South Fork of Sheep Creek - 4642 Lasso Loop Photoset • The_Eagle • 2023-02-03 • HikeArizona.COM

South Fork of Sheep Creek - 4642 Lasso Loop, AZ

	2023-02-03
	14 by The_Eagle

South Fork of Sheep Creek - 4642 Lasso Loop

Phoenix, AZ

South Fork of Sheep Creek - 4642 Lasso Loop

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	11.43 Miles	2,373 AEG

Hiking	11.43 Miles	6 Hrs 55 Mns		1.88 mph
	2,373 ft AEG	51 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

Linked

linked

Saddle Mountain Trail #91

Little Saddle Mountain Trail #244

Partners

partners

joebartels

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

It'd been 8 years since I hiked out of the Mormon Grove TH. Time to check out an area that had been on my radar.

FR201 was in decent shape to the point we turned on FR25. FR25 was fine for any vehicle with a bit of clearance. It's rocky in spots and there were 2 flowing shallow creek crossings.

At the TH, 30's and very breezy to start.

Saddle Mountain

Little Saddle Mountain

a use trail and then dropped in the South Fork of Sheep Creek. This is a pretty riparian area with flowing water the entire length we were in there. Bovine use trails got us downstream mainly unscathed.

We had a goal for the day, but slow going made it obvious that we were not going to get there. I'm not Lion when I say we were disappointed. We set a turnaround time of 12:30 which ended up being at a 10' pour off that we were going to have to bypass just short of Tournament Creek.

A steep up and out to 4070 and the new goal of 4642 was in sight. We kicked up a couple of White Tails which solidified the steep route we'd chosen to the top.

Up top on 4642, we had some lunch trying to get out of the wind. [ youtube video ]

From here we went cross country with a goal of checking out Chalk Spring on the way back to the trail. There were long ago use trails through the washes leading to the spring, and even some remnants of wood and tin in the area, but no active spring.

The final drainage we had to cross, south of Marion Spring was the most exhausting for me. Getting down was not a problem. Climbing the other side through the Manzanita Maze was tiring.

Good day in an area I don't get to enough.

	Chalk Spring	Dry	Dry

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

username		X
password		X