Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Nov 04 2023

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Pine Mtn Not a Trail Loop, AZ

Hiking		Nov 04 2023
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	11.88 Miles	2,588 AEG

Hiking	11.88 Miles	6 Hrs 28 Mns	2.45 mph
	2,588 ft AEG	1 Hour 37 Mns Break

no routes

Linked

6 linked trail guides

Nelson Trail #159

Pine Mountain Trail #14

Pine Mountain 6814

Pine Mountain Verde Rim Loop

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Verde Rim Trail #161

Partners

none

no partners

Despite reading my last triplog that reiterated how terrible this road is, I somehow still didn't remember how terrible this road is. It's probably a good thing because this wilderness likely stays a little more wild as a result. A warm day for early November, topping out over 80 in the sun, but mostly in the low 70s. Still not that brisk chill you expect in autumn at this elevation.

We headed up Nelson and stayed right hitting Pine Mtn 14 instead of the more direct route on Willow 12. Headed north along the rim to the summit and managed to enjoy a nice break despite the single worst air quality day I have ever hiked in here. Prescribed fires filled the air with smoke and limited views to less than 30 miles. At least it wasn't thick enough to make breathing difficult!

The return part of the loop was eventful. We opted to skip Willow once again and follow a route I had previously taken. I'll call it North Sycamore Creek, though it isn't really named on maps. Of course, I missed this turn too, and had to backtrack a bit once I realized it. I was following a previous route I'd taken, but I didn't remember that it's not a trail. At all. Gravity helped out, and I'd rather do this kind of thing downhill. There was a faint route in places, but mostly just bushwhacking for a couple of miles until we got back to Nelson.

Saw a fair amount of bear and lion scat, but the only living beasts were deer and a good number of turkeys.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Wild Turkey

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Nelson Place Spring

Autumn Foliage Observation Light
Brilliant yellow oaks at their peak. A few spots with some red maples.

	Nelson Place Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Plenty of good clear flow

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

Nov 04 2017

MountainMatt

Guides 3
Routes 202
Photos 3,513
Triplogs 530

male

Joined Jan 24 2016
Arizona

Pine Mountain Wilderness, AZ

Hiking		Nov 04 2017
		MountainMatt • Triplogs 530

Hiking	16.57 Miles	2,659 AEG

Hiking	16.57 Miles
	2,659 ft AEG		25 LBS Pack

no routes

Linked

6 linked trail guides

Verde Rim Trail #161

Willow Springs Trail #12

Pine Flat Trail #165

Nelson Trail #159

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Pine Mountain Verde Rim Loop

Partners

partners

chumley

I've been wanting to check out the Pine Mountain Wilderness for quite sometime and this weekend could not have been better for the trip.
Drove out on Friday night and enjoyed the fun road on the way to the TH illuminated by the full moon glow.

Chums had been out before and planned a loop for us that ended up being one of my favorite day hikes in quite some time!
Saturday started out a little sunny but soon the clouds rolled in and with most of the hike being under some form of shade made for incredibly pleasant hiking weather.
Views from the rim and Pine Mountain were stunning and offered a nice view of some red lollipop slopes here and there.

The winner of the day was our side trip up to Beehouse Spring which was a gem of healthy maples, oaks and sycamores complimented by the occasional prickly pear.

Before returning to the TH with Chums I departed and headed back up and past Black Alder Spring to photograph this little scene of agave and maples we passed earlier in the day.
On the return back in the dark I thought I spooked some more cattle but after my headlamp flashed on the movement I was surprised to see 5 or 6 monkey-skunks scattering up the trees making all sorts of noise.

The next morning I woke up for sunrise and hiked back on up to Beehouse to take advantage of the color and enjoyed a quiet morning in silence taking photos in a diverse wonderland which added an additonal 2.47 miles and minor aeg which I added to the loop stats.

A downright perfect weekend with good company spent out in the Pine Mountain paradise.

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Dull Maples, Healthy Oaks and Sycamores galore, a little sumac and a few past prime random aspen.
Most of the maples lacked the spunk of a nice red but there was still some hot spots to be found.

	Beehouse Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	3 pools of clear water frequently used by cattle 50-60 yards downstream from the actual marked spring.

	Nelson Place Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Water running down from the hillside spring giving fuel to Sycamore Creek.

