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| Hiking | 12.40 Miles |
2,880 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.40 Miles | 8 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.99 mph |
| 2,880 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 6 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | The road:
Forest Road 538 up to FR 538E would have been passable even with my Toyota Corolla. The first part of 538E from 538 to the intersection at 538G did require high clearance but didn’t really require four-wheel-drive. The intersection of 538G and 538E is a good place to stop for this loop. Although I only walked the roads from here to both trailheads, Kelsey and Dorsey, both 538E and 538G were passible with high clearance, and no need for 4x4.
The hike:
I slept in my car overnight in order to get a 5:15 AM start, doing the loop counterclockwise. It took me about a half hour of road walking on 538G to get the Kelsey trailhead. This was practical, since I was walking the complete loop. There is plenty of parking at the trailhead.
It turns out the counterclockwise loop is the way to go. The trail drops pretty steeply from the Kelsey TH, and the climb back up Hog Hill is gentle. There is decent camping in the vicinity of Kelsey Spring. All the springs had warnings to camp at least 200’ away, which was not an onerous requirement.
There was old bear scat in the vicinity of Babe’s Hole Spring, and a lot of mole activity as well.
The Little LO (LO means Lookout, according to the Forest Service Map) trail is pretty steep, but always a good quality trail. From the bottom of the canyon, I turned right up the canyon a bit for some good pictures. There is poison ivy in the vicinity of Geronimo Spring.
The Kelsey Trail is challenging at times. The north-south section from Babe’s Hole Spring through Dorsey Spring , down to where it turns east toward Winter Spring can be very ambiguous. Pay close attention to the blazes on the trees and you will do fine. There is about a mile of trail in the east-west section north of Winter Cabin where the trail is very overgrown with scrub oak. You will want to have long sleeves and long pants when going through this section. I sent a note to the Forest Service. Perhaps they can do something.
It is surprising to find Winter Cabin within the wilderness boundary. I guess it is old enough that it doesn’t disqualify the area for wilderness.
The Hog Hill trail is the remains of an old road, but it feels more like a wide trail than a road.
Fauna:
I encountered two bull elk just after starting out, but not too much interesting after that.
There was lots of elk scat and prints along the Kelsey trail north of Winter Cabin.
I heard woodpeckers on the Little LO trail.
I was insulted repeatedly by a Stellar’s Jay on the Hog Hill section. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
It was a great time to do this hike. Lots of wildflowers in bloom including:
Yellow Ragwort
Lewis Flax (Linum lewisii)
Desert Penstemon [Beardtongue] (Penstemon pseudospectabilis)
New Mexico Locust (Robinia neomexicana)
Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha)
Ceanothus fendleri
Lithospermum (not sure which species)
Arizona Lupine (Lupinus arizonicus)
Wild Currant (Mahonia trifoliolata) |
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Babes Hole Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| | | Spring is flowing. Plenty of clear water. |
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Casner Tank |
26-50% full |
26-50% full |
| | | Casner tank has plenty of filterable water in it. |
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Dorsey Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Dorsey Spring was flowing less than a liter per minute, and there is great camping nearby. |
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Geronimo Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | Geronimo Spring is flowing at gallons per minute. The best access is from the bottom of the canyon, and not where it first comes out of the hill. |
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Kelsey Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | Kelsey Spring is flowing at gallons per minute. Spring box is full of clear water. |
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Winter Cabin Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Winter Cabin Spring was stagnant and unappealing, but would be available to the desperate. | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
I panicked and froze and John had to come to my rescue. 
Yes, I was the damsel in distress! BIG TIME!!!! 
He talked me down and I rolled up my pants and walked through the water anyway. It came up to my butt and it was FREEZING cold, but it was WAY better than what they were trying to get me to attempt to do!!!!!
The trail was beautiful and it was a kick-ass workout! I think I will probably stick to hiking most of the time. 
) and dropped back down that dry canyon on the other side of the ridge of the springs. The canyon starts off rather thick with loads of boulders, bushes, and tree fall to make for a rather slow going and uninteresting descent of the upper section. 
A side canyon from the springs comes in and the canyon is to flow off & on for a bit. After dropping more than half of the way back down to Little LO canyon the canyon finally narrowed up and got interesting. 
The canyon starts off with a mossy 20ft drop down to a bouldery ledge/chamber with a V-notch above another mossy & slick 35ft rappel which puts you down into some sweet narrows. 
That final rappel was followed by a tricky 10ft down climb and then squeezing thru the Babe's Hole formed by a few large chockstone boulders before reaching the confluence with Little LO Canyon and once again making the steep sweaty climb back up the Little LO trail. 
