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| Hiking | 9.00 Miles |
3,150 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.00 Miles | | | |
| 3,150 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | It's been almost 10 years since I have visited this cool area. I tried a few years ago, but Cherry Creek Road claimed me as another victim as my lower control arm snapped just past the Ellison Ranch. This time, I came better equipped for the assault.
Wally, my hiking bud Jackson and I set off from East Mesa about 6am. The drive up Cherry Creek Road past the ranch was as expected, ROUGH. I was lulled into a false sense of comfort at the start past the ranch as it was actually nice, but the true nature of this road soon revealed itself. It was pretty bad up to the Devils Chasm TH and got even worse heading towards the starting point for this hike. We even considered stopping short and just hiking up the road, but I was confident my beat up Titan could make it.
We decided to hit Cold Springs first and visit the Crack House. The last time I did this one, I slipped in the chute area below the house and almost visited the bottom of the canyon via the express method. Luckily, no slips this time, but Wally did send me a couple of "mobile cairns" that rolled past me on the way up...ha ha. Wally and I opted to admire the house from the outside this time around. It's looking a little worse for wear from the last visit. Too many curious hikers going inside and time are taking a toll. Doing a cost benefit analysis, I think this will be my last visit to this cool place.
Once we made it down to the turnoff for Pueblo Canyon, we started up for the next torture session. It looks like parts of this trail may have been re-routed as there were a few really sketchy and steep paths going up. Either that, or I just forgot about them. The rest of the way up was what I was expecting. Lots of overgrown sections, lots of up and up and some down to make it interesting. It's not that long of a hike up from there, but it seemed to take forever.
We made it past the mine and Jackson said "No mas" and took a long lunch break and said he would wait there for us. Wally and I continued on to see the ruins. More up and down with sketchy bits awaited up. We could hear the waterfall flowing as we approached. It was flowing ok. The trail to the ruins was rougher than I remember as well. We made it to the first group and took a lunch break.
We started back towards the mine and met up with Jackson and started the slog down to the truck. It was easier going down for sure. My bad hip was not taking the rugged trail very well, but I did ok. Today, it's sore, but not too bad.
The drive back down Cherry Creek Road was rough, but seemed easier with gravity on our side.
It's funny how your brain plays tricks on you. Filters out the bad bits, blacks out the trauma, and you only remember the good parts of this hike. This is a brutal trail for sure. Lots of elevation gain, rocky sections, over-grown and a couple of extreme up/down parts. It's a trail that makes you reconsider your life choices (or hike choices, at least). But, the pay off is the amazing scenery and wonderful Salado ruins. A long day for sure, but it was nice to see this cool area again. |
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"Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul."
instagram: @andydilling |
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