West Divide Trail #289 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Ash Creek - Galiuro

[ checklist ] Echols Spring Jackson Canyon Spring Kielberg Tank Knothe Spring Powers Cabin

Bassett Peak

Partners

none

no partners

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

This one has been high on my list, and just so happens to "finish" off the Galiuro Wilderness trails... though exactly what counts as a trail out here is up for debate

Ash Creek
Trail conditions were fantastic. Lots of fall colors (still!) holding on. Creek was mostly dry until the last 1/2 mile, where the overflow from the upper spring set up some intermittent pools. Switchbacks passed by quickly in the chill morning air, even with my water-laden pack. This might be the best-maintained trail in the wilderness (at least until the junction w/ East Divide, more on that later).

East Divide (Ash Creek -> Rattlesnake)
After a quick hop on the shoulder of 6996' the trail slides down the other side, and I totally missed where and had to play in snow before getting back on tread. And... that was the only mishap. The trail is in RIDICULOUSLY good shape for how little traffic it gets, largely due to its original construction.

From the GPS it looks like this rollercoaster is a squiggly line that dances all over the place. On the ground it's much more tame, designed mostly as straight segments that are easy to follow even when there's minor overgrowth or faint tread. The intermittent switchbacks are well-constructed, large cairns mark directional changes, and the route dances through some downright cool formations.

There was some snow clinging on north-facing slopes that provided minor obstacles, over a week since the storm that had "1-2 inches of accumulation". The switchbacks that climb up the side of 7193' are deceptively numerous and made my hamstrings sad. Near the High Creek junction, along 7490', the overgrowth does get thick (about the same as the upper sections of High Creek Trail, not spiky, just thick). Otherwise, this trail was a complete delight and I'm eager to find an excuse to revisit.

I was running low on energy & water at Paddy's Saddle and seriously thought about bailing down High Creek. The hassle of getting from one trailhead to the next kept me out there. Pushed on through increasing snow to the Rattlesnake Trail, with a few sections getting up to 4" of slush that chilled my trail runners. Dropping elevation for the night was my main goal at this point.

Rattlesnake (East Divide -> Holdout Spr)
For the shade this trail gets, the snow accumulation wasn't that bad, and I made pretty quick time down. That washed out section now had ice & snow, so yeah, I bypassed above again. Otherwise, some overgrowth, mostly not spiky, and then Rattlesnake had intermittent flow, which is always nice to see. Then I was at Holdout Spring and it was time to set up camp.

Opted to do the cave this time. There was a single bat and some shy flies on the wall -- otherwise, no droppings or nasty critters to deter me. Waterfall was trickling, which made for a lovely ambience, and I had a great night of sleep on that shelf.

Rattlesnake (Holdout Spr -> Powers Cabin Connection)
Was braced for this to be a slog, and it wasn't really that bad. The overgrowth isn't nearly as bad as I remembered. There were one or two sections that I opted to boulder-hop instead of haul up a steep slope, which may have skipped the worst of it. Oh, and a large patch of deadfall directly west of Holdout, that was annoying.

Powers Cabin Connection
I was just on this a few months ago so I zipped up quick. It was an easy climb with minimal overgrowth and a few small patches of snow.

West Divide (Powers Cabin Connection -> Jackson Cabin)
Trail down to Powers Cabin was recently groomed, though the person who clipped the catclaw & manzanita left the pieces on trail, which snagged at my pants and was slightly annoying. I tossed the larger pieces to the side. The old cabin showed up suddenly and I paid some quick respects there. It was cool to see, though the catclaw is growing so close around the walls that it's annoying to get decent photos.

After the cabin the trail is almost easier: gentle downhill, less catclaw, and intermittent shade. At the bottom there is a large, grassy clearing with a fire ring where I suspect @ShatteredArm camped last year. Continuing south, there were a number of pleasant water tanks in the tributary below the large dam, and a less-pleasant (but probably more dependable) tank above the dam. There was good tread and a cairn that headed east on a tributary but the trail was supposed to go south, so I went south and picked up the trail after 5-10 minutes.

