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| Hiking | 10.25 Miles |
2,369 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.25 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.86 mph |
| 2,369 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | 34 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Our hike began at the trail-head for Temporal Gulch #595 in Patagonia's gorgeous Santa Rita Mountains to Josephine Saddle where we picked up the 2.2 mile Old Baldy Trail #372. Ending at the parking lot in Madera, we caught a ride to the incredibly awesome Kent Springs Cabin. (Highly recommend a visit to this beautiful cabin) where we stayed overnight and drove home 24 hours later.
We began our hike at 11:00 am with four adults, one teen and two dogs. The trail path was clear and appeared well traveled. Sadly there was quite a bit of garbage at the beginning, lessening the further along the trail were; clothing, backpacks, food wrappers, water bottles etc. The warnings about the illegal traffic in the area are true. Regardless, the area was gorgeous! The stream bed was running and the waterfalls were flowing as well. there were several deep pools along the route. Deep enough for the dogs to swim! The path was clear and easy to follow for the first 2 miles then we had to start relying on our compasses and rock markers pyramided at corners and bends in the trail. Once you found the markers, the trail was easy enough to pick back up again. The sights and smells were amazing, the pines, the incredible oaks and all the other trees made such a wonderful shaded, cool canopy during the hike. We do believe we were sharing the path with a brown bear or two, we came across countless large piles of fresh bear scat and we even had the pleasure of finding freshly marked trees! It was truly exciting! Along with dozens of different wildflowers the trail was lined with many different types of mushrooms! Dozens to be exact; gold, white, copper red, speckled... They were plentiful and a joy to find! This trail has so much to offer! ** I really recommend head nets the gnats were terrible this time of year. There was no amount of bug spray that would keep them at bay they just attacked your face and eyes. (This was only uncomfortable encounter during the entire trip) The stream bed began to get scarce at about 4.5 to 5 miles into the hike, so if you have pets you may want to bring them an extra bottle of water or two. We hiked during the rainy season and the stream bed was still dry in places along the trail so just take precautionary measures and pack in a bit more water. My daughter and I hiked in with in 2, 50 liter water bottles and it lasted us the duration of the hike. The trail was really overgrown and appeared far less traveled about the 6 to 6.5 mile. The machete was extremely useful to have to cut away the brush, clearing the path. We had been warned about the chiggers being active this time year fortunately, we had no issues them at all. A few of our group did get a tick. But only 2. One at the start of the trail and the other wasn't discovered until we made it to the cabin. Not bad at all! I recommend that everyone do this hike! When you make it out of the tree lines you have the opportunity to see Whipple Observatory across the valley and the mountainous terrain is truly breathtaking! The trail was defined at this point but in several places it was beginning to wash away. It needs some maintenance, or just more hikers  But it is all passable. It was a refreshing moment coming to the McBeth Spring, the ferns carpeted the mountainside and the massive pines surrounding the spring were breathtaking. The rock basin at the spring was crystal clear and full, the fill pipe was flowing nicely. Three people, including myself drank directly from the spring. The dogs drank too... (no issues at all later) The excitement of reaching Josephine Saddle was awesome! We viewed sights we had only seen online to include the Boy Scout memorial. The trail heads at this point are clearly marked. The hike down Old Baldy Trail was a bit rocky but it was nice and wide and more maintained it wasn't until this point during the hike that we came across other hikers on the path. This trail definitely has a lot of hiking traffic. All in all the hike from Patagonia to Madera was absolutely awesome following the routes we had taken all totaling a little over 11 miles. I highly recommend it to everyone! We will be doing this hike again this year. I'd love to see it in the cooler months. I will be bringing high visible markers so I can do my part to help clearly mark the trail as it is unknown if the rock markers will continue to be standing. Our group also mentioned the possibility of a trail clean up mission in the future. The road getting into Temporal Canyon is a bit rough, I would recommend a 4X4 high clearance vehicle or side by side. However, I truly believe a stock Jeep would make it without a problem. We were dropped off at the trail-head which is how I would suggest everyone take this trek. I wouldn't recommend leaving your vehicle here overnight. |
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Wildflowers Observation Extreme
There were dozens of different wildflowers along the entire route. |
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McBeth Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| | | The spring was full and flowing steady. | | _____________________
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