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| Hiking | 11.02 Miles |
1,706 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.02 Miles | 6 Hrs 25 Mns | | 1.93 mph |
| 1,706 ft AEG | 42 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Back to the Wide Mountains once again. Jason has been after me to hit this area for a while and our schedules finally aligned.
The plan was to start from the Carr Trailhead and take the Rim Trail down as far as we thought doable and then take one of the trails back up to the road to complete the loop.
The weather was very pleasant as we started off down the Rim Trail. I have never been on this trail, so it was all new. The trail was in good shape. All of the efforts of @AnchaGladtrailz are clearly evident along this trail for sure. Cleared of treefall and the shrubbery cleared back. Thank you Sir!
Less than a mile down, we came across an area that had a bunch pottery sherds, 100’s of them. We will have to do some research and explore the area in the future. There was some sort of settlement or encampment at this location at some point.
Jason also pointed out a really cool window formation along the way. Very impressive. I really liked all of the agave, different cacti and small blooms all along the way. The ever-present manzanita and juniper were abundant as well.
The Rim trail descends towards the 2nd level of mountains from the base of Aztec Peak. With a little up, but mostly down, we made our way to the junction of Moody Point Trail. We took a look at the mileage to hit the end of the trail and see the ruins in Pueblo Canyon from above and opted for the closer view of Devils Chasm and started down the Moody Trail.
I had loaded an older gps trail from @grasshopper to get to the viewpoint to see the ruins in the Chasm. Moody Point Trail has not gotten the love that the Rim Trail has received. It was overgrown and hard to follow in many spots, but clear enough for us to follow it.
We made it to the area that drops down to the view area, but it was much steeper than expected. We both opted to pass on going down the sketchy looking path, but we came across a really amazing view of the surrounding canyons. I noticed an outcrop below that looked like a place to get incredible views of the entire area. We climbed back to the “trail”. Jason wasn’t feeling up to bushwhacking down to the cliff edge, so I went off.
It turned into a really steep scree-fest with crazy overgrowth. I finally made it to the spot we noticed from above. As I expected, the views were breathtaking (in more than one way too). I took my pictures and soaked in the amazing scenery. I then turned around and looked up at the scree-filled doom path that awaited me going back up. I opted to skirt the cliff edge and then make a more diagonal path back to the trail. Jason had already text me and said he was going to start up the Moody Trail to get to the road. We had cell service almost the entire hike. The cell towers on Aztec Peak must be on steroids or something.
I made it back to the junction to of the Rim Trail and Moody Trail and up I went. I caught up with Jason right below the road. We hiked the .6 miles back to Carr TH to make a pretty nice loop for the day.
I really love the Sierra Ancha Wilderness. There are so many interesting and cool spots to see. Thanks for the invite, Jason. It was a Sunday definitely well spent. |
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"Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul."
instagram: @andydilling |
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