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| Hiking | 6.78 Miles |
813 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.78 Miles | 3 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.99 mph |
| 813 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Went back to this area with Dmitri again to do some more exploring. We started from the 1st Water lot this time and took 2nd Water Trail to the first turnoff past 1st Water Creek and headed north. I spotted a trail from aerial photos and made a route that we followed as a shortcut across the Hackberry Loop to where there is a junction for a mine on the NE side of Hackberry Mesa.
I downloaded the track that shows the way to the mine from a posted route. At first I thought we found it but we were on the Hackberry Spring Trail. We backtracked and I found a very faint trail that turned into a much easier one to follow once we got across a small ravine. Once we got to the mine it was very cool to see. There is a huge pile of tailings outside it and while the entrance has some tailings partially filling it, you can easily go over that and get inside if you want. I decided not to, although I was very tempted. Looking inside I could see what what looks like the main horizontal tunnel, and then another one that's perpendicular to it just inside the entrance. I spent so much time looking at this that I forgot to get pics of the entrance and the tailings pile.
After that we got back on the Hackberry Spring trail and headed up towards Garden Valley. Just before we got on 2nd water trail, we took the trail over to the arch to check that out. On the way out there I spotted what I thought was a cave but was just a small hole. Then when we headed towards the arch, I got sidetracked and followed the trail downhill on the other side instead of going up. Not sure where that trail goes to, maybe worth another exploration one day. Once we found the trail to the arch, it was starting to get a little hot and I was a little concerned about having enough water. I don't know how strenuous that might be getting there, and it was at least another 2 miles back to the lot. I decided to bail and keep it an easy Sunday morning hike and less of an Indiana Jones deathmarch.
Stopped at the Indian ruin on the way back and showed Dmitri the pottery sherds and grinding hole there. Finished before 10:30am. The only hiker we saw was at the very start in the lot. He was finishing up at 6:40am and warned us of a bees nest he found while off trail hiking up to a peak near the TH. He said he got stung several times and wiped out running down the hill to get away from them. That may have had something to do with why he was finishing so early. |
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