Pine Spring

Dry

Willow Spring

Dry

_____________________

Nov 04 2017

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Pine Mountain Plus, AZ

Hiking		Nov 04 2017
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	11.81 Miles	2,408 AEG

Hiking	11.81 Miles	6 Hrs 5 Mns	2.28 mph
	2,408 ft AEG	54 Mns Break

Linked

7 linked trail guides

Nelson Trail #159

Pine Mountain Verde Rim Loop

Verde Rim Trail #161

Willow Springs Trail #12

Pine Flat Trail #165

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Pine Mountain 6814

Partners

partners

MountainMatt

Spent the weekend at Salt Flat Campground. Saturday Matt and I hiked a north loop to Pine Mtn. The weather was perfect! The leaves were sporadic to start, and just a little bit blah/dull overall. Not quite the saturated color I would have hoped for.

There was a truck at the trailhead with a HAZ sticker, but we didn't manage to cross paths with @nightstalker. We did cross paths with @mr14ner, the 3rd time that's happened for me!

Sunday 9L and FOTG stopped by in the morning to visit before heading out on a loop of their own.

I made an effort to drive the road to the Rim, but gave up just past the Oxbow Trail since I had been bumping along for over an hour. I could have made it the rest of the way, but it was really slow going, and I just wasn't enjoying it and the end goal of hiking down to Cold Water Spring just wasn't worth the effort I was putting forth.

So I turned around and headed back down to where the road is nice again!

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Tarantula

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark Trail Signs and Markings

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Beehouse Canyon Beehouse Spring Pine Mountain Pine Mountain Wilderness Skeleton Ridge

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate

	Beehouse Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	100 yards below marked spot, several shallow pools of clear water during a record dry autumn.

	Nelson Place Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Clear and reliable as always

	Pine Spring	Dry	Dry

	Willow Spring	Dry	Dry

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

Mar 28 2017

FLYING_FLIVER

Guides 1
Routes 259
Photos 10,458
Triplogs 293

male

Joined Jan 28 2010
Fountain Hills,

WILD on Pine Mountain, AZ

Hiking		Mar 28 2017
		FLYING_FLIVER • Triplogs 293

Hiking	6.46 Miles	1,633 AEG

Hiking	6.46 Miles	4 Hrs 47 Mns	2.31 mph
	1,633 ft AEG	1 Hour 59 Mns Break

Linked

linked

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Verde Rim Trail #161

Pine Mountain 6814

Partners

none

no partners

The ‘boulder crawl’ drive:
It’s a 21 mile drive from I-17 to the north TH for, Verde Rim Trail #161.
The first 14 miles of road are OK, with the last 7 miles being mostly a boulder field. I was literally at a 2 or 3 mph boulder crawl, over very large boulders for most of those last 7 miles. I knew about the road conditions prior to using it, but I had another hike I wanted to do from this road, if I had time. I ran out of time.
As many know, there is an alternative road/TH, for hiking the Verde Rim Trail #161, by connecting to it from another trail. I recommend that TH.

The Hike:
Excellent hike - In a pine forest, with views to the east that never quit. Trail #161 is in great shape, with just a bit of encroaching growth & a bit of deadfall.

The high point of Pine Mountain is a very nice, relatively flat area, with alot of open space. Surveyors placed Wild Triangulation Station on the high point, near the rim, in 1946. They also set reference mark #1. A Forest Service Disk was already established up there in 1938, 17 Ft from Wild BM, and surveyors used it for their Wild RM #2.

Once done with those three disks, I went further south on the trail and located Wild Azimuth Mark, which is even closer to the rim, and only a few feet lower than the BM’s high point. The ‘line of sight’ from Wild Azimuth to Wild BM is over the drop off of the rim. There are great views from the azimuth disk also.

Yes - The arduous drive was slow and tedious, but worth it. However that other, addendum hike I’d like to do, may have to wait until I buy a helicopter.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Azimuth Mark Benchmark Miscellaneous Survey Marker Reference Mark

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Horseshoe Reservoir Pine Mountain

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Virga

_____________________

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN

Aug 10 2014

BEEBEE

Guides 13
Routes 100
Photos 1,794
Triplogs 372

51 male

Joined Jul 27 2011
Mesa AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Hiking		Aug 10 2014
		BEEBEE • Triplogs 372

Hiking	5.34 Miles	1,407 AEG

Hiking	5.34 Miles	5 Hrs 46 Mns		1.63 mph
	1,407 ft AEG	2 Hrs 30 Mns Break	18 LBS Pack

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

Grasshopper

Okay this one was all about hitting a new area for Hank and I and knocking out 2 hard to get to 8 point with 3 summer bonus points one of which has never been activated and cross the 400 mark in total points.

