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| Hiking | 7.73 Miles |
1,781 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.73 Miles | 6 Hrs 37 Mns | | 1.58 mph |
| 1,781 ft AEG | 1 Hour 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We tried to hike here early last month but changed plans when the neighborhood parking situation looked like a good chance for a tow, so this time we started from Broadway Trailhead and followed Jacob's Trail over to Spirit Canyon. It was surprisingly windy most of the morning, but it was a quick 2.5 miles on the trail before we turned off and headed into Spirit Canyon. The route was easy to follow early on, not too overgrown and plenty of cairns to follow. I expected more water in the canyon after the rain last week, but the waterfall areas only had a trickle.
We loosely followed the official route, and the first few times we veered slightly off it, we were rewarded with some nice spots. The first time we got off the route, we came across the petroglyph panel near a series of pools, and it felt like a (very) miniature version of Hieroglyphic Canyon without the crowds. Unfortunately, there was some graffiti mixed in with the native rock art--it looked like someone tried unsuccessfully to create some authentic-looking drawings...but it was a nice spot with Flatiron as the backdrop.
[ youtube video ]
We continued up and around the trickling falls and came across an arch with a thick base, then continued up the canyon and veered slightly off the route again, but that ended up leading to the second arch. This one reminded me of a larger version of Fragile Arch near Tortilla Flat--big enough to walk through, but narrow across the top. That was another nice spot with Flatiron in the morning sun framed through the arch. This one had graffiti on the back side--a butchered version of New Hampshire's "Live free or die" state motto written in yellow paint, signed and dated by the word-challenged "artist" in 1981...very random.
We got back on the route again, but the cairns died out and the drainage was more overgrown from that point. Where the official route leaves the drainage and cuts back to the south/southwest along a cliff face, we continued straight up the slope toward a spire a ways below Peak 3763 that we decided would be our turnaround point. Getting up there required hiking up a long talus slope...no brush, but it required took a lot of careful steps going up and especially coming back down as we tried to avoid rockslides and/or knocking boulders loose unto each other...it was nice to be back on solid ground after that.
[ youtube video ]
We followed our same route on the way out and ate lunch under the second arch before heading back to the trail. We had the canyon to ourselves all morning and didn't see anyone until we were back on Jacob's Trail, and then there were plenty...we skipped the side trip up to Broadway Cave on the way out to avoid the crowds. We did see two coyotes on the way out, which was a nice surprise, and there were plenty of wildflowers blooming in all different colors.
Ishamod had to be back by mid-afternoon, and this one worked out well for an interesting, short hike. The off-trail portion was less than three miles but included a lot of great scenery and some cool features with the arches and petroglyphs. I've been to a few of the Superstition side canyons in this area and have never been disappointed...hopefully I can check out a few more before it gets hot. There was a major slowdown on Highway 60 driving back toward Phoenix because of an accident--we advanced one exit over the course of an hour before it opened up agian...but other than that, it was a fun one. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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