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| Ferndell and the Middle, AZ | | -
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| | Ferndell and the Middle, AZ | | | |
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Ferndell and the Middle, AZ
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| Hiking | 1.81 Miles |
379 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.81 Miles | 46 Mns | | 2.41 mph |
| 379 ft AEG | 1 Min Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Never been to the Pinals, but they’ve intrigued me for a while so I decided to make a day of it… mostly in the car since it’s over 3 hours each way. Left at 8am.
Tried accessing Pioneer Pass from a shortcut 4wd road to the south, but turned around where it traversed a particularly rocky wash that I was 80% sure I’d make it through, but since I was solo I wanted better odds.
Made a second attempt at a different road but was thwarted by a locked gate.
Finally I just went all the way to Globe and took the regular, nicely graded road. I first went up Pioneer Pass, which had zero traffic (perhaps two campsites were taken). Lots of fire damage and tree skeletons. Most of the forest around and above the camping area was still intact though.
I proceeded over the pass to Forest Road 221, which cuts over to 651 to Pinal Peak. At the east end of 221 there’s a friendly “Not Suitable for Passenger Vehicles” sign. I had a brief internal debate about whether my CR-V qualified as a passenger vehicle, and concluded it more closely resembled a dog/pig/loaf of bread, so I continued on. (I had a trail report on 221 that, for a Jeep, the trail was easy.)
It was bumpy, rutted, and rocky, with several dips in and out of washes. I tested my skid plate once or twice, and got out to roll a bowling ball sized rock off the trail once. There were some steep, rutted inclines, a couple requiring me to employ a few reserve hamsters. Mostly it was slow but kinda fun.
It was also super narrow and twisty with few places to pass, so I was thankful to have the trail to myself.
651 by comparison was a veritable speedway. Also surprisingly lightly trafficked. It traversed beautiful forest. By this time it was almost 2pm and I hadn’t had lunch, so I stopped at lower Pinal campground, which had more cows than people. I took a spot with a view of Signal Peak, mostly because it was one of the only campsites without at least one cow in it.
I cooked up a nice lunch and relaxed for a bit, then packed up and resumed exploring. I made my way up to Pinal Peak area and the Ferndell trailhead, then went for a short hike. I took Ferndell until the Six Shooter junction, where there was a closed gate. I wasn’t in for a long hike anyway, so I took Six Shooter up to Middle and made my way back to the car. I cut off trail from Campsite 3, which was a mistake, as there’s a connector to Ferndell from the upper Pinal CG parking lot.
Wow. That route is gorgeous! Fall colors were already underway, mostly maples but a few aspens were starting to turn. Huge pines and aspens. Everything was so green and lush, I felt like I was in Oregon. I was grinning ear to ear the whole way, and definitely felt like I’d saved the best for last.
I was back at the car at 4:30 and headed down the main road through Kellner Canyon, which was also really pretty. Highway 77 back to Tucson was incredibly scenic at sunset. Made it home at 8pm, leftovers for dinner, then crashed.
It was a good day. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
Surprised to see fall color this early! Splashes of red and yellow throughout. |
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