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| Sycamore Creek ATC Trail, AZ | |
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| | Sycamore Creek ATC Trail, AZ | | | |
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Sycamore Creek ATC Trail, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.80 Miles |
820 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.80 Miles | 2 Hrs 57 Mns | | 2.08 mph |
| 820 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Glancing in this direction on a return trip along AZ 87 not long ago I mused that I hadn't driven West of Sycamore Creek in the 7+ years since I sold the Jeep, to which Tracey said well let's check it out, as in 'sometime soon'. Although I spent a lot of time 4-wheeling and peak-bagging between Sycamore Creek and the Verde River I never thought much about the area, not so much that either 4Runner couldn't handle it, but more a wish not to rack up maintenance and repair costs.
With the Jeep gone I'd only been to the end of FR 402 twice, 6 and 7 years ago, both times just to hike on the ATC trail beginning at that point, once solo and once with Tracey.
So, let's drive out that way to check out the road conditions, and if nothing else, hike the ATC trail again. Well, the road conditions deteriorated TERRIBLY past that point, rough enough we would be walking faster on foot, so at the first opportunity to be able to turn around we did just that and returned to the end of FR 402.
Time to hit the trail. In the years since we last hiked this ATC trail there had been two fires, as a result not only was the trail in rough shape, there were many short detours as well as a whole myriad of tracks going every which way. With the area so stark and little brush to hinder travel almost anywhere, that's exactly what the ATC riders had been doing. To the point in some spots if I didn't have a route to follow I'm sure we would have been led astray.
Whatever, with many short, steep climbs/descents, and so much of what amounted to loose BB's and loose marbles as well as ankle-breakers, slow and careful was the theme of the day. While the devastation form fires was prevalent, every once in a while something of beauty would appear, whether as a result of the fire or having avoided it, and of course, sometimes only in the-eye-of-the-beholder... me.
Shortly after turning back South we came down a section so steep and loose that even the ATC's were taking a detour, so we did the same.
At the point on the last trip we had doubled back due to a wet Sycamore Creek, this trip it was pretty much bone dry, so like my first solo trip we continued along Sycamore Creek to make it a true loop. Noon was fast approaching so after a quick glance around we spotted boulders to sit on, and shade and/or sun depending on whether we felt chilly or warm. With a little breeze, once I had my pack off it was nice to have the sun 'try' to dry the back of my shirt.
There were a few spots that took some effort to pass through thick brush, but once we hit the part that was a legal part of Forest Road 160 it was easy going.
Back at the car, we contemplated taking the very short jog up the tall rock outcrop to where there are petroglyphs. Having taken photos of them more than once before, I figured 'why?' But after more than a few moments attempting to recall what they looked like, it became, we're here, we might as well.
So we did. After glancing back at previous photos, there was at least one with new graffiti and it seems a previous recent one was no longer there. I wasn't aware of that fact at the time, so I spent no time looking for it, but we did spend more time looking for more than either previous times.
The consensus:
The drive out FR 402? It sucked... a tooth-rattler at any speed.
The ATC trail? It also sucked... although not a tooth-rattler, and we had changing, if not the best scenery.
The petroglyphs? Kind of cool to see them again after so many years.
Will we do this again? Unlikely. |
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