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| | | Lower Morgan City Wash, AZ | | | |
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Lower Morgan City Wash, AZ
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| Hiking | 2.30 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 2.30 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 1.15 mph |
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| no partners | | Not wanting to make the long drive up to Flagstaff, today was going to be a chore day at home. Luckily Wendi just happened to find "Ranger Terry's Awesome Wet Splash Hike" which promised to beat the heat on an awesome hike. We read the hype and promptly dismissed and went about the laundry, vacuuming, and mopping. Neither of us however could shake the promise of getting wet and beating the heat. I've been looking for hikes like this at Lake Pleasant for years and the best they've offered is the "Pipeline trail" a decent hike but surely not a "Wet" hike. So what if it was true? 11:15 came, drop-dead time if we were gonna make the hike by 12:00. Wendi broke first and we dropped our Laundry baskets and our vacuous chores, packed our gear hauled butt.
We probably made it to the Visitor's center about 3 minutes late. All we could do was hope that he was still there. I asked a couple of gentleman at the desk about the hike led by Ranger Terry. One them said "That's me!" I was relieved to know that they hadn't left without us, and surprised to learn that we were the only ones who showed. WhaAT?! Who wouldn't want to do a "Awesome wet splash hike"? We were now doubly dubious about this, but what the heck we're here.
The hike itself is largely shaded, but ventures out into the sun every once in a while for short jaunt, but, and I recommend you do this, there are plenty of places to get your feet and hats wet before those short sunny excursions. If you've ever done the Jewel of the Desert hike near Spur Cross, this hike has that feel (Prior to the Jewel's fire and the flooding, anyway) Wild life abounds down in the Morgan wash, plenty Wild Burro scat, Javelina (we/he spotted one), Hawks, several different types of frogs and Ranger Terry was able to identify two of them, a Leopard frog, and a Spadefoot. Several varieties of fish, too. We also saw Roadrunner actually fly, Wendi and I didn't even know they could truly fly.
Along the way he explains the area to you. Shows you a variety Javelina "caves". There's a 50+ year old hunting blind made out of 4 huge truck beds, once used to hunt Javelina but no more. He told us that on one hike that they watched a mountain lion leaving the one real cave they have on the hike. We would later learn when we passed the actual cave that this a very literate mountain lion because I found two paperbacks is his lair, "The Road To Omaha" and "The Horse Whisperer", no word if he has ever seen the movie.
The name, "Morgan City Wash", comes the wash's historical capacity as a stagecoach route to the named city which was itself 8 or so miles away. Morgan City was part of Arizona's gold mining history. This was all before cars, before the New Waddell dam and the runoff that now feeds the oasis that now exists but didn't then, so there isn't much room for a stagecoach trail or much sign that it ever existed but he points out a spot that he believes is one of the last remnants of that road and your left to only imagine what was. He mentioned that in this very wash you can find gold but it's hard to find and not a lot of takers.
He noted that every famous hike has a natural arch and so he made sure to point out "Rattlesnake Arch". The Arch itself is low and maybe 3 feet wide but it's resemblance to a snake is pretty impressive. You can tell he is pretty proud of his efforts both past and ongoing in developing this trail and he should be. Wendi and I have avoided coming to Lake Pleasant for the most part because of it's reputation excessive everything, but no more, we'll be back. We even made our way down lake side and went for a very enjoyable dip in the lake after we were done with the hike.
Long story short we spent 4 hours, 12:00 to 4:00pm even, outdoors in the greater Phoenix area with no sunblock and didn't get a sunburn on a 108* day. This hike lived up to the hype. I only wish it could be longer. He has been expanding the trail, much of the existing trail is not even 6 months old.
Ranger Led Hike: http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/lake_pleasant
First and foremost, park access and to get to the visitor center if your doing the Ranger led hike, you must take Castle Hot Springs Rd. north from the Carefree Hwy. Take a right on Lake Pleasant Access Rd., pay your park fee (6 bucks as of this posting), take the first right and follow that all the way to the end, making one additional turn at a barrier
Hike it yourself:
DISCLAIMER: The first .9 miles is in full sun, so plan accordingly.
After the toll gate the first right you make is on South Park Rd. Just over 1.5 miles you should see the Sunset Ridge parking area on the left but you want the gravel parking area on the right, directly across the street. He says there is a gate that is left unlocked. Through the gate hug the fence-line paralleling the South Park rd. continuing east until you come to a dirt road. Now follow this road south, heading away from the lake. Get off the road at the wash, make sure to stack some rocks to mark your exit, and head east to the west end of this looped hike (The above description is on the east end).
No matter how you come to this hike please treat it with respect, access to this area is being scrutinized and can be taken away very easily. |
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| The Tree of Understanding, dazzling, straight, and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It. - Wislawa Szymborska, "Utopia" |
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