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| East Clear Creek-Quaking Aspen Loop, AZ | |
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| | East Clear Creek-Quaking Aspen Loop, AZ | | | |
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East Clear Creek-Quaking Aspen Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 9.28 Miles |
600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.28 Miles | 3 Hrs 54 Mns | | 2.38 mph |
| 600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | From AZ-260, drive east on Rim Rd. There’s logging going on around Baker Butte, which has actually improved the road surface. In 5.6 miles, turn left on FR 308. In one mile, park on the left, in the FR 308C triangle.
Hoping to beat lunchtime thunderstorms, so I started hiking at 8:30 a.m. Splitting the difference between FR 308 and FR 308C, I aimed for the low ground. It may not be immediately obvious, but head straight north, and in about 100 yds. the ground will start folding. Stay low.
When canyon crawling, I avoid roads, otherwise what is the point? But after 10 minutes, I picked up FR 308H, which was the low ground in several stretches. For the next 1½ miles, I alternated between the road and 25-50 ft. off to its side, depending on where the flowers were — and there were a lot! 
After 1½ miles, the low point crossed FR 308, which turns north-northwest at West Kehl Canyon, heading towards FR 147 at Poverty Flat. The crossing would be a good place for casual hikers to loop back to the trailhead on FR 308C. Why?
Though there were no major obstacles in the feeder canyon, like Hi Fuller Canyon [ photo ] , nor ungodly tangles of deadfall like Crackerbox Canyon [ photo ] . But travel was slower going than most of my Mogollon Rim canyon crawls. And the feeder canyon got as narrow as 6 ft. I kept my feet dry for awhile, but the point of canyon crawling is to stay low, not mid-slope, so I gave up and just sloshed down the now audibly flowing creek.
Not just terrain, but photography slowed me down. I ended up shooting over 300 photos. Because low & close makes for more interesting photos, that is a lot of up & down. Plus, it had been drizzling for 30 minutes.
When I reached East Clear Creek proper, I found a 4-way intersection: Straight ahead, down ECC. Right, another unnamed side canyon. Back, the way I came. Left, up ECC to Poverty Flat. I turned left. It was easy travel for about 200 yds, but then I encountered the most tangled part my hike: boulders, pools and choking vegetation. I literally canyon crawled. 
By the time I reached a gateless barbed wire fence 3¼ miles into my hike, I had had enough. For the next 2½ miles to Cienega Draw, I either hiked across grassy Poverty Flat, or actually on FR 147.
After 5¾ miles, I realized FR 147 was bending away from my trailhead, so I dropped into Quaking Aspen Canyon at Cienega Draw. The low point wasn’t bad, but looking ahead it looked like it might be closing up, so I bailed 50 ft. up to FR 308K. At 6⅔ miles, I split left onto FR 6108, where the Quaking Aspen Canyon was now a slight crease like I started on.
Less than a ¼ mile later, I split left again, onto FR 308M. Like the other lettered forest roads, it was decommissioned. Really, really decommissioned. In another ¼ mile, I gave up trying to follow FR 308M climbing up through the vegetation to FR 308, which I followed ⅔ mile back to my FR 308C trailhead.
On our way back down to Verde Valley, I spotted a blue Toyota FJ Cruiser with a HikeArizona.com sticker. I wonder who that was?
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/737294955 |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
IThe widest variety, and greatest density of flowers, I’ve found on the Mogollon Rim was between the trailhead and Poverty Flat. What I believe were oxeye daisy (???) were most common. Tons of coneflower for ⅔ mile above the pipe. Fair number of common self heal.
I also photographed silky evening primrose, red cinquefoil, Columbia monkshood, red and yellow pea, New Mexico checkermallow, wild bergamot, pineywoods geranium, alpine false springparsley, alpine leafybract aster, yellow columbine, western dayflower, dandelion, Richardson’s bitterweed (???), Mexican silene, Richardson's geranium, western yarrow, paintbrush, fly agaric mushroom, a MASSIVE cauliflower mushroom, and a half dozen mushroom species I cannot identify.
Species I did not photograph included pygmy bluet, woolly mullein, scarlet penstemon and lupine.
For those keeping track a home, that is at least 31 species! |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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