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| | | Trap Canyon - Herman Mountain Exploration, AZ | | | |
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Trap Canyon - Herman Mountain Exploration, AZ
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| Hiking | 19.82 Miles |
3,665 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.82 Miles | 10 Hrs 24 Mns | | 2.07 mph |
| 3,665 ft AEG | 50 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | My plan for today was to try out a ~20-mile route-trip route to the summit of Herman Mountain from Peralta, hiking up through the west side of Trap Canyon. There are shorter/more direct routes up Herman, but this one looked like one of the flatter approaches and had the added bonus of some hiking in Trap Canyon, which I always enjoy.
We headed out on Dutchman right around sunrise, and cars were pouring into the parking lot at Peralta as we got started. Within a few minutes, a Pinal County Sheriff helicopter passed overhead and flew up Peralta Canyon and back, then landed in the Lost Goldmine parking lot, where there were some flashing lights...not sure if that was training or an early morning rescue operation.
Not quite a mile in, we stepped off the trail to let a guy pass, and he started sharing his theories on the helicopter and then moved on to other stories from his recent Superstition hikes. I wouldn't have minded story time if he'd at least kept moving, but he just stood there talking as the minutes passed, and I eventually had to cut him off and tell him that we needed to keep moving...
We saw two more people on Dutchman, and Whiskey Spring and Red Tanks Trails were in about the best shape I've seen them--there was a little catclaw in some spots, but it looked like someone had done recent trail maintenance, so that saved us a lot of time and scratches. Not surprisingly, it was very dry out there--we didn't see any water at Bark at Dutchman or Whiskey Spring and only occasional, small puddles in the creek beds.
TBoneKathy waited near Trap Spring, and I hiked into Trap to try out the route. When I was there last February, Trap Canyon had water everywhere--deep pools and small waterfalls, and we had to take our boots off and wade through some spots and find creative ways around the deeper pools. Today was the opposite--other than a few small, shallow pools, everything was dry. Not as scenic, but it was great for moving quickly through the canyon, and it was nice not stepping in quicksand today. I passed a tent and some camping equipment near the arch, but the backpacker must've been out exploring.
Brush/catclaw are the big obstacles getting out of the creek bed, and I picked a rocky area to avoid that, but I ended up leaving the creek too early and wasted time dropping back down to a very brushy drainage and up the other side, cutting through catclaw along the way. I followed the drainage until it flattened out, and the terrain was easy up on top, but I'd lost a lot of time. On the way up, I saw a few very tall, deliberately-built cairns in random spots, which was odd.
I came within ~2/3 of a mile and ~500 feet of elevation from the peak and could see it ahead, but TBoneKathy had already been waiting an hour at that point. If I continued to the summit and spent a little time there before turning around, I figured she'd end up waiting ~ three hours total and didn't want to make her do that, so I made that my turnaround spot and started back. [ youtube video ]
I took a more efficient route down into the creek bed in Trap on the way back, but there's no way to avoid the catclaw. Following the creek bed toward the west entrance, I crossed paths with the backpacker and talked to him for a few minutes--he'd hiked to the traps but didn't go all the way through to Hoolie Bacon. I rejoined TBoneKathy for the hike out, and we saw three more people before taking a food break at the Whiskey Spring/Dutchman intersection. While she started down Dutchman, I made a quick detour up to Miner's Summit and signed the register. I'd never been up there and figured it could be the consolation peak today since I came up a little short on Herman  .
I caught up with her, and we finished off the last few miles with nice late afternoon shadows and were back at Peralta around 5:15PM. I'll probably come back and try Herman again soon while the trails are in good shape and Trap Canyon is dry, because conditions were perfect for moving quickly, and the route is straightforward and would've worked well if I'd just stayed in the creek bed a little longer on the way in. |
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Trap Canyon |
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| | | Dry creek bed heading into the west entrance of Trap |
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Trap Canyon Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Moisture/seepage on a few rocks and one very small stagnant puddle nearby, but essentially dry | | | |
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Route 
Water running into a large pool. 
My previous visit was full of water. This time everything was dry except for a few pot holes of water here and there due to the bit of rain we had a couple of days last week.
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In addition to the 2 groups of backpackers we saw at La Barge, we saw another 2 groups of backpackers heading in on bluff springs. It is certainly a fine weekend for it! We saw 4 day hikers when we were starting out on Dutchman. Not too bad crowding wise. The parking lot was a zoo when we arrived at 840a. Of course, thankfully all those people confine themselves to Peralta, leaving the rest of the wilderness relatively unscathed! 
I despise the uninspiring Hoolie Bacon Trail so much that I decided spur of the moment to instead hike over the top of Herman Mountain. It was a great decision that turned out better than expected. Not too shabby of a view in all directions. There were three parties vaguely signed in at the summit. The first was illegible (maybe Feb.'21?). The second was Jordyn & Lee and the third was your DPS DADDY! AKA Trail Ghost or just Greg. 
Clear bottles as summit registers don't work well as the writing fades quickly. I also detoured to Herman's Cave for a quick lunch, which was very peaceful. The Whiskey Spring Trail isn't a favorite of mine, but it gets the job done. Also, some stupid jackholes have left a bunch of trash in the firepit near the spring Cottonwoods. Might have to haul that out next time I'm hiking through.
