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| Hiking | 9.10 Miles |
1,898 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.10 Miles | 5 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.60 mph |
| 1,898 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 5 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Hiking the AZ Trail Passage 14 from the Beehive Well to Freeman Road, Phil and Brian bagging Antelope Peak.
Perfect weather to hike some of the AZ Trail around Oracle. Our trip was originally scheduled for four days in which we would hike everything from American Flag Ranch up to Freeman Road, 40 miles, give or take, but alas, was not to be as we didn’t get down to Oracle until day 2 so we bypassed the 12 mile stretch from Tiger Mine TH(mm=207) to mm= 219 but we did a small portion of Oracle Ridge until we realized we were going the wrong way and some of us added side trips and peak baggings so we got up to about 30 miles. Trail angels left water at a few of the trailheads. While there were gallons upon gallons of water from a spring or two crossing Putnam Wash, and running down the side a few inches deep, we believe the tank and water at Beehive Well belongs to the rancher there. Antelope Tank appeared full but we didn't walk over and look closely.
One idea we learned from the Apache’s, which takes some training to master. Take a mouthful of water, don’t drink it but start hiking. When you’re done hiking, spit out the water, which has forced you to breathe long and slow breaths through your nose. It took some effort to summit some of those ridges with what I’ll call a 1 Apache mouthful. Some hills took 4 mouths full. It’s an acquired capability but it does slow you down, calm you down and make your hike more consistent.
We didn’t see many people out on the trail. It was 32 degrees in the morning cold spots and 68 degrees in the warmer ones, which, at the end of a hike, is almost too warm. Putnam Wash was a delight, with pretty good footing for a wash(although we used 4WD for some of the deeper sand sections) featuring some canyons and a surprising amount of water. We drove six miles up the wash to Beehive Well which had a tank full of water which we estimated held 75,000 gallons, about 8 gals a day, for the each of the couple of dozen cattle we saw, assuming no evaporation, which might be a little extreme. One of the fords crossing the San Pedro River by Dudleyville was washed away which would have provided access from the north and although there was a Road Closed sign on Camino Rio off to the side, that ford was actually passable with a 4WD, high clearance vehicle.
Four fighter jets came out of nowhere during the hike, from below the level of the high ridges, a delightful surprise. There were acres upon acres of chain fruit cholla and a several very white thorny bushes with no leaves as of yet. Saguaro looked numerous and very healthy below the 3600 foot level. I’ll include a picture of one growing out of rocks and seemingly winning the battle for space, its roots knocking rock off the wall.
Our long stopped time was created by Phil and Brian hiking up Antelope Peak while Virginia and I lingered over lunch. After about 7 miles on a nice trail, you take a two track up to Freeman Rd. and the parking lot to finish the hike. |
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Wildflowers Observation None
Lots of juniper, live oak, saguaros, chain fruit and the old faithful, prickly pear. No wild flowers that I noticed. |
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