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| Hiking | 10.46 Miles |
1,229 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.46 Miles | 8 Hrs | | 1.47 mph |
| 1,229 ft AEG | 54 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | I asked Jason a few weeks back if he would join me on a hike out in the eastern superstitions. I haven't been out there since the fires a few years ago, while Jason has been out there quite a bit. We both had time on Saturday. I was hoping to get a sense of the damage out there; Jason picked a good trail to enlighten me.
The first section of trail near the school is still in decent shape. That was one area where an attempt to contain the fire was successful. Another decent section is the trek up to the small saddle mentioned in the guide.
While a good portion of the hike is in the creek, it takes a bit of effort to find those sections of trail that diverge from or rise above the creek. I skipped one such section because the start of it was overgrown with poison ivy. The tread on the sections we did hike is decent, except where washed out by erosion, but also overgrown with catclaw, scrub oak and just brushy in general. In some places, the trail is not visible at all. Jason and I tried to brush some of the thorny stuff back, but it was an overwhelming task and we eventually gave up.
For the rest of the hike, we just pushed through the brush or stayed in the creek. There was a segment near the corral about four miles in that we both agreed was easily the best part of the hike. We stopped at a corral for a break, enjoyed the solitude in a sweet spot covered with green grass and mulled over how much more we wanted to torture ourselves. We decided on Brushy Spring, where we stopped for a longer break, had lunch and headed back.
I was intent on following the official route as much as possible to provide some intel to the Forest Service. One particular stretch that rose high above the creek was missed on the way out because the trail on either end was completely washed out. I found it on the way back, hiked the length of it and was rewarded with a shredded shirt and shredded arms (in spite of two layers over top of them). Again, the tread was pretty good for most of the section (except for the washed out beginning and end), but it was choked with intertwining catclaw. Not fun.
From there we followed our track back to the trailhead, realizing that all of the brushing we thought we did on the way out actually wasn't all that much. Trimming back the catclaw, scrub oak (holly), etc., would require a sizable team several weeks to finish. If they did a good job, it might be good for one or two more years before it needed to be brushed again.
@trekkin_gecko and I hiked the Reavis Gap, Fireline & Campaign Creek Loop in 2016. It was a most enjoyable hike. I haven't seen the other trails in that loop since the fire, but I cannot imagine hiking that loop again if the other trails are similar to this one. Ugh.
In spite of my complaints about this trail, my shredded shirt and arms, I enjoyed the solitude and meeting and hiking with Jason. We had a fun day. Next time we hook up, though, I think I'll pick something a little less prickly. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
