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| Canyoneering | 6.00 Miles |
135 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 6.00 Miles | | | |
| 135 ft AEG | | | | |
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| | Basic Canyoneering - Scrambling; easy climbing/downclimbing; frequent hand use; rope recommended; easy exit | | B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit |
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| no partners | | Tonto Narrows, 06-11-2011
I have been asked to do a write up by 3 different forums for our experience at the Narrows this weekend. So, here we go.
There were 3 different groups of 13-15 hikers in each group that attended with a different group Facilitator in each group. As most of you know already, I had first contacted the Payson Forest Ranger Office back in February of this year to find a legal way into the Narrows without having to bush whack nearly 5 miles each way from the North. So after speaking and emailing with two different Rangers, I was given instructions and directions and a local pdf Topo map from the Ranger Station to help us.
The Tonto Narrows was closed in 2009 because of the absolute trashing of this place. I am putting it mildly. There would be 75-100 people here on the weekends. These people would bring their children in diapers and you would see children like this running around. You would see drunks, and teenage drunks, and campfires unattended and left to burn out on their own. You would see these people with coolers of beer, and there would be bottles and broken bottles everywhere. Dirty diapers, diaper boxes, human waste, toilet paper, feminine napkins, and plastic bags strewn everywhere. Kids would wreck their cars when leaving this place, and get busted for DUI's and possession of drugs, and of course the injuries to people while under the influence. Idiots caught having shooting/firing practice near the Narrows. Then the some idiots had finally robbed the lady's home that owned the land where you would cross her private property to get to the Narrows. I guess the lady's Home Insurance carrier finally made her block of the entrance to the Narrows, which is Federally owned land. The narrows a magnificent gem, was being destroyed by rift raft. She even put a dumpster up for people to drop off their garbage in, and people would actually throw their garbage beside the dumpster instead of throwing it on the dumpster. This lady owns land that backs right up against the Narrows, about 250-300 yards away from the Narrows. So through this the small community of Gisela, other residents and the Fire Department also grew extremely tired of the antics.
So through May and June I had stayed in contact with the two Rangers and confirmed with the two Rangers no Status changed with the location, and they confirmed that no updates are applicable.
So on Saturday out we go. Here are the instructions from the 1 Ranger to me: The road up to the existing gate is an open public road. It is maintained by Gila County and only they could determine to post it "No Parking" if they deemed it necessary. Gila County has indicated that they have not posted this road and that the signs are not theirs. Therefore, it has been my advice to visitors that it is legal to park along the road. No one to my knowledge has been towed or cited for parking on the road, although some have received anonymous flyers warning that they could be. After you have parked near the gate, simply head east along the fenceline (staying south of the private property). You will drop into a large wash which is Tonto creek and climb out the other side. Then follow the fenceline (property boundary) north and you will end up right at the narrows. It is a relatively short and easy diversion as long as you can cross Tonto Creek (low-medium flows).
We produced a map at the Payson RD office that shows the road and the private land and you can easily see how to access the Narrows without trespassing on private land.
So, I will attach a copy of our GPS Track on the Trail. When you look at the GOS Track, you can see the fun and adventure we went on. The instructions given to us could have been a little more clear and accurate......lol.
The first thing one should know is that because of the Washes that lead through the area, Private Property lines do not have distinguishing fences going through the washes, as that would be pointless because several times a year when it floods out, the fence would be washes away. This I suppose may only be one of those hands on experience type of things. Lol. I mean it makes sense now, right? But the Instructions don't mention it.
