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| Hiking | 4.10 Miles |
1,713 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.10 Miles | 3 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.26 mph |
| 1,713 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I got an early start, just after 6am. It was cloudy again in the morning, but soon some sun started to break through. I decided not to put on any sunscreen for this hike because of the initial cloud cover, and now I was thinking that might have been a mistake. Not to worry. By the time I was done, I was nearly as soaked as the day before.
the trail starts out pretty wide open and smooth. As it ascends, it gradually gets steeper, with more loose footing, and also narrower with enough vegetation to make almost a bit bushwhacky. As I was hiking up, I was still hoping to make it up to the Crest Trail. I would only be one extra mile one way, and I was making pretty good time. Then I reached the junction for the spur trail to the Lutz Tunnel.
It was at this point that the rain started. It wasn't the typical slow fade in, but right away rain. Within minutes not only was I wet, but all the vegetation around me was soaked enough that walking past it made me more soaked. and it was also at this point that the spur trail to Lutz Tunnel was majorly overgrown. It's a pretty mean bushwhack, and for not much of a payoff. I could only find what appeared to be a filled in mineshaft, I think. No mining equipment that I could see. I ducked under the short overhang to the "tunnel" and took out my rain jacket, and then took a little break.
At this point, my enthusiasm for hiking the rest of this trail was somewhat dampened. From what I've read, the rest of the trail is also pretty narrow and the vegetation gets thicker. The rain would make it more miserable than usual, not to mention that there wouldn't be many views with the clouds rolling in. and the best view would probably be the one at the top, which I just saw yesterday, in the rain. I called it a weekend, headed back to the car, and then back home.
As I got to the bottom of the trail, I could see a lot of low hanging clouds rolling through the canyon. this actually looked pretty cool, but I think it's one of those things that looks cooler from below. It also appeared that the higher the elevation, the thicker the overall cloud cover. Glad to get this one done from the 100 Classic Hikes in AZ book, but this seems like another trail that I don't think was one of the best choices. Even on a clear day, for most of this hike, it's hard to see beyond what's in front of you. And the best view is probably seen from the other hike right next to this one. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
I put together a loop of two trails I hadn't hiked, Lutz and Miller canyons, with the obligatory visits to Miller and Carr peaks. The cool weather was enjoyable, and yesterday's inch of rain was evident in the soft soil, but I was a bit disappointed not to find any running water. It's been so dry, that even an inch of rain produced no runoff and was just absorbed into the dry soil. Nonetheless, the forecast called for temps in the upper 60s along the crest and that sounded ideal to me. The southwesterly wind was even a bit chilly on the peaks, but you won't find me complaining about that in mid-June!
).
Last year's trip took 12 hours from Miller Canyon TH to Crest Trail and down to Coronado where we had parked one of the cars.
) On the way back I wanted to make a lasso out of it by continuing on past the Lutz cutoff to a point along the Crest Trail above the South Fork of Ash Canyon. More than a decade previous I had done some gold panning down around Morgan Spring and found a use trail from there up to some claims at around the 7000 foot level, directly below the Crest Trail. I figured it would be a fairly easy bushwhack to there and pick up the old route again. It was, but we lost the route and ended up following the drainage back to Morgan Spring. This made it a very difficult day, as we were pretty tired by that point. Slow going in the drainage and dog tired, we trudged past all kinds of illegal's trash and even came across a dead bear cub (probably done in by ingesting plastic or something). I was too tired for a photo and we were focused on getting the bushwhack part over with. We eventually hit the old mining road in South Fork and dragged our way back to the vehicle. But hey, it was a great adventure! 
