| |
| Y Bar MDT Rock Creek Barnhardt, AZ | | -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
| |  |
|
2 |
-
-
|
| | Y Bar MDT Rock Creek Barnhardt, AZ | | | |
|
|
Y Bar MDT Rock Creek Barnhardt, AZ
| | |
|
| Backpack | 25.00 Miles |
|
| | Backpack | 25.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| | 20 LBS Pack | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | Took 3 days off from work to go check out the MDT and some areas I had blown by a couple of years ago while backpacking the AZT. Y Bar was a rocky challenge but it was cool and water was flowing across the trail at various locations. Someone a day ahead of us had been trimming some manzanita. Mark turned around at the saddle after a quick lunch and rest. I continued on to the MDT where a thru hiker was airing out her stinky feet and apologized. No worries, I kind of reeked of sweat myself and had only been hiking 4 hours tops. The MDT was smooth sailing, made good time but tried to slow down and enjoy the views. Met another hiker from NC who had seen a black bear with 2 cubs earlier in the day south of Bear Spring. He said "she looked at me, I looked at her", he backed up, gave her some space and after 5 minutes, she was gone into the manzanita. This gentleman was headed to Horse Camp Seep to meet up with other AZT hikers for the night.
Filtered some water from Chilson Spring (it's worth the climb for the great views), the water running across the trail in several areas was actually cleaner looking, but that's what filters are for. Made it to Chilson Camp by 4 or so. Set up, ate dinner, settled in. Two gentlemen set up tents nearby, said they were going to knock out 25 miles the next day.  Never heard a peep out of them  and they left camp early the next morning.
I headed out after breakfast for some day hiking. Someone a day ahead of me was still doing some trail trimming. He missed some catclaw around the North Fork of Deadman Falls, which was still flowing. I didn't see any reasonable way down the canyon without getting myself into trouble, so continued on to Horse Camp Seep. What a beautiful camping spot it is. It was empty so I had the falls to myself and relaxed for awhile. My next stop was Rock Creek Trail which starts off as a muddy trail up to Hopi Spring. After the spring, the trail was cleared well, but it was one heck of a climb. Someone was still trimming manzanita along the trail. I don't think I hiked much more than a mile, high enough to get a signal and text Mark that I was alive and well. After catching my breath, I headed back down to the MDT, back to Horse Camp Seep where I filtered 4 L of water to take back to camp.
Made it back to Chilson camp, had settled in for the afternoon, changed into my pajamas, was lounging on a "couch" I had made from a piece of wood and a couple rocks. I heard what sounded like a tornado coming down Brody Seep Trail and realized it was a huge swarm of bees. Quickly ran into my tent and hunkered down, hoping they would just pass through. Nope..they decided to cluster in a tree right by my tent. I waited until no bees were moving, VERY QUIETLY moved my stuff to the field, quickly packed up and left. Hiked a mile south on the MDT in my pajamas to the big tree camping area close to Barnhardt. After getting set up again, a crew from ACE showed up to set up their "emergency camp". They were planning on doing trail maintenance the next day, just arrived too late to go much further. It was lights out by 8:00 for everyone, me included. Temperature got down to 39 degrees that night, but quickly warmed up the next morning. Headed down Barnhardt trail about 7:00 and arrived at the TH about 10:30. Another great adventure!  |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
