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| Holdout Black Rock Creek Loop, AZ | |
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| | Holdout Black Rock Creek Loop, AZ | | | |
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Holdout Black Rock Creek Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 16.14 Miles |
2,379 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.14 Miles | 10 Hrs 26 Mns | | 1.67 mph |
| 2,379 ft AEG | 47 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | After our visit back in January, we knew we were going to want to come back to this area to check things out again, with hopes of being able to check out the large bouldery rock grottos of lower Holdout. We'd had to cut our previous trip short due to the long drive and short daylight hours - this time we headed out the day before to sleep overnight before starting early so we could maximize our time in the area before heading home.
The drive out had us wondering a little bit about the forecast - the cloud ceiling remained low the entire day, shrouding the tops of Mounts Turnbull and Graham from our view as we drove in. I'd been expecting the cloud cover to clear during the afternoon - however as we arrived at Reef Tank, the clouds were still sitting low, obscuring the views of the nearby ridgeline. The road was more or less as I remembered it, with some steep rocky sections and closely encroaching desert scrub the closer you get to Reef Tank. We were both surprised to arrive to find a pair of FJs parked - and I was even more astounded that I recognized one of them from a 2015 triplog from the same area 
We woke to clear skies and temps in the high 40s. After striking camp and gathering our gear, we headed off to do our loop in the clockwise direction. The plants were covered in dew, and it wasn't long before my shoes were damp from the vegetation. The roadwalk was steep - both heading back up out of reef tank, and also the descent down towards Black Rock Canyon. After passing through a gate, the old road deteriorated, becoming faint in sections, and then narrowing and becoming nearly overgrown with manzanita before dropping into the creek bed. From there, it was mostly a walk in the drainage - with a few sections along one or the other of the benches - but a lot of the time was spent rock hopping in the watercourse. As we got closer to the confluence with Holdout, the creekbed got wider and wider - and the catclaw became more and more prevalent. We took some time to have a look at the corral - I especially liked the field of cream cups - before heading up Holdout Creek.
After a brief break near the confluence, we started making our way up Holdout Creek, staying in the drainage, with hopes of checking out some of the boulder grottos. The scrambling was making things slow, and the day was heating up fast - so we decided we'd attempt it another time. We turned back towards the confluence to pick up the Holdout Creek Trail. The trail can be difficult to stay on, with the numerous cattle paths to lure you astray. As we climbed up, we heard a dog barking - eventually the pup found us, but we didn't catch sight of any people. The dog kept with us - running ahead at times, and lagging behind at others for a bit before disappearing again - hopefully it found its people.
As we continued up Holdout, we followed some sections that were cairned, but the tread is often not obvious and requires routefinding. I was glad to have downloaded reference tracks to help us on our way - especially in the latter portions where the landscape is recovering from being burned and evidence of any previously established tread seems to have disappeared. The day was warmer than expected (temps hit the low 80s!), with no breeze to speak of, and it didn't help that there isn't any shade or relief from the sun to be had on the climb back out.
We eventually made it back to the trailhead, to find both FJs still there. After getting cleaned up, we made the long drive back to the valley. This was a great hike to break in my new shoes there was a little bit of everything - packed dirt, loose gravel, rock hopping, sand, scrambling, slickrock, and wading! Safe to say they've been properly tested on all the surfaces I am likely to encounter over their lifespan  I was glad to visit the area again and do a little bit of exploring...we'll need to come back again sometime to see if we can't make our way into Lower Holdout to play among the boulders.
Wildlife: a variety of butterflies, an occasional lizard, various birds, several canyon tree frogs, and a turtle! Plenty of bunnies (cottontails and hares) on the drive both on the way in and on the way out. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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| Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually |
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I was glad to visit the area again and do a little bit of exploring...we'll need to come back again sometime to see if we can't make our way into Lower Holdout to play among the boulders.
