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| | | Verde - Wet Bottom - Highwater, AZ | | | |
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Verde - Wet Bottom - Highwater, AZ
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| Backpack | 34.88 Miles |
4,911 AEG |
| | Backpack | 34.88 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 4,911 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Wow! What an amazing weekend. Loved it. 
We set out Saturday morning with options but no set plan. When I turned onto FR18 to head toward Red Creek, Karl honked the horn and decided now was a good time to mention that he'd really like to hike VR11 from Sheep Bridge. I might have misunderestimated the additional drive time to get to the bridge by ... double. It takes an hour to go 8 miles, not half an hour. Oh well.
We were on trail around 10:30 and began to cover new trail miles. Officially, the route begins on Willow Springs 223, before turning onto the start of VR11 half a mile in. We passed by the junction for Dutchman Grave and continued on northward. Right off the bat there was water in Sycamore Creek which was a pleasant surprise. Not that it's a factor being so close to the start, but raised the possibility we might find unexpected water elsewhere.
After descending into Dry Wash, we lost the route, despite numerous cairns in every which direction. Posted routes and map base layers did little to solve the dilemma, exacerbated by a maze of cattle paths. Regardless, this desert terrain provides minimal obstacles to travel and we all funneled into the defined route that climbs up the edge of the White Bluffs. (FWIW, the easiest route through the wash is to simply follow the wash rather than attempt to shorten the distance by finding a route on the bench above).
The view from White Bluffs is pretty impressive and necessitated a snack break. From there we continued north as the river flows out of view well to the west. Next we crossed Spring Wash, which showed signs of moisture from some seeps where the trail crosses. On Monday I would explore both up and downstream from the trail crossing and find some surface water. I wouldn't call it reliable, but during wetter seasons it was clear that there was a source of groundwater, and not just pools from recent rainfall.
The next 3 miles carried us through pristine rolling desert, winding in and out of shallow drainages and around small hills. Eventually we made the short descent into Wet Bottom Creek. Spring hasn't arrived yet so the canopy of shade trees in the creek bottom remained bare, leafless branches of huge trees reaching to the sky. With a refreshing flow of clear creek water, it was here we decided to set up camp for the night.
Karl and I decided to head upstream and explore into Outlander territory. I always appreciate the opportunity to visit some of the remote canyons he so eloquently wrote about, and this one delivered. While we had been unsure of the water situation in Wet Bottom Creek during this record-dry winter, we were pleasantly surprised to find flowing surface water for the entire length of our hike. There's no reason to believe that it didn't continue (and probably increase) the farther up it goes. The stream gauge indicated a fraction of a cfs, and I assumed that to be a ghost reading. In fact, it may have been real. The water depth read 3.5 feet, and that seems about right. I did also realize that 2.5 feet is dry. So be wary of that. As it turns out, despite virtually no precipitation all winter, Wet Bottom transitioned from its dry summer status to a light flow from a November rain event -- and has continued to flow all winter long, despite almost no additional rain or snow since then. Good to know for future visits.
After exploring the narrows around the stream gauge, Karl decided it was appropriate for a swim, while I didn't have an extra pair of pants for camp and opted to take the high route instead. After a break here we returned down canyon back to camp in time for sunset.
Sunday morning the others decided to head back to be home in time for America's Got Talent while I decided that this area was too special to settle for a 15-hour overnight. So I headed north to the Wet Bottom Trail and began the unexpectedly big 800-foot climb up onto the mesa. This trail gets much less use than VR11 and though some well-intentioned trail workers from at least 20 years ago built a whole ton of cairns, time has taken over and many of these rock piles are now hidden in prickly pears and tall grass, and few are connected by any semblence of a worn route. There's definitely no smooth tread anywhere. It is all a medly of golfballs, tennis balls, softballs, soccer balls, and a few beach balls for good measure. Good ankle exercise all day!
At the top of the mesa I was on the lookout for the junction to turn onto Highwater #20. This area was especially difficult to find a route and I wandered aimlessly until I caught a glimpse of what looked like a signpost in the distance. Sure enough, a signed junction. If grass and prickly pear can junct. I proceeded northward sloping downhill, attempting to link cairns together, finding occasional stretches of visible use path, until suddenly there wasn't. The weather was great and I was enjoying all of it 
I ran into a cowboy who was wrangling feral cows, an activity contracted by the FS to remove all the cattle which has slowly encroached into the protected Wild and Scenic River corridor. They asked me to give them some space and 10-15 minutes, so I climbed a nearby bluff and watched them do their work. A pack of dogs aided as they roped the cows and secured them to their horses before leading them down the trail all the way back to Sheep Bridge!! For all the things Tonto NF doesn't do, I was happy to see them doing this (though from the cattle paths witnessed along the river, one wonders for how long they've let it go on before getting to the point of removal?)
After a bit I was finally able to safely pass without getting gored by a wild bull and continued on to the north. As the trail descended to the Verde again at the white cliffs across from Canoe Mesa, I made a decision to shorten my day and skip over 3 miles of desert wandering along the mystery trail that previous hazzers @jacobemerick, @joebartels, and @the_eagle reported to be undefined, at best.
