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| Backpack | 1.50 Miles |
400 AEG |
| | Backpack | 1.50 Miles | | | |
| 400 ft AEG | | 32 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I did NOT hike the full Trail. I hiked from the Mt. Peeley TH to Thicket Springs and back. (Am not sure how best to title this using the triplog.)
Quick points:
1) FR 201 is drive-able, but I think it needs 4x4 in places.
2) Trail is well marked and well maintained.
3) I didn't see any bears. But I saw lots of bear scat. Some HUGE.
4) I didn't see any rattlesnakes. But I might have heard one at night.
5) There is clear water at Thicket Spring. (And bones.)
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I drove to the Mt. Peeley trailhead Saturday to view the Perseid Meteor shower.
FR 201 is fairly drive-able but in some parts it's very rough, very crumbly, and very steep. I was glad for 4x4.
Even tho it's reported to be a 9 mile drive and even tho I was seeing 10 to 15 mph on my speedometer most times, it took me an hour both ways. (I should have checked my odometer.)
A fair amount of traffic on Saturday.
Once at the well marked TH, it's a half mile to the Trail proper.
Once at the Trail proper, also well marked signs.
An easy 1.5 mile hike to Thicket Spring, mostly down hill.
Lots of bear scat on the way. Some of it was HUGE.
The breakout to the Spring is well marked. But when I arrived at the Spring area I almost missed it.
I saw a small seep to the south of the trail, which was hard to get to. Then I looked around. There is a HUGE cairn to the north, where the Spring proper is.
The water was very clear but I didn't gather any. There were bones there. And I heard something rustling in the brush. (The last time I heard something rustling in the brush, it was a bear.) So I didn't stay.
Continuing up the trail to the Spring - which I think is part of a Loop trail - is a campsite.
But no trees for shade. Or to hang your stuff. And there was bear scat at the campsite. And the Spring being the only water nearby, I figured that there would be lots of animals at night. So I opted to not camp there.
I returned to the start of the trail. There is a campsite just south of the AZ Trail sign. I made a fort of sorts and camped there.
Later that night, I walked down the trail to pee. As I approached a large bush, I heard a large cricket start to "chirp." But it was odd in that it was a 50% duty cycle chirp. Like, "chirp" for a few seconds, stop for few seconds, "chirp" for a few seconds.
It occurred to me that I might be hearing a rattle.
So I backed off and the "chirping" stopped.
Yikes.
I saw one good meteor. Bright, slow, low and left a smoke trail.
Then the clouds moved in at 1 am. |
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| Be careful. It really is "a jungle out there." |
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