So when you do begin the hike, yes it is barely a trail and in some spots there is no trail. I would classify this as a level 4 bushwhack in some spots. If level 4 is more difficult on the rating scale, with level 1 being fairly easy. Take a machete. Lesson # 2. So as you do follow the fence line east, just south of the private property, you will weave and bob, and zig and zag to stay on a faint trail. You will come to a ridge line, looking below to a valley, about 300 yards in. As you near the ridge, fan to the right (south), and you will pick up a faint trail every so often. This part required some bushwhack to pick up the faint trail.....I am being very nice even calling it a trail if you get my drift. So you are able to dump into the valley just to the south/right of the drainage pond. Here is where I took the Ranger literal and saw the fenceline back to my left/north in this rare open part of the valley and by the Rangers Instructions hugged the fenceline, which you can see on the GPS Track shows me taking a sharp left/north and then banging into the fenceline and then trekking back East, staying just south of the fenceline, then 100-200 years later, we meet yet another fenceline that drives us right/south. Now we I was pretty disturbed at this point because I know what is going through the minds of some of the hikers who may have never trailblazed before. We had our Topo map and our GPS Unit. I knew it could be a real slow go at this point. I knew we would eventually find our destination, but I also knew that morale can dissipate in such situations, so I felt a little urgency to read GPS, Topo, and lead bushwhack at the same time, which in these such situations, you usually have a topo reader, and a separate Bushwhack. Lol. Oh well, what the hey. As long as people remained patient, we will get through this. So we finally reach the end of the fenceline heading back south, which also brought us to a small wash. So we then hung a left/East and we were back to hugging a fenceline that did a zig zag, which was interesting. We were able to continue to keep moving East, at which point we came upon the major large wash, which also contained a tiny spur of the creek itself. From here do not take the wash north as you will end up on their private property by mistake. Remember there is no fenceline in the washes. Take the wash strait across and up the embankment to the ridge line. You then want to hang a left/North and finally begin the trek towards the Narrows. Try to make sure you come up on the right side or East side of the fence. This fence is a relatively new barbed wire fence. If for some reason you find yourself on the left side of the fence, then skirt to the east side of the fence right away. You should be able to pick up a trail on the East Side of this new fence. Take this trail, and it will grow faint from time to time. Keep traveling North, and keep the fenceline within site to your left. You will be able to see the Private Landowners home to your left and you will start to see the Narrows off in the distance to the North. Keep bushwhacking and following the faint trail, with the fenceline in site to the left, you will occasionally bite off the trail to your left to take look for the Narrows. Once you see the Narrows at about a 1 o'clock setting, if you were standing facing the river, you should be at a deep ravine. Not too deep that you can't hike it with some bushwhack. You will do a 1-3 switchbacks down into the ravine, and then just follow the ravine until it dumps you right down at the Narrows. You will come out about 50 yards south of Narrows. The friend of mine that does the tracking, said that it had been 2 miles from the parking area to this point, although when he uploads the data to google, I guess google is interpreting the data incorrectly.
We then trekked upstream to the Waterfall. It was a beautiful day.
When returning to the Narrows, a local fireman from the local fire department was asking us to move our vehicles stating they could cause an access problem if there was an emergency. This Fireman and the local Rangers are not seeing eye to eye right now. This guy was pretty perturbed that I had talked to the local Ranger, of whom he knew intimately, and has been butting heads with. See, the local land owners and the local fire department have been telling people that they aren't even allowed back there at all, which is not true. And the Rangers don't appreciate people dissuading others from the very right they have of being able to access Federal Land. So, we do end up finding out that it is an absolute mess what is going on right now. There are talks that are currently underway between the land owners, fire department, residents, and the Forest Rangers. The Forest Rangers have brought some influential Ranger in from the Tucson District to help with the negotiations. The Rangers think that they are going to get some sort of a small parking area that might hold 3-5 cars. The land owners are fighting it and so is the fire department, but the Rangers are pressing the issue. So, when we parked on the road, which is technically legal, is restricting access in the eyes of the fire department. So the game has begun. So, the Ranger that was called to the site, gave us all a warning just to appease the fire department and land owners for the time being. The Ranger was super cool, and explained what was going on. He even said that us parking here is legal, but because Gila County does not want to get involved with this very interesting situation, I can not tow you, and I can not give you a citation. He thanked us for being responsible hikers and hiking around the private land and we were given other probable areas in the vicinity to park that would not cause a restricted access, but warned us of vandals and suggested car pooling and no expensive cars and no valuable in the cars and maybe someone that actually watches the cars, and made me promise not to post where these others spots are. Please have people that wish to kike the no-so-easy hike call the Ranger station and ask for the advice personally. The guy was super nice to me and took our side on the matters, so I will adhere to my promise to him.
I can tell you this, just because you use this trail instead of the one from Houston Road (name?), isn't making it easy for rift raft. This trail is not for the faint of heart and recommend only experienced hikers do this trail. I would rate this Strenuous. Trail finding skills, topo map reading, bushwhacking, lose gravel traveling, scrambling, and boulder hopping. |
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](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
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This hike, with about 8 oz of water?... Joe offered to go back but like many of our trips together; I thought "Bring on the adventure"! It was great fun and I even decided to jump off the area where the 1st waterfall is!(twice) 