Things were starting to heat up and I was not looking forward to the exposed sections south of Kielberg Divide, so I made quick work up the climb and didn't pause at Long Tom. Next time. Trail was pretty well defined all the way to the saddle except for one section just below the mine. Dropping south off the Divide was not too bad -- there were no cairns, just plenty of game trails that made for easy switchbacks. Near the bottom the catclaw showed up, by then it was easy enough to use the drainage instead and deal with the occasional deadfall or boulder obstacle.

The area around Knothe Spring was interesting, though the trail was difficult to track, and beyond the bone-dry trough there was a large washout that erased any sign of tread (and looked a bit sketch). Managed to find a rough track with a few cairns that went up and over the hill to avoid it. Trail quickly dropped into the drainage that winds through Cedar Flat, which was a fascinating area. For the most part the trail stayed in the drainage, and I did track it across a few shortcuts. The surrounding hillsides were dotted with junipers and steep enough to block any big view and it felt... both expansive and claustrophobic at the same time.

I assumed that the best way to drop into Redfield would be to stay in the drainage, and boy was that wrong. First I bumped into a 20-30 foot dry fall that might have been possible to navigate around, so I scouted out the eastern bank and picked up a trail. It was very steep and dropped down quickly, and then I saw a 100+ drop in that drainage that I was planning on following. So... guess the trail is it. The last few minutes of the drop got annoying and overgrown.

Redfield, all the way to Hooker Cabin, is an absolute gem. There's some rough boulder-hopping, and the intermittent flow meant a few large pools that made for difficult bypasses, and it's choked with huge logs in sections, and it's gorgeous. Towering rock walls, weird formations, and gargantuan trees felt like I was in another land altogether. I did pass by what might be an alternate route in this area, the marked topo line that climbs up next to 5626', which I'd consider a "highwater" option. Otherwise, by all means, stay in the canyon, it's fantastic.

After Hooker Cabin the sheen wore thin. There were still cool rock formations and towering walls, though they were muted and withdrawn in comparison of the upper stretch of Redfield. Also, the intermittent flow completely dried up, leaving me with a dry, empty canyon in the fading afternoon heat. To break up the miles of boulder-hopping I tried to follow the tread along the banks a few times, pushing through catclaw and deadfall at times. I was pretty exhausted by the time I reached Jackson Canyon. The trail does clear up in this final section (likely because Jackson Canyon has much larger boulder obstacles) and it was fairly easy work to reach the cabin.

Slept on the floor in the back room. With the windows closed it stayed pretty warm in there, I didn't even put my beanie on until the next morning. Having no water sources along Redfield yesterday afternoon and a bone-dry Jackson Canyon I borrowed a few water bottles from the cabin to get me through the night.

Bassett Peak (Jackson Cabin -> Peak -> East Divide)
Couldn't find where the trail leaves the cabin area so I went cross-country until the tread materialized, and after that things were pretty easy. The trail stays out of the creek, dancing from one bank to the next, and is relatively easy to follow, with a combination of flagging and cairns to help guide through the rough sections. Took a quick stop at the spring area before pushing on to the "steeps".

There was one annoying washout where the drainage ate up the slope which caused some route-finding, think it was around 5330'. After that I was happy to see the tread mostly leave the canyon and start really steeping. The first climb reminded me of YLE, a steady, somewhat defined march up a grassy, rocky slope where it's useful to just aim for a landmark instead of fretting over tread. When the switchbacks finally kick in more than half of the total elevation gain is already behind you, and they are well-defined and make for a solid paced haul up the hill.

I broke up the next few miles into groups of switchbacks, and there was only one that gave me some issue at 6680', when it's easier to go straight up a rocky washout than fight the brush. I'm sure that a little more attention here would have found a tread on one side or the other, just didn't have the patience at this point. Was pleasantly surprised when the trail crested up and over the ridge and turned northwards, with Bassett Peak, the last milestone, looming above, though that last mile absolutely dragged. The trail is in good shape and the views are good, I was just tired.

Quick stop at Bassett Peak and then it was time to descend, where I finally saw my first set of human prints in the snowy northern slopes. Someone else had been out here! I was glad, because the tread was infinitesimally narrow on the steep, loose, and soggy northern slopes, covered with a few inches of slushy snow and ice, and those tracks gave me a bit of purchase. Also, the trail was quite overgrown here, which gave me extra handholds on a few sections. After those nasty switchbacks it was back to the fantastic East Divide vibe with solid tread and creative routing.

