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| Hiking | 7.45 Miles |
745 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.45 Miles | 2 Hrs 21 Mns | | 3.17 mph |
| 745 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Early morning hike on the Bell Trail. Looking for something short that I hadn’t done before. This seemed like a good choice and a good intro to some of the interior trails. It’s been years since I’ve hiked from this TH, 20 plus. Well before I got into hiking. Got started around 6:30. Still dark out, but two other cars were already at the TH.
The trail starts out “enh”, being wide, flat and fairly straight. It junctures with Bruce Brockett at .62 and passes a large rock covered in petroglyphs at just under a mile. At 1.75 it passes the White Mesa Trail, crosses a dry wash and then quickly connects to the Apache Maid Trail at 2.25 and the Weir Trail at 2.43. All this is ok, but noteworthy only because it allows access to three other trails. At 2.43, the Bell Trail starts to gain elevation along the canyon wall. It’s not a lot of elevation, but the trail is choppy so it might feel like more than it really is. There are some nice views overlooking the creek and the red rock formations are a pleasant, picturesque surprise. Around 3.15 you reach the high point and begin a descent back to the creek. The trail split just before the creek with the “crack” being a few hundred yards to the northwest. Neat area, with quite a few rock shelves. There was a wooden plank bridging the “crack” where I’m sure people jump from. The bottom of the pools were visible in spots so taking a cold plunge would need to be done with care. I would have done some exploring of the area, but I stumbled across some campers who had bedded down near the crack. Annoying! Took some pics and then walked down to where the Bell Trail crosses the creek. Easy crossing with the current water levels. Took a few more pics and then headed back to the TH.
Beautiful morning. Clear skies with a nice breeze to keep things on the chilled side. No wildlife. Besides the campers only saw two other hikers. Weird though, when I got back to the TH (9:30am), the parking lot was full! Not sure where everyone went but they weren’t on the Bell Trail. I could hear what sounded like drums on the south side of the creek, so maybe the academy was having some sort of event and this was the “extended parking lot.” |
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Route Editor
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