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| Bulldog Canyon Teardrop Loop, AZ | | -
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| | Bulldog Canyon Teardrop Loop, AZ | | | |
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Bulldog Canyon Teardrop Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.10 Miles |
660 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.10 Miles | 2 Hrs 53 Mns | | 2.12 mph |
| 660 ft AEG | | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | With the need for a decent hike prior to a half-day of chores we sought something close yet a bit different than our usual 'go-to' 4-mile Bush Lite/Scorpion Alley loop hike. Realizing I had not hiked or biked my somewhat regular loop from the Blue Point gate along horse trails in Bulldog in more than 6 months it was time to see how things fared with the extra rain since then.
Within a few hundred yards it was obvious that excess over-growth would play a big part along the way. But about 1/4 mile out, while walking along what normally would be the easiest part of my biking route turned out to be a disappointment. Someone had taken it upon themselves to block the trail with an assortment of rocks, dead vegetation and even a 12' length of dead Saguaro. The reason appeared to stop dirt bikers from using the trail, which I knew had been increasing over the last few years, along with a number of newly created routes.
However, while I agree with the need to stop the ATC's from riding anywhere and everywhere, this was not the way to do it. All the barriers did was provoke a response which would go over-the-top... and the ATC riders responded with distain as well as a new challenge. Which meant they just created whole bunch of new detours, wildly spinning the rear wheels as they tore around the obstacles.
Having legally ridden a mountain bike on these horse trails for over a decade, I took the obstacles as an affront not only to MTB'ers and hikers, but to the equestrians who also make use of the trails.
So while I understand the thought behind the obstacles, they made the situation worse.
I suppose I'll need to do some clearing before riding them again... or just take the route off my 'regulars' list.
Enough about the careless and irresponsible folks...
After a half-mile or so where no trace of ATC travel was to be found, the extra over-growth was fully noted. Some spots were so unrecognizable it took a close eye to discern where the trail actual was. A few times we even had to back-track to reconnect.
Passing through the Monarch Waystation was a distinct bummer. As of 2021 it was already down from the original 100+ milkweed plants to a half-dozen live milkweed plants, which if memory serves, were planted in 2018.
Side Note:
(For those who don't care to head down a rabbit-hole, feel free to skip this section)
When I first encountered the Waystation in August 2018 there were pallets of water, which I believe were placed at the time of planting, but unfortunately nobody saw fit to actually make use of the water to aid the new growth. Seeing this travesty, over the next few months I took it upon myself to water the plants until the pallets were empty.
Fast forward to today and there are but two plants, both dead. Sadly they were planted in a bad spot... what had been an old road, although gravel, the surface was as hard as concrete and barren.
Oh, but WAIT! There is an upside to this sad story... in our wanderings since that time, we have located and documented dozens of healthy milkweed plants within a half-mile wide one-mile long 'corridor' generally downwind from the original Waystation. The majority are situated on the Eastern slopes of rising land, where the terrain is suitable to the requirements for health milkweed plants.
And for us, the best result are the half-dozen VERY healthy milkweed plants in our back yard... all planted from pods harvested in that part of Bulldog.
End of Rabbit Hole excursion:
Ok, back to the hike... what hike was that again you ask?
From the dead milkweed plants we headed East across Forest Road 10, across the wash and followed the power-line access road. Of course most of the 'roads' out here have been created by ATV's & ATC's and go off in random directions.
Since I hadn't planned any specific route, when it became time to wrap up the hike, the only continuous 'road' to close a loop would take us well past the time we allotted, so I fell back on my memory for various off-trail routes I had used in the past. We soon hit upon one that was familiar to me, and would have worked the best for ME, one part of it was through a mass of foxtails and Tracey was having none of that.
So the end result, meant continuing on through a narrowing drainage, of which, wonder-of-wonders, over literally hundreds of random wanderings out here I realized I'd NEVER traveled through it before.
And an even better result was an encounter with a herd of a full baker's dozen (13) Javelina. It appears the drainage was so narrow and little-traveled by humans it was the perfect spot for a well-secluded Javelina den.
Once we exited the narrow drainage we made as close to a beeline as possible along foxtail-free routes back to the car to please Tracey. By wearing 'mid-height' boots and low nylon ankle gaiters foxtails aren't a big deal for me. |
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