Ash Creek
This again. With the exception of a few stops to nurse blisters, guzzle extra water, and chat w/ a lone bear hunter by Lower Ash Spring (the only other human I saw out there), it was a downhill race towards an eventual greasy burger.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Dam - Rock

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Cedar Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Missed the actual spring, but drainage had intermittent flow for most of the trail.

	Echols Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Spring had water and there was intermittent flow down to Gold Gulch.

	Holdout Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Waterfall was flowing, cave was dripping, catchment was overflowing. Plenty of water here.

	Jackson Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Dry at confluence w/ Redfield, dry along trail up Bassett Peak.

	Jackson Canyon Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Steady drip coming out of the pipe, full (and very green) plastic trough. Source is more appealing than the trough.

	Kielberg Tank	26-50% full	26-50% full
	Several tanks were flow and trickling due to recent rain & snow, tho they dried up quickly downstream.

	Knothe Spring	Dry	Dry
	Knope water to be found. Dry drainage below the dry trough.

	Mitchell Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Bone dry at confluence w/ Redfield.

	Negro Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Steady flow coming out.

	Upper Ash Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Dripping out of pipe, intermittent flow from here downstream for 1/2 mile or so.

_____________________

Feb 17 2025

jacobemerick

Guides 38
Routes 182
Photos 1,602
Triplogs 232

40 male

Joined Dec 09 2014
Gilbert, AZ

Tent Lookout Loop, AZ

Backpack		Feb 17 2025
		jacobemerick • Triplogs 232

Backpack	32.00 Miles	6,694 AEG

Backpack	32.00 Miles	2 Days
	6,694 ft AEG

Linked

Field Canyon Trail #294

[ checklist ] Field Canyon Spring Powers Garden Spring Upper Sycamore Tank

Partners

none

no partners

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Tortilla
Started about 20 mins before sunrise and enjoyed some dreamy light over the yellow, parched landscape. There was some rain out here a few days ago, enough to collect in a few rock tanks and catchments, otherwise the land felt thirsty. Made quick time over to Mud Spring (which was prolific in water & smell), made a quick detour on Sycamore to the Horse Canyon(?) connector, then trotted the rest of the way to Powers Garden to refill at the spring. Made some deer friends here who were soothed by soft reassurances about my lack of boom sticks. Trail conditions were good.

Field Canyon
Quick climb up a catclaw-covered hill and then drop down into the canyon. Trail was quite overgrown and I opted to boulder-hop most of the way, enjoying the rock formations along the creek. Not a lick of water was found along the way until the spring, which was overflowing right next to the trail. After the spring the trail turns and zips up the rest of the way to W Divide with only minimal route-finding.

West Divide
Bracing myself for a bloodfest, I was surprised at how much easier the two miles between Field & S Field (or Tent Lookout) trails passed. Think I was more patient and willing to "just follow tread" instead of fighting for elevation, like I did last time I was on this stretch. The next few miles were similar conditions, with some great views along the way. I assumed that the trail would stick to the very tippy-top of the ridge the entire way -- instead, it drapes like lazy garland, swinging from one side to the other, only occasionally riding the top.

Swung out on Grassy Knoll for camp with some stellar views out west. Wind was a slight issue, even nestled in a small grove, which woke me up a few times before I gave in and piled clothes around me. Solid sleep afterwards.

West Divide pt. 2
I had forgotten my phone cord and over-used my phone yesterday texting with the kids from Grassy Knoll (had a bar or two), so I rushed this section with the little bit of GPS-battery I had left. It felt more overgrown today with numerous sections of greedy manzanita encroaching on the trail, still offered some good views over towards Kielberg. Reached the junction, turned off tracking, and enjoyed second breakfast with my remaining water.

Powers Garden
Dropping down to the valley on the unnamed? connector was fairly easy, and then the highway along the creek is always a cruise. Spent some time searching below the marked Rattlesnake Spring for some pools -- years ago, some horse riders had told me that there was usually pools of water in the creek here -- and came up dry (heh). Maybe they were talking about another spring. Anyways, watered up again at Power's Garden Spring and reached Horse Creek before noon.

