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| Hiking | 8.58 Miles |
2,225 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.58 Miles | 4 Hrs 59 Mns | | 1.89 mph |
| 2,225 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Took advantage of the perfect weather and decided to try this loop. We had been on the AZT portion of the hike but not the Black Ridge section.
Started the hike on AZT and the relatively new Cross F Ranch Trailhead. The AZT is all canyon as we followed it northbound from the trailhead. The canyon is really nice with some fall color and decent water/pools along the way. I'm assuming it was reliable water source but who knows in summer. We continued up canyon and enjoyed the scenic trail until it eventually leaves the canyon and climbs steeper up to the ridge.
Once up on the ridge we reached our trail junction and departure from the AZT. I've been by the junction several times in the past and really didn't even know there was a junction. The faint trail leaves the junction dropping off the ridge into whole other basin. Compared to the AZT the trail isn't the best but it's on par with the rest of the trails in the Mazatzal.
After reaching the bottom of the basin the trail makes a hard left and ascends up to top of Black Ridge. We took a break on top with some decent views off both sides. After the break followed the trail past Brunson Tank still on the ridge. The one downside to this area was the cow activity which spoiled it a bit.
We followed Black Ridge until it finally reaches a steep descent. This was definitely the steepest part of the trail dropping about 800 feet in a mile. However, the views made up for it as we could see several nice canyons dropping off the ridge. Eventually we hit a road where the AZT comes in from the south but we decided to follow the road back to the trailhead. Good loop hike on some new trail! |
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