| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 14.26 Miles |
1,165 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.26 Miles | 6 Hrs 27 Mns | | 2.44 mph |
| 1,165 ft AEG | 37 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | Another trip up to visit the Highline, picking up where we had turned back previously before dropping into Ellison Creek. Looking at Google Earth, it looked like there should be access via a dirt road from the Fire Control Road - if it was gated, we planned to head over to the Fish Hatchery - another option would have been to hunt for the road that would have gained us access in near Dude Creek. Luckily, the road was passable (FR31) - it was in pretty good condition since there have been crews out with the mulchers/masticators - so recent that a couple machines were still parked in the area. The last bit of road is pretty rocky, but passable. No one else was parked up near the trail, though as we were pulling our gear together, we heard voices approaching. The voices didn't seem to be moving very quickly, and despite our dawdling, they didn't pass us, so we headed eastward on our way. As we contoured around on the trail, we looked back and thought we caught sight of some folk hiking along carrying some long pieces of metal - we surmised it was a trail crew, though weren't sure what they might plan to work on since this section of the highline seems to have been the last part that was re-routed with visible tire tracks in places, likely from the equipment that was used to cut the new trail.
As we hiked onward, the trail stayed high, contouring around various drainages - most noteably, it no longer drops down to run along Ellison Creek. We also noted that the Myrtle Trail junction was moved eastward to where the new alignment crosses the old alignment. The junction is marked with several cairns. As we hiked back, we were able to sight what looked to be the upper reaches of the Myrtle trail as it climbed up to the rim.
Much of the track for the day was covered in elk and bear prints. Not much in the way of elk scat, but one of the bears had left a deposit relatively recently where we made our turn-around point (near where the trail started dropping towards the hatchery area). Nearly the entirety of the section that we hiked was all new reroute - staying high gave us plenty of views as we contoured along below the rim.
After taking a break amongst some pine, we headed back. As we walked along, we encountered the trail crew - turns out they were replacing a gate along the trail...removing an old stick and wire fencing gate with a fancy new Highlighline Trail gate. We arrived just as they finished the install, and they held it open, allowing me to be the first to pass through! We returned to the car, with the trail crew passing by not too far behind us.
While I still haven't managed to get my hands on an updated gpx file, I received the direct contact information for the Tonto NF Recreation Manager, so perhaps I'll manage to secure one eventually.
Wildlife: the usual suspects.
Other People: In addition to the trail crew, there was one solo backpacker heading eastbound - we think their car was parked near ours at the end of FR31. Also passed a mountain biker heading eastbound as we were nearing the end of our hike. |
|
Wildflowers Observation Light
|
|
| _____________________
Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually  |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