Tortilla
My plan had been to exit via Corral Canyon. However, with a near-dead phone and the route-finding involved on that grassy slope, Tortilla seemed safer, so I had to settle for backtracking (most of) my route in. It was rather enjoyable, with a pleasant breeze cutting through the sun's heat. There were a lot more cows at Mud Spring this late in the afternoon, and I tried to have some conversations with them before they scattered off. Guess I'm more of a deer person. Anyways, was a heck of a fun overnighter, and I'm glad I finally completed the last few miles of the northern wilderness.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Field Canyon Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Deep enough to scoop water out of and overfilling onto and beyond the trail. Seems fairly dependable.

	Horse Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Dry along trail, very disappointing.

	Mud Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Trough is overflowing, but entire area is fouled by cattle and stinks.

	Powers Garden Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Lowermost pool was full and trickling over, was also greenish and stunk. Upper pools were delightfully clear and tasty.

	Rattlesnake Spring	Dry	Dry
	No sign of spring, dry in creek below.

	Upper Sycamore Tank	1-25% full	1-25% full
	A few small pools of water from recent rains. Wouldn't depend on it more than a week past rains, especially during a dry season.

_____________________

1 archive

Apr 27 2024

azdesertfather

Guides 16
Routes 81
Photos 1,269
Triplogs 1,144

51 male

Joined Apr 30 2008
Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Apr 27 2024
		azdesertfather • Triplogs 1,144

Backpack	29.23 Miles	6,257 AEG

Backpack	29.23 Miles	16 Hrs 41 Mns		1.98 mph
	6,257 ft AEG		28 LBS Pack

no routes

no photosets

Linked

West Divide Loop - Galiuro Mountains

Corral Canyon Trail #291

Partners

none

no partners

Great, memorable weekend in the Gailuros! Started out with animal sightings, including antelope again on the paved roads after Wilcox.

East Divide #287
From the trailhead at Deer Creek Road, we hiked 287 to the junction with Tortilla Trail. This section is pretty easy and scenic.

Tortilla #254
Lots of bare rock, but in those areas lots of good-sized cairns. Water reports attached but I found in most of the seasonal stream beds that there was flowing water. At places it would go underground but then come back up a little farther down a bit with a light flow.

At the Upper Sycamore Tank area there was some oak overgrowth, but generally speaking this trail was in good shape. Heard wild turkey a couple of times in this area. The stream in Horse Canyon before turning onto Powers Garden was a good place to get water.

Powers Garden #96
Turned south into Powers Garden Trail and made our way to the garden house. House was in good shape for being so remote. 3 spring bunk beds set up, 4 more single spring beds on their side inside, roof well sealed and secure. A little evidence of mice in the cabinetry, leaving any food or trash isn’t a good idea. Lots of air mattresses, metal folding chairs, sleeping bags… a guitar, a cast iron stove heater for colder nights, pots and pans, even disposable utensils, and paper plates and cups in stock. No evidence at that time however of people in the area and dropping gear. Fresh bear scat near cabin, that we think was left while we were there for lunch, though we never spotted him. After lunch we checked out the property and some of us laid down and rested on the beds for a few minutes, before heading down the trail. Heading down this trail we saw lots of bear scat, every few yards, some old and some fresh. Deadfall in spots along the trail.

Came to another abandoned cabin on the east side of this trail. Some of the sides of the cabin are no longer there, but still a fairly sound structure with an empty storage locker inside. There was a mine up the hill on the opposite side of this trail that we explored as well, with a bunch of old equipment. Mine shaft covered with heavy sheet metal. Nearby there also was a stamp mill with parts dating back to 1880 in San Francisco; it had everything but a boiler, and the Power family were waiting for it when the shootout occurred in February 1918. From the accounts I'm reading online, this was the Gold Mountain area, where gold first started getting prospected in 1902-03, but was abandoned when the Powers moved in, and they worked this mine until 1911.

Good flow in the stream flowing by the south end of the trail, we topped off here before climbing to the intersection with West Divide.

West Divide #289
As we started descending onto the West Divide, almost immediately we ran into lots of catclaw, that was growing over the trail from both sides to the point it was connecting to each other in the middle. In this section I had a short-sleeved shirt on and I just had to put my hands over my heads and push through with my torso, until we made it to the cabin.

