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| Hiking | 6.00 Miles |
1,800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.00 Miles | | | |
| 1,800 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | We ended up doing this blind - woke up at sawmill flats with no signal and didn't feel up to the bushwhack adventure I was planning on doing and it seemed like it could be interesting just by looking at topo. We ended up only going up to the saddle - Carr peak seems like an easy bag with a great view nearby.
Shortly into the hike when you hit the creek it's surprisingly lush, and the contrast with the more typically scrub/pillars on the far side of the canyon makes for a really neat mix of biomes. It's a gentle climb up for the first 1200 feet or so, then increases slightly but it's never a tough slog. Nice views looking down the canyon near the top, and through the trees at the opposite side. A very pleasant surprise! The canyon stayed nicely shaded for most of the hike, and the shoulder on top had some shade trees. There's two short access points to the creek above the dam to some gorgeous little slick rock areas I'd highly recommend.
The trail is heavily overgrown in places, though luckily not very prickly/spiky. There was however quite a lot of poison ivy in the first half or so of the hike. Easily avoidable for the most part, but annoying as it's highly variable in appearance - small trees, medium bushes, once even as a ground cover sort of clover and ranging from bright green to solid yellow to wrinkling orange/brown. Deadfall was an issue, with a few requiring stepping off the trail onto a steep slope or some contortions to get around, and were too large/dense for me to clear effectively.
Finding the trail was never an issue, and the official route here is accurate vs USGS/OSM.
We were in loose long sleeve pants and shirts - changed out of them at the trailhead and stored to be cleaned separately later, then showered after arriving in PHX that evening. No reactions to the ivy though I'm fairly sure I had contact on my poles / clothing at a few points when my guard was let down (there's a lot of plants and some look similar). |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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South Fork Parker Creek |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Moving well at and above the dam, you can hear cascades from the trail and pools are clear etc. Some movement below it, but access is poor. | | | |
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