DESTINATION South Peoples Spring 1 Photoset
2023-03-13 | | -
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| Hiking | 8.52 Miles |
1,295 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.52 Miles | 6 Hrs 7 Mns | | 1.83 mph |
| 1,295 ft AEG | 1 Hour 28 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I had been holding off going to the South Peeples (not Peoples) Spring area of the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness until the weather looked promising, and I got permission to visit the private inholding. The address for the landowner found in public records was no longer in use, but I got a phone number from the BLM and spoke to Tina Barnes and got verbal permission, along with a request to take out any trash I found. I am very grateful to Tina Barnes for the authorization.
I headed up the dirt road toward the wilderness from near US-93 and AZ-97. Where the road follows the wash, it exceeded the capability of my Jeep Cherokee. There were some really big boulders in the wash requiring a super high clearance vehicle, so I turned around and parked in a campsite just short of the wash (displaying my state lands permit!), and walked the rest of the way.
The walk in to South Peeples Spring is easily followed along old two-track. Interestingly, the faint track is much easier to spot in the early morning light than the noon-day sun. I was glad I had a GPS track on the way out! The flowers were not quite out, so this trek was a little desolate. The last half mile of the hike down to South Peeples Spring is steep and washed out in places. In order to get to the water itself, you have to thread your way through some deadfall and brush. The spring is beautiful, and I enjoyed my lunch sitting on some rocks.
A good sized bear had recently visited the spring, and I saw a couple of bucks on the hillside near the trailhead on my way out. That is more big wildlife than I usually experience, so it was a worthwhile trip.
If you are thinking about going in here, absolutely get permission from the landowner first. If you do some homework on the area first, what you see when you get there will have a lot more meaning. Search “Peeples Canyon Arrastra Wilderness Dispute”.
Before 1980, a gasoline-powered pump drew water from the spring and drove it up the side of the canyon, over the top, and down to a stock tank. The pump is long gone, but the pipe is still there. While walking along it, I wondered how plastic pipe could handle the pressure of the 450’ rise, but apparently it is doable with schedule 80 PVC pipe.
Birds spotted or heard: Northern Cardinal, Verdin, Gambel’s Quail, Black-throated Sparrow, Gila Woodbecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Flicker, Curve-billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren, Bewick’s Wren, White-crowned Sparrow. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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