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| | | Florida Saddle lollipop, AZ | | | |
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Florida Saddle lollipop, AZ
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| Run/Jog | 22.64 Miles |
6,558 AEG |
| | Run/Jog | 22.64 Miles | 7 Hrs 47 Mns | | 2.95 mph |
| 6,558 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Headed down to the Santa Ritas to check out a couple more trails. We started off at Florida Canyon TH in order to shorten the drive (although adding on Florida Canyon trail clearly adds to the overall time and effort). It felt pretty warm early on, but that may be because of the exertion it takes to get up to that saddle. I was doubting at that point whether it would be a good idea to do the full route.
We headed onto Sawmill trail, and I suggested that while we're up there, we might as well bag Florida Peak. So we did, and the view was worth it. We tried to reconnect with Sawmill by sticking to the east side of the ridge, but that turned out not to be a time saver.
The descent down Sawmill had lots of variety; some really scratchy shrubs up high, nice mature ponderosa pine forests, and a dense thicket of young pines that will probably have to be thinned out at some point. The spring was flowing, with a nice clear pool, so I mixed up more electrolyte drink and grabbed an extra bag of water just in case. Below the spring, Sawmill Canyon had water off and on all the way down to the road.
The forest road section (which happens to be part of the Old Pueblo 50 course) was a little miserable. Cloud cover was increasing, and it alternated between hot and exposed, and nice and cool, based on whether there was a cloud overhead. When we got down to the main road, the crossing at Cave Creek was dry, so grabbing extra water at the spring turned out to be a good decision. A couple miles up the road, the creek had water.
Cave Creek trail was fairly enjoyable, with the lower section along the creek being at a very reasonable grade. We stopped for one last water fill about a quarter mile before the wilderness boundary - and at the wilderness boundary the creek had dried up again.
Around this time, we heard the first thunder, with one flash of lightning being probably within a mile. The rest of the way up to Florida Saddle there was occasional thunder - nothing close, but enough to motivate me to get up and over as fast as possible. In retrospect, the storm clouds provided some much needed coolth and even saved me up to half an hour!
The run back down to the TH was a nice cruise; either I had some adrenaline left from the lightning, or actually taking in enough electrolytes had an impact... Managed to get down from Florida Saddle in about 55 minutes.
Good day overall, but I don't know if I'd do this loop again, just because of the forest road section... |
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Aliso Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| | | Plenty of water in the creek at the end of the Jeep road. |
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Florida Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Hard to tell how much the actual spring has; flow could be heard in the creek from the trail. There is a pipe crossing the trail that is dripping. |
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Middle Cave Creek - Santa Ritas |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Good water about a mile before the end of the road. Couple of dry stretches along the trail, but mostly flowing almost to the wilderness boundary. |
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Sawmill Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Decent flow, nice clear water in the pool. | | _____________________
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Tank is full of cool water. Lots of creepy spiders. Boo. 
I didn't have to go far up the trail, and basically hung around near the research station in my quest. The amount of plant growth everywhere I have been this summer has been off the charts. 
. Then, we saw that a newly updated "closure" notice had been posted, now bounding at Florida Saddle due to killer grizzlies in the area 
. ...so, with no real rain gear or means of fighting off the ravenous gang of killer bears, we said "pfftt" and went on.
The only solace is that it's signed ahead of time regardless of your direction.
At the peak, it was more wind than rain, so we took a quick photo-op and signed the register before making a hasty retreat. Upon our departure, the rain:wind ratio inverted, then the whole thing just went ^2. I can't speak for Roy, but as for my self, fear was keeping me warm and vertical(or seemingly so). It wasn't until Armour Spring, that the weather gave in and we could assess our situation and it was far less than we had hoped or planned for. ...But aside from that; soaked, cold, numb, hungry, tired and giggling like a couple of drunk teenagers, we made our way back to the TH.
