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| Hiking | 5.14 Miles |
1,465 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.14 Miles | 2 Hrs 34 Mns | | 2.25 mph |
| 1,465 ft AEG | 17 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | After enjoying the Waterwheel / Ellison Creek Cascades area, we continued up the canyon to the Washington Park TH for the daily double on the Colonel Devin Trail. Added a side trip up to the RR Tunnel.
The first mile of the Devin trail is a real gem--gurgling creek and spring water on the side of the trail (sometimes both sides); lush, green ground cover, with forest shade canopy. Truly delightful. The remains of the Pieper Fish Hatcher is particularly lush. (NOTE: the official HAZ route tracks the powerline road in this section--definitely DON'T take that route; follow the creek, starting at the TH on the NE corner of the parking area).
After the first mile, the trail emerges from the lush area and joins the powerline road. In another 1/4 mile, the springs go underground, leaving the trail waterless and generally shade-less for a stretch, until the turn off to the RR Tunnel trail, where the trail dips back into the forest near the remains of the Haught cabin.
The final climb up to the RR Tunnel is steep and a little loose in parts. I wasn't aware that outside the tunnel is a well-constructed rock cabin. Cool bonus.
After exploring the tunnel, I decided to continue up and off-trail it to FR 300, rather than going back down and around. It's a short distance and the scrambling looked do-able. Some class 3-4 scrambling, but nothing too hairy, and pretty easy to pick and choose a path that avoids any thorny/scratchy bushwhacking.
Once on FR300, I walked the short distance back down to the upper C. Devin/RR Tunnel TH. There's a nice AZ Trail sign there, along with a monument to the Apache Wars battle of Big Dry Wash.
On the descent, I stayed on the RR Tunnel trail, as it veered into the trees and looked a little less steep/rocky, though there is a more direct route down, along the powerlines.
All in all, this one exceeded my expectations. |
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