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| Hiking | 13.00 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 13.00 Miles | | | |
| | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I hiked Inspiration Point from Gateway with friends and on a whim, solo to Toms Thumb and back. Toms Thumb of course was named after Tom Kreuser the rock climber. My mileage came in around 13 with the side trips I took. It’s still hot in the 90s so was pushing it a bit by the end.
This was sort of a homecoming hike for me and perhaps my favorite MSP area. I moved to Scottsdale in the early 80s after college and worked real estate generally Pinnacle Peak up to Carefree. I first hiked the McDowell Mountains during this time, long before Scottsdale took over. The mountains were owned largely by Kemper Marley a rancher and former partner of Brownie Brown of the Brown’s Ranch. I heard about a place locals called “Kemper Marley’s well”. It was described as a year round mountain spring and I found it one sunny day forty years ago. (aka Indian Spring, Military Spring, Fraser Spring, Mountain Spring) No maps and pre internet, the closest road was Pima and I parked at Pima Acres a subdivision bordering the road. Overland I went towards the mountains. I found the hidden trough (still there) and pipe and followed it all the way up the canyon to the source. There was no trail as we know it back then. The spring was running out the end of a pipe and crystal clear fresh water, something I later was glad to find as my canteen was almost empty. I went on to summit Thompson Peak for the first time via hard bushwhack that day. This area was once known as Brown’s lower ranch and Kemper had a colorful reputation, often in the newspaper. It was an ancient place before that, and petroglyphs still decorate the canyons. I visited a few sites this time and also took a long memorial drink straight from the pipe.
Monsoons have greened the mountains and the Wolfberries are ripe. At the thumb, steward Jack socialized with hikers and was quick with the camera. Having someone up top to tell stories, take pictures and help is a great asset to the preserve. All in all a good trip back to an area that I have not been to in years. |
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| | | More overgrown than I've eve seen it. | | | |
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