Spencer Trail - Marble Canyon Photoset • mt98dew • 2024-09-06 • HikeArizona.COM

Spencer Trail - Marble Canyon, AZ

	2024-09-06
	22 by mt98dew

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Spencer Trail - Marble Canyon

Northwest, AZ

Spencer Trail - Marble Canyon

Northwest, AZ

Hiking	5.31 Miles	1,641 AEG

Hiking	5.31 Miles	2 Hrs 37 Mns	2.03 mph
	1,641 ft AEG

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On the way back from Zion we stopped at Cliff Dwellers Lodge for the night. Very nice accommodations (for the area), but a little pricey. This stopover worked for me because it gave me the opportunity to hit one of the trails in the area. I knew there were 3 relatively easy ones in the area and opted for Spencer Trail. Funny. I was out the door at 5:30. But 5:30 in Arizona vs 5:30 in Utah is a stark difference. Literally black and white. The sun was just stating to color the cliffs in the distance. Short drive to Lee’s Ferry and I was on the trail just before 6am.

Quite a few interesting historical remnants and signs to start the hike. The Spencer Trail is well signed as it splits off the River Trail and it doesn’t waste any time with starting the climb. The initial climb isn’t bad at all. Stairs, rocks and compact dirt made for good footing and a quick ascent. The trail is amazingly well camouflaged in the cliffs. For the most I never had a good sense of where the trail was heading, except up. When I stopped to look I was surprised at how much elevation I had gained and then, looking up, how much more was still above me. Looking up, made me feel as if I had t gained anything at all.

The trail was pretty sweet for the first 1.6 miles and then at some point the trail turns from compact dirt and rock to sand and still maintains a steady ascent. That’s not fair. That kind of an incline with a sandy trail.

Luckily, it didn’t last long and there were patches of rock along the way. From the couple of upward glances I afforded myself, I reach the top came quicker than anticipated. No complaints with that and I was given some incredible distant views. There was a wooden stick standing lopsided indicating the end of the trail. I did a little bit of wandering at the top, checking out a large cairn and one of the higher viewpoints. After all that hard work, I would have loved to explore the mesa more, but time always seems to be an issue. Took some shots of the views and headed back.

Views were great, though once again air quality was not the best. Just hazy in all directions. The timing was perfect. I had the cliff shadows for the entire hike. No wildlife. Had the trail to myself until the end when I met 4 Aussie’s heading up.

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