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| Hiking | 23.71 Miles |
5,075 AEG |
| | Hiking | 23.71 Miles | 11 Hrs 5 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 5,075 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | From Woodbury TH: JF over Tortilla Saddle to Hoolie Bacon to Red Tanks to Coffee Flat to Woodbury.
This one was a real  kicker. I left my place before 5am, left US 60 around 6am, drove FR 172 in the dark, and started hiking at 7am. After Tortilla Saddle, I saw a buck and doe along JF, but that was it for wildlife. I had lunch at the saddle on Hoolie Bacon at 12:30.
While hunting for trail along a burned/eroded part of Hoolie, I was down in a wash and found a stainless steel canteen. Cap was still on tight and it was about 3/4 full of water (I'd guess it's a quart-sized bottle). The little chain holding the cap on was rusted, but otherwise it was in decent shape. I dumped it and hiked it out. I wonder how long it had been out there.
My hopes were getting high that I was finally going to do it: over 20 miles on established trails in the Superstitions without seeing anyone (without hiking in July or something dangerous like that). My hopes were dashed along Red Tanks when I finally met a pair of hikers. Only people I saw all day.
I was tempted to go up Randolph Canyon instead of using Coffee Flat trail, but there was enough water coming out of Randolph that it seemed like it could be tricky to stay dry. Plus, I hoped Coffee had better trail. I was wrong on that part. If there was ever good trail along that stretch of Coffee, it's gone now (aside from one portion that goes up high along the canyon wall, I assume to avoid a pouroff). The easiest thing was to walk in the wash, which had enough firm sand to make for pleasant walking on my very tired feet. With all the greenery and the trickle of water down the center, it was a nice "I can hardly believe this is Arizona" walk.
I was running low on fun around mile 18. I was out of fun by mile 20-21. The last two miles were more of a forced march than I would've liked.
I had to hustle along Red Tanks and Coffee Flat when I realized how much daylight I had left. I made the final climb along Woodbury as the sun was setting behind me (that final climb can kiss my ). I got back to my truck with just enough light to change my shoes and drink the last of my water. It turned out to be even less fun to drive out on FR 172 in the dark than it was to drive in.
Lots of water flowing in most of the major washes. Not much along the higher parts of JF or Hoolie Bacon, but water almost everywhere else. Probably the most along Red Tanks, and definitely the most once it combined with the flow out of Randolph.
This was my first time on JF and the final stretch of Coffee Flat. I've now done every major trail on the western side of the Superstitions on my Green Trails map except the 1.6-mile stretch from Tortilla Pass to Angel Basin. However, I'm still missing some of the less-used (unofficial?) trails like Randolph Canyon, the Cedar Basin alternate to Hoolie Bacon, and West Boulder Canyon.
Comments on the specific trails:
JF: alternating areas of burnt and unburnt. Some stretches of vague and indistinct trail due to too few feet stomping the grass down. A little brushy in places, but nothing too bad. In spots where it did burn, it didn't seem to affect the trail too much.
Hoolie Bacon: the climb over the saddle is still steep and hot. Lots of burn damage (and subsequent flood damage). No underbrush among the dead manzanita groves, so parts of the trail are hard to follow--where once there was a clear path through underbrush, now everything looks open and vaguely trail-like. More than a few places I was thankful for cairns.
Red Tanks: Even more burn/flood damage than Hoolie. If it weren't for cairns, parts of this would be incredibly difficult to follow. Much of this reminded me of the burned-out areas along the AZT in the Mazatzals. The creek appears to have had torrential floods in the last mile or so approaching Coffee Flat trail. I don't recall it being that deep or wide the last time I walked it. I'd say this was the most damaged of all the trails I walked.
Coffee Flat: as mentioned above, there's really not much of a trail for most of this. It's just walking in the wash. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
The upper section of Woodbury trail is easy going and I think we made up some time in the last few miles. 
. Good weather, good company, good times! Thanks Wally, 