My first crossing option proved to require swimming, but not far upstream along the bank I found a very nice option that turned out to be not much over knee deep. I had seen some cattle paths on satellite here and in reality, this two mile jaunt across Canoe Mesa turned out to be the nicest, easiest hiking of the day. Lol. It's the only part that wasn't actually a trail.
My route brought me across the the top of some cliffs just about a quarter mile downstream of the actual VR11 crossing point, and some of the best scenery today. It was beautiful. I could have followed the bank north to the trail but opted instead to climb up a drainage to the west and meet up with the trail above the cliffs. It was a dense mesquite bog down below but I found a steep wildlife route (def NOT cattle) that proved to be a suitable option.
Once reaching the official route for VR11, it became an whole new exercise in connect-the-cairns as I now headed south toward Red Creek. I startled a huge bull, and with newfound appreciation for the work at hand, marked a waypoint and relayed the location to the cowboy wranglers the next day.
As with the northward travel on the east side of the river, the southbound route meandered up and down, over and around a number of geographic features and provided beautiful views and some scenes of the river and surrounding mountains that are unique and really awe inspiring.
Within a mile of Red Creek, I saw a plane with his landing lights flashing. It circled over me and surveyed the situation at Red Creek International before looping around and making the landing. I was not in view of the airstrip at that time so I missed the touchdown. But when I crested the next hill, I noticed that it was a busy day at RCI, with two fixed wing aircraft and a helicopter enjoying the afternoon.
It wasn't on my itinerary, but I made my way up to the airstrip and was able to watch a Cessna take off and chat with the helicopter and Cub pilots for a bit. I wanted to watch the Cub take off but the pilot went for a hike and I had no idea how long he'd be gone. Ready to get back to camp I crossed the Verde as the helicopter departed, and was about half a mile away when I saw the Cub flying away. It was pretty cool to experience these aviators in action!
Tired from my 16 miles along the Verde, I was a little bit annoyed to find that the cowboys had tethered three capturees to trees along the bench near my camp. One of them was not happy with my presence. It was clear that they would be spending the night awaiting their Monday escort to the ranch so I gathered wood and started a fire hoping they'd settle down.
Before long I was shocked to hear two backpackers approach from the north. (It wasn't Emerick so that ruled out the only other person I could envision being out there!) They had started from Sheep Bridge on Friday and set out to go to Doll Baby or something up near Twin Buttes, but hadn't found the trail conditions to be amenable to that kind of travel. They did make it to the East Verde before heading back. They reported that the north crossing of the Verde on VR11 at Petes Cabin Mesa was a bit treacherous, though both accomplished it below waist deep.
I offered them 9L's campsite since their chosen spot on the other side of the creek was not ideal. They took me up on the offer and spent a couple of hours around the campfire chatting about hikes and adventures across the state.
Monday morning JD and Travis headed out about 30 minutes before I did. Cloudiness and cool temperatures made the 8 mile exit mostly enjoyable, even though it was returning over the same trail as the hike in. I took a side trip down Spring Wash and chatted with the cowboys again but arrived at the bridge in just a couple of minutes over 3 hours.
On the bridge I was treated to the unbridled delight and joy of a river otter frolicking in the bamboo. Is there anybody who doesn't think otters are awesome? I took a shot at driving across the Verde but it was a no-go in the Taco, so I spent a couple of minutes in the hot spring, which I had not previously visited. Nice spot, but too accessible to be peaceful very often.
Some final thoughts: This area is absolutely great. If you're not expecting a paved trail, and have maps and gps routes in hand, it's really pretty amazing. It's not easy, but if easy is what you want, you probably won't be reading this at all.
I wouldn't attempt any of this if the weather in PHX is forecast to be over 85. There is basically zero shade. Though you are along the river, you don't frequently have actual access to it. There are not many reliable sources of non-Verde water, and in the dry season there might be none. This trip was done in the end of winter. It would be nicer once the sycamores and cottonwoods leaf out and provide shade along the river, but by then it would also likely be too warm for most people. In the fall you might find the changing colors of the season to be inviting, but depending on summer rains there may be no water in the side drainages. In a year with winter rain, spring wildflowers might be popping by this time of year, but then there might be too much flow to get across the Verde. There's beauty in the complexity of the logistics!
Speaking of the river, crossing would have been no problem anywhere if you wanted to get wet or swim. Tangle Creek was reporting about 230cfs. As the flow increases, the ability to wade across with less than waist-deep water decreases. And current can be an issue in some places even if you want to swim or float. Don't be afraid to deviate from the actual trail crossing location to find a spot that's more suitable or safer to cross. Water always wins.
The Verde River is generally pretty clean, but you should definitely treat any drinking water taken from it. During runoff it can be quite turbid and this would also lead to increased risks from contaminants upstream where there agricultural and livestock farms along its banks.
There isn't even a ghost bar of cellular signal in this whole stretch. As phones begin to have satellite capability this will be less of an issue, but plan on having no connection to the outside world along this entire stretch. |
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Canyon Creek |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Dry at trail crossing. Pools upstream about 300 yards. |
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Red Creek Rapids |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Appx 220cfs, crossing was above the knee. |
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Spring Wash |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Muddy seeps near trail crossing. A few pools in bedrock downstream. |
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Wet Bottom Creek |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Light flow of clear, cold water. Near record dry winter, so this was a pleasant surprise. | | _____________________
| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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