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| Hiking | 9.94 Miles |
1,689 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.94 Miles | 6 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.77 mph |
| 1,689 ft AEG | 1 Hour 8 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Dave and I work the Superstition Wilderness trailheads on Fridays, he at First Water, me at Peralta. Dave recruited me into the fold about 13 months ago. We go out together from time to time to survey trails and water sources. Today we wanted to have some fun. I recommended this hike, using a track created by @hikerdw from Nov-2015 (not exactly, but close enough).
We hiked up FS #213 but missed the turn because we were talking too much. We back tracked a quarter mile where we then picked up the off trail portion of the hike. The early part of the route is easy enough to follow and cairns are placed where you need them. We both agreed that the hardest part of the hike was where you cross the creek about 1.6 miles in and ascend the mesa that divides Tortilla and Fish canyons. The fairly steep ascent has a fair amount of catclaw that you have to wiggle through as you climb to the top of the mesa. It's easy walking from there until you reach the high ground where excellent views of Fish Creek abound.
We continued south following DW's track. I was looking for a register I saw in his photo set. I thought it might have been on a bluff to the west, but I must have had the coordinates wrong; I could not locate it. Not a big deal, but it provides a good enough reason to do some research and go back in the spring when it will be a little wetter and greener.
After hiking down from the bluff, then up and over the next hill, we couldn't agree on the next course of action to get us to the JF trail. Dave saw some game trails along the side of the next hill and wanted to go that way (SE). I wanted to stay on the track, which headed SW. We ended up going in different directions, which was not good, so I ended up heading over to where he was. It was six of one or half a dozen of the other. We ended up where we needed to be and were back on track soon after.
We dropped down into the ravine below that final hill and followed the fence until we picked up JF trail. We followed JF down to the road, then down towards Peters trail where we stopped at Tortilla Creek for lunch. We found some nice boulders in the creek and enjoyed a nice long break, half of which was spent plucking stuff out of our shoes and socks.
The rest was an easy road walk back to the trailhead. Splendid day under mostly sunny skies with a high in the mid-60's. Very fun hike. |
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