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| Hiking | 7.51 Miles |
2,033 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.51 Miles | 5 Hrs 25 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 2,033 ft AEG | 45 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | On the second day of hiking in the Pinaleno Mountains I head up to Deadman Canyon to hike the Deadman Canyon Trail to the junction with the Round the Mountain Trail. It is a 10 mile drive on a rocky dirt road to where the trail head is. This road is just as bad as the Marijilda Canyon Road and going is slow since a lot of it is at 10 MPH. Luckily the Rancher that runs Cattle on this land Bulldozed the last 2 miles making it easier to navigate the last section. I talked to the gentleman at the trail head and thanked him for grading it for me, He assured me it wasn't for me..
The trail head isn’t signed but there are two wood posts that look like a good place to start a trail. The route all the way to where you enter into the creek bed is marked with pink ribbons and rock cairns. Even with these markings the very first .5 miles can be hard to locate, especially when the rock cairns and pink ribbons appear to have different opinions. After the first .5 miles the ribbons and rocks get back in sync and the going is clearer. I was surprised by an unexpected sight of Deadman Falls. Pretty impressive and looks like it may need some more exploring on another trip. After about 2.5 miles of steady uphill climb the trail drops into the creek bed. The going is slower here because the ribbons disappear and you appear to be on your own. Lots of bloodletting as you fight your way through dead fall and thorn bushes. On my return route I followed what looked like a trail and was marked by rock cairns occasionally and this route made the going easier. My return GPS route follows that route. Basically the first half of the route up the creek is on the north side and the last half on the south, never really in the creek bed except to cross over. At the junction with the Round the Mountain Trail I saw the remnants of a sign, one wood that marked the RTM Trail and a metal one that I can’t quite read but I like the little hand that points the way to wherever. The RTM trail to the north is marked by rock cairns as it leaves the creek bed but just vanishes in the brush soon after. This trail would require some searching at least on this lower portion. I would not have time to locate this trail and climb the 1600 feet to the ridgeline so I turned around here.
Great trail on would do it again but the drive in is a bit torturous. I may have to do it again to check out Deadman Falls though. Deadman Creek had a light flow. Deadman peak and the massive rock underneath it really impressed me. I know that the mountains are really just rock with some debris covering them but nothing brings it to reality like the massive continuous bolder under Deadman Peak. If you were able to wash away the thin veneer of debris on it what would be left is this huge continuous boulder. This rock is Precambrian in age and floated upward. the north side Deadman Canyon is a totally different structure all metamorphic in nature, probably metamorphosed when this rock to the south of the canyon rose and by probably another massive boulder under it still not exposed. I don't know about others but I was all sorts of excited by this. I know I probably need a life. |
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Route Editor
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