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| Big Bug Mesa Wandering, AZ | |
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| | Big Bug Mesa Wandering, AZ | | | |
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Big Bug Mesa Wandering, AZ
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| Hiking | 4.63 Miles |
456 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.63 Miles | 2 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 456 ft AEG | 23 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Decided to spend the weekend camping on Big Bug Mesa. We were lucky enough to see the superbloom occurring on Perry Mesa while driving north from Phoenix. Before leaving the pavement, we stopped at Gilligan’s Mayer Market for some last minute supplies. They have just about everything you might need for a camping trip, and I'm glad to know it's there for future trips to the area.
From the highway, we took Poland Road up to Big Bug Mesa, passing through the hamlet of Breezy Pines on the way. Lots of water was flowing in all the canyons and creeks along the way. The road was well maintained. Upon reaching Five Corners, we saw patches of snow still remained on Mount Union and the surrounding peaks. A striking difference in environment compared to high desert Mayer, only 10 miles down the road below.
The road on top of Big Bug Mesa was decent, but I can see how it would turn awful after a heavy rain, as I read in other reports. After setting up camp, we went on an off-trail hike.
The rockier edge of the mesa quickly gives way to more pleasant hiking when you move towards the interior. The beautiful forest of widely-spaced ponderosa pine is occasionally broken by small clearings. We saw a large herd of deer at one point.
Many of the trees were spraypainted and it appears that logging will occur in the near future, although I wasn't able to find any details about this online.
Eventually we turned south to check out Davis Spring Number Two. The wash/creek that the spring lies in was flowing with a good amount of nice clear water. The spring itself was beautiful and looked very likely to continue flowing even when the wash is dry, or at least have some water stored in the pools. There was one deep pool that would have made a great swimming hole. We picked up about 15 beer cans from the reprobates who used the campsite near the spring last, then made our way back to our camp.
It was a beautiful night camping with lots of stars and listening to Coast to Coast AM around the fire. I look forward to coming back to Big Bug Mesa in the future. |
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