We explored almost all the mine by the Powers Cabin. The flies weren't as bad on this day as have been reported by others in the past. The only area we didn't explore was the vertical shaft, descending with a wooden ladder; we didn't have any confidence after a century that that latter would hold weight! There was also another vertical mine shaft a few yards away from teh main mine opening. Supposedly Jeff Power (the father) was buried outside the mine, but it wasn't clear where the gravesite was. The next morning we headed out the way we came in.

The cabin was in worse shape than I expected, the walls are starting to shift on all four sides. One of the doors was gone, and the other was sitting inside but unable to open and close. Dirt floor has lots of mouse holes. Most of us decided to sleep in the cabin, but as it became dark they came out all over the place, so some of us set up our tents inside the cabin and some outside the cabin. Found a couple of bullet holes to the left of the front door. Pretty cool to experience, but honestly I will be surprised if the structure is still standing a decade from now.

Powers Garden #96
After making our way the next morning back through the catclaw, we refilled in the stream by Rattlesnake Spring and started heading toward Corral Canyon. On the way we ran into a family (Granddad, Dad and two kids) who had hiked in from the north end of this trail with permission from the landowner, and had arrived at the garden house and spent the night that night. It ended up being the only people we saw the two days we were out in the Gailuros.

Corral Canyon #291
This is where the fun of the weekend begins! Corral Canyon had a little bit of water in a few places along the stream bed, maybe a gallon per minute max. What it left of the trail is mostly gone due to massive amounts of deadfall and overgrowth. Game trails are all over the place, so making your way up the canyon you really couldn't know. It was a long, difficult slog, and not one I'll repeat. About halfway up the canyon we heard a lot of birds start squawking and we looked up, and saw several birds chasing away a owl, quite a sight to see! When we hit the high point after going around the edge of this unnamed peak at about 7150', we finally caught a little break and trailfinding became a little less brutal and hazardous. Up on top views opened up including nearby Kennedy Peak, and we made our way to the junction with East Divide.

East Divide #287
Once we started heading down East Divide, trail finding was a little bit better. Still a good bit of deadfall and overgrowth, but nothing like Corral Canyon. Great, long views to the east all the way out to Mount Turnbull. Lots of orange tape marking branches that should be cut. The final stretch was a delightful stretch through open grassy area, the same one that we hiked in on the day before.

Wildflowers Observation Light

Corral Canyon

Light flow

	Horse Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	3-4 gallons a minute.

Horse Canyon Tank

Dry

	Mud Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Corral full with a slight flow out of it.

	Rattlesnake Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Report for stream just below spring.

	Upper Sycamore Tank	26-50% full	26-50% full
	half full, pipe feeding it from higher elevation

_____________________

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." — Henry David Thoreau

2 archives

Apr 13 2024

jacobemerick

Guides 38
Routes 182
Photos 1,602
Triplogs 232

40 male

Joined Dec 09 2014
Gilbert, AZ

West Divide Loop - Galiuro Mountains

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Apr 13 2024
		jacobemerick • Triplogs 232

Backpack	43.73 Miles	9,276 AEG

Backpack	43.73 Miles	3 Days
	9,276 ft AEG

Linked

7 linked trail guides

Juniper Spring Trail #271A

Pipestem Trail #271

Partners

none

no partners

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Alternate title: Galiuro Waterfallin'

East Divide / Tortilla / Sycamore
The lower foothills were a total vibe. I usually think of them as a means to an end, merely an access to the "good parts" of this wilderness, but today the hills were verdant, creeks aflowin', and temps perfect. Reached Mud Spring (no beef stew there today) and then continued on Sycamore for another 1.5 miles, dodging a few muddy messes on the way.

Horse Canyon Trail
This dashed line on the topo maps has been on my mind. I tried to pick it up at the curve of Sycamore Trail, wandered around until I found some tread, then backtracked to find the "start", which is marked by a small cairn with the old sign's metal support hung over. Between cairns and good tread, it was easy to follow the route up and over the saddle and to Tortilla Trail, where its kinda signed. Continued on the tread down to Sycamore Creek proper for a quick breakfast.

