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| Forest Roads 315 & 2261, AZ | |
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| | Forest Roads 315 & 2261, AZ | | | |
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Forest Roads 315 & 2261, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.40 Miles |
1,908 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.40 Miles | 3 Hrs 29 Mns | | 1.95 mph |
| 1,908 ft AEG | 12 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Since Tracey would much rather hike on trails, I was a bit surprised when she voiced the possibility of a hike to Apache Leap... could it be the need to break in one of her numerous new pairs of Merrell's?
No Ren-Fest traffic on a weekday, but I wanted no part of the bridge construction traffic on the US 60 East of Superior, so I thought maybe we could try a Southern approach along Forest Road #315. Maybe being the keyword.
Although I'd driven all the way up Forest Road #315 a number of times in 2012-2014 with first the Samurai and later the Cherokee, the last time I attempted it was with the 2007 4Runner in August 2017. Unfortunately back then the road was in such bad shape I parked within a mile of AZ 177 and set out on foot from there.
Now some 10+ years later, I figured we'd drive up as far as we could safely do without too much extra wear-and-tear on the slightly more capable 4Runner and hike from there. From AZ 177 on Forest Road #315 it appeared to have been graded recently so I had high hopes we could drive at least as far as the decommissioned Forest Road #335, which could shorten the hike to Apache Leap by close to 3 miles round-trip.
While the hopes were high, within 1.5 miles on FR #315 the 4Runner scraped the receiver hard when crossing an angled narrow drainage so we noted every possible spot to turn around if it came to that. After crawling around one particularly narrow corner during which we had both held our breath, and knowing that backing up to the last noted turn-around spot would NOT be an option, upon being presented with a steep downhill and another tight corner at the bottom, I felt some recon was in order. I got out, walked down and around the corner about a 100 yards and located one small spot to turn around just before a switchback which was the same vehicle-killing series of rock steps I'd experienced way back when, and decided we'd stop, turn around and begin our hike from there.
Time to start hoofing it... finally!
Although hiking along the road, the unending loose rocks were such that the 800'+ ascent in the first 3/4 mile had me rethinking the whole ordeal... the left knee and both hips were already begging for relief, but I knew if I stopped before the road leveled out, I'd probably decide enough if this and turn around. So I kept going... well behind Tracey.
Eventually we crested the saddle and began a slightly easier descent, I could breathe a bit easier. Once we reached old FR #335, which headed in the general direction of Apache Leap, we both came to the realization that Apache Leap was not going to happen today, and just kept going on FR #315 until reaching FR #2261. Since Tracey had never been out this way and it was a full 12 years ago when I last drove it, we (me... as I don't recall asking her) decided to hike South along the road, hopefully as far as Red Tank.
Hoping fell short again. I did not recall the undulation of the road being so prominent, so the descending and ascending along with the rocky tread was was quickly sapping my will to continue. Tracey wasn't complaining, at least not outwardly, but with no specific destination in mind, I sensed we were both thinking what's the point. Looking ahead all we saw was another drop and a long climb so it was decided we were turning back.
But... as usual, if there's any way to make some kind of loop out of an out-and-back, I'd do it, so instead of following the road all the way back to FR #315, we ascended a relatively open slope to the ridge East of the road and followed it until it dropped off and we returned to FR #2261.
Back at FR #315 we headed North along the Power Lines until reaching the point where I had turned back with the Samurai due to the worst rocks steps I'd ever encountered on a supposedly open Forest Road. And 12 years later we didn't even want to walk down it, so with plenty of boulders to choose from, we stopped for our lunch break.
After our break we simply retraced our route along FR #315 all the way back down to the 4Runner. And yes, now both knees and hips would complain loudly on the steep rocky descent. I noticed my heart rate was higher than on the ascent, which I figured could be due more to the pain than the effort of descending without falling forward.
Looking back on the day, there was one particular interesting thing worthy of note... a C-130 Hercules over-flew us Northbound three times during the hike. So once back home I got to wondering, where was it coming from/flying to and why?
Although we were back home hours later, I took a glance at Flightradar24 and noted a plane heading South just this side of Picketpost so I clicked on it. It was in fact a C-130 which had flown out of Fort Huachuca and had done a series (at least 3-4) of race-track loops from Huachuca and had circled numerous times over the Whitlow Ranch Flood Control Basin area (just East of Queen Valley over Hewitt Station Road) at the 'top' end of each race-track loop.
Upon a quick search for information about the flights I came across this article in the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent newspaper on January 7, 2025:
"Stop air training flights over Gold Canyon"
What was most relevant to me:
"Adding to the issue is the Air Force’s planned takeover of the airspace over Gold Canyon and areas East into New Mexico, starting in July 2025. This will be used for low-flying jet training, including dogfights, breaking the sound barrier, and dropping burning flares that could reach the dry tinderbox desert below."
Seems like it may already have begun. |
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