I sent Hank a rough plan for hitting Pine Mountain AW-026 (never been activated)and then on the way out a quick one on Tule Mesa AW-029 (only activated once). Hank being up for an adventure and a new area with likely great views jumped on it.

We headed out from the valley at 0630 and made good time to Dugas Road. Dugas went quick until we hit the last 6 miles which is 100% high clearance 4wd. After shaking our brains out for 6 miles we arrived at the Pine TH. While at the TH getting ready another SOTA/Hazer Jon N7AZ was on Hutch Mountain putting it on the air. Hank and I both worked him from my handheld radio and would eventually work him on another peak from our destination for a Summit to Summit contact. It was warm but manageable for once Hank and I actually had a trail to hike on usually these trips are off trail. We made good time running the ups and downs of the ridge taking in the sites stopping for pictures and eventually made it to the summit of Pine Mountain. We made contacts with the gang in the valley and another Arizona SOTA enthusiast and Hazer Jon N7AZ who was now on Buck Mountain in the Happy Jack area. I had quite a run on HF in the 34 min I was on the air I had 32 contacts all over the USA and 3 in Canada.

I broke the station down took some more pictures and then Hank and I headed back again making good time despite how much the temps had risen it was a nice trip out. The only thing concerning us was distant thunder from the storm that looked like it was eventually going to come this way.

We left the Pine TH and headed to our next stop Tule Mesa.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark HAZ - SOTA ( Summits on the Air ) Old Glory Reference Mark

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Pine Mountain Verde Rim

_____________________

"I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts."

Aug 10 2014

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Hiking		Aug 10 2014
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	5.30 Miles	1,588 AEG

Hiking	5.30 Miles	5 Hrs 35 Mns	1.75 mph
	1,588 ft AEG	2 Hrs 33 Mns Break

Linked

linked

Verde Rim Trail #161

Partners

partners

BEEBEE

There are presently a couple of HAZ routes into this Verde Rim Benchmark "Pine Mountain 6814".

This first HAZ Hike Description route which accesses the north end TH Start of the Verde Rim Trail #161, I would consider the less preferred, alternate route which includes a much more time consuming 22.3 mile driving route in from Hwy 17 of which a number of these miles are very slow and when dry, strictly high clearance vehicle with minimum Light Truck Tires, 4WD only (~5 to 7 of the 22.3mls) :sweat:

The second HAZ Hike Description route in, the Pine Mtn Verde Rim Loop,AZ- :next:

http://hikearizona.com/decoder=290 which access the Salt Flat TH Start I would recommend as the more preferred driving and hiking route choice

Brian was on a mission for his Summits on the Air Club (SOTA) peak activation needs, and I was interested in this new to me remote hiking area in the middle of seemingly nowhere, along the Verde Rim and within the Pine Mountain Wilderness area of the Prescott National Forest.

Since our day plans also included a second, late afternoon but short off-trail hiking SOTA Peak stop in this same driving area, the "Tule Mesa BM 6678", our driving and hiking access choice of this first, but less preferred alternate route made the best sense for us.

Aside from the long, slow, brain/bone jarring, and vehicle battering drive, this 5.3 mile "out & back" hike was really a quite pleasant experience on a relatively well maintained, easy to follow north end section of the Verde Rim Trail #161, with nice higher elevation Verde Rim area short/distant views, and nice mature Pines and Juniper vegetation with some newer regrowth from past wildfires. Overall a very nice hike 1 of 2 for a long day out

Thank you Brian for the idea & invite, for your company, and for driving..your wife's poor Jeep!

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Ladybug beetle

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Aircraft HAZ - Selfie HAZ - SOTA ( Summits on the Air ) HAZ Gear Old Glory

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Pine Mountain Verde Rim

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

Sep 23 2001

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Pine Mtn from FR 68G TH - Verde Rim

Camp Verde, AZ

Hiking		Sep 23 2001
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Hiking	9.00 Miles	750 AEG

Hiking	9.00 Miles
	750 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

Linked

linked

Verde Rim Trail #161

Salt Flat Trail #71

Partners

partners

guitar

Drove to end of FR 68G to try an alternate way to Pine Mtn. This area was burned worse than the area around the classic Pine Mtn loop but some nice views from this approach.

_____________________

2 archives

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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