the entrance to the Canyon. Beehouse falls nicely at the midpoint of the best and worst of today.
Pine Flat meets Shortcut Trail at the top of a rocky mesa and traverses this mesa for a relatively uninteresting 5 miles or so. This is rocky, open ground with some manzanita, juniper and the occasional pine tree to mix things up. Not gonna lie in saying that Shortcut was pretty boring.
The entire world changes at about 6.5 miles entering the upper sections of the southern part of Verde Rim Trail. In my humble opinion these are some of the most fantastic views that I have seen in Arizona. Better than Pine Mountain summit. I really don't know what to say other than that all our favorite ranges were front and center. No Grand Canyon, but pretty much everything else. These views along this portion of the trail were the first unobstructed views of the day and really took my breath away.
From here the Verde Rim Trail that leads to Pine Mountain was steep and brushy. I didn't have too many issues, but i think downhill might be a better choice for this section. Pine Mountain summit is flat and there was a soft spot to rest for a couple of minutes. The western views are obstructed from this vantage point by another mountain and young oak.
Willow Creek Trail is about a third burned but the sections that aren't burned are pretty glades of predominantly pine forest.
Everything I saw today was dry except at the lower elevations where Nelson Spring is running incredibly strong.
Finally a word on the roads in. CR 171 is decent with some washboarding. Things get worse on Dugas, but still Subaru-able. Once you turn onto FR 68 the road is just a rocky, tough Arizona forest service road. High Clearance absolutely, but how high? My truck did fine...no worries and I didn't need 4WD once.
Things were special enough in this wilderness to start working towards a multi day backpack incorporating Cedar Bench Wilderness which is connected at its southern end by FR 68G which to the south terminates close to the northern end of the Verde Rim Trail in the Pine Mountain Wilderness. |
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Wildflower seed in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again |
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