Picked up the tread on the other side of the creek and continued heading west through a burn scar. The trail is surprisingly easy to follow and reminded me of a VERY tame Sandy Saddle - this one is well-cairned, and the patches of manzanita are less than a few feet high. Lost it momentarily at a grassy saddle, otherwise was able to keep on tread all the way to Topout Divide, where the burn ends and a steady line of cairns march south (slightly up-creek) to Horse Canyon.

The magic started almost as soon as I met the canyon, with a series of impressive drops that were rushing (well, rushing with little-creek energy). The trail was still well-defined, solid bypasses around the biggest drops and overgrown where rock-hopping is an option, just like any official trail out here. The middle section dragged a bit, when the creek mostly dried up and the afternoon began to heat up, and then I found the tallest plunge about .5 miles east of Tortilla Trail junction. After that I was a bit over-stimulated and tired, so I trudged the rest of the way down the canyon and set up my hammock next to Rattlesnake Creek for a snooze.

Powers Garden / Mailbox / Pipestem
Rattlesnake Creek was flowing strong, which complicated a few crossings. Wanted to do some scouting in Mailbox, and did find some hints of trail in the tangle, it was just more difficult than I had the energy to deal with today. Both the tread and creek were pretty cluttered for the half mile I explored. The rest of Powers Garden trail got tough and I soaked one leg up to my knee on a crossing. Anxious about finding a campsite for the night, I made some olympic-level athletic leaps to reach Pipestem Creek, which was flowing at a much slower pace.

The sun had already "set" in the deep valley, and my shoes were both damp, so I cruised up the creek. Lower Ringtail was the first candidate, and while it was an interesting location, there were no good trees for my hammock. A short distance later and I bumped into the "red rock falls", where the trail swings around through two grassy clearings that were begging me to stay. Rushing falls, good trees, minimal cold sink, and solid sky views made for an excellent sleep that night.

Pipestem / Juniper
Cold predawn temps made for an adequate alarm, and I was packed and on trail with the sunrise. My chattering teeth accompanied the gentle trickle of an otherwise quiet morning. Without many drops along this section I spent more time trying to track tread until I reached the "sliver" of a sign that marked the start of Juniper. This one was tough to track for the first half, so I rock-hopped along the pleasant little drainage, and then picked up some good sections near the top. I think this is because the trail continues north, outside the the wilderness, and most traffic (hunters or cattle) come in from the north (Fourmile?). Watered up near the spring and backtracked to Pipestem.

The next 3 miles was a steady uphill march. There was at least one wholly unnecessary, catclaw-choked section of tread that climbed high up the hillside only to drop back down. Not many waterfalls, though there are some nice rock pools that probably hold water year round. While I didn't see an obvious path or sign zipping up to the south (where the topo map claims Pipestem meets West Divide), there was a fork in that area that may have been it. I kept close to the creek until I was below Maverick Tank, where I pulled to my full (5.5L) capacity for a dry afternoon and evening.

West Divide: Pipestem -> Field Canyon
From the junction, this trail makes a steady, uphill climb up the grassy hillside, the trail varying from a very thin tread perched precariously on a steep slope to a very wide, cairned path dancing on the ridge. About a mile in I bumped into the first serious overgrowth, near 6602', and had to fight through thick brush to continue forward. This was how the the next few miles went - easy strolling one minute, crawling and cursing the next. I didn't see much wildlife.

Conditions improved the closer I got to Rhodes Peak. There's a cool "break" that the trail goes through, and things immediately changed. Before it was mostly forested, blocked from the wind, and a mixture of great & terrible conditions - after it was grassy slopes (except for the manzanita on Rhodes Peak) with huge cairns and ridiculous winds that threatened to hurl me right across to East Divide. Doing my best to lean into the wind, I kept my head down and marched from one cairn to the next, wishing I had done this section in the opposite direction. Before I knew it I was at the unmarked junction with Field Canyon, tumbling downhill in the search for a campsite without wind. Found an unremarkable section with convenient trees & no cold-sink about .5 miles in and called it.

West Divide: Field Canyon -> Tent Lookout
I slept like an absolute log that night, only waking up once to turn over. Hammock is life. Briefly thought about continuing down Field Canyon for an early exit and decided to continue a little bit more down West Divide. After all, @chumley promised (posted a photo) that the trail conditions were pristine (in 2015) between Field & S Field trails (only half), so I figured it'd be very easy morning hiking (from a photo posted in 2015). It wasn't. I could not even tell if there had been any trail maintenance along this section, losing the tread over a dozen times, and even resorted to walking backwards to let my pack take more of the beating.

Blooded, bruised, and with many a hot take on what a "wilderness trail" should entail, I hauled up the short spur to Tent Lookout and was astounded by the view. It's by far the best one I had from the West Divide, great views of the interior of the wilderness. There's a few giant nails, hooks, and posts that make me curious about what else was up here - maybe a hitching post for horses? Anyways, this is a mandatory future campsite on a less-windy weekend.

S Field Canyon
There was no part of me that wanted to continue on West Divide, not today, so after resting at Tent Lookout I started the trudge down S Field Canyon Trail. It's fine, though it feels very utilitarian compared to other Galiuro trails. There's no shade and some minor catclaw at the bottom, and the views are just okay compared to what you get at the top. Reached the bottom with little fanfare, zipped up past Powers Garden (no one was home today), and then watered up at Horse Creek, where I learned my water filter was plugged up and my dirty water bag was broken.

Tortilla
Squeezed out 2 liters for the 8 mile hike back to the trailhead and then hauled up to the saddle. With low water I decided that a snack + .5 liter drink every 2 miles would help ration out my supplies, and that worked out well, especially because this trail is quite familiar. My original plan would have me going out on Corral Canyon, a final dose of waterfall goodness before descending from Kennedy, and I just didn't have the gumption for that today. Anyways, this trail was easy to trot along and still had the green grass & trickling drainages that had been delighting me all weekend, so I made it back to the trailhead a tad thirsty yet very satisfied with the adventure.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Catclaw Acacia

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Dam - Rock

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Juniper Spring Powers Garden Ringtail Canyon

	Horse Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Strong flow for most of it's length, especially the final mile before Rattlesnake Creek.

	Juniper Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Steady flow coming out of spring. Slight (cleaner) trickle coming down the eastern drainage.

	Lower Ringtail Tank	26-50% full	26-50% full
	Steady trickle leaving tank and flowing over (filled-in) dam.

	Mailbox Canyon	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Intermittent trickle along first half mile, didn't proceed further.

	Maverick Tank	26-50% full	26-50% full
	Technically didn't go all the way to the marked location, but there was a dam and several large pools downstream that had good flow and appeared to be dependable (lots of growth around them).

	Mud Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Trough was full, surrounding ground was soaked.

	Peepstem Canyon	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Muted flow coming into Pipestem.

	Pipestem Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Light, intermittent flow. Waterfall & pool areas had strongest flows.

Ringtail Canyon

Pools to trickle

	Upper Sycamore Tank	26-50% full	26-50% full
	Metal tank was empty, steady creek flow nearby with plenty of algae.

_____________________

Apr 12 2024

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

East / West Divide south loop, AZ

Backpack		Apr 12 2024
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Backpack	52.20 Miles	11,700 AEG

Backpack	52.20 Miles	3 Days 6 Hrs 4 Mns
	11,700 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

8 linked trail guides

Bassett Peak

Ash Creek - Galiuro

Partners

none

no partners

I've been eyeballing doing a loop through the southern half of the Galiuros for awhile, and the water situation seemed very promising, so I gave it a go. Plan was three nights, starting at Ash Creek, and making a clockwise loop over Bassett, down to Jackson Cabin, then up West Divide, and back via Rattlesnake and East Divide.

Friday

Got to Ash Creek TH at around 9:30am, with temps already in the 70s. Nothing notable, other than the fact that it was impossible to stay dry at the first few crossings. Ash had surface flow about half the way up. We decided to tag the summit since my friend hadn't been up there. Made it to the top of Bassett in about 3 hours.

I was really worried about the stretch of trail down from Bassett, given the FS doesn't have it on their maps, but it actually turned out to be a breeze most of the way down. Someone put a lot of work into building that thing, and the grade is intact in all but a couple of spots. The going didn't really get rough until we were all the way down into the canyon, where the vegetation got pretty thick. Eventually we decided to stop looking for the trail and just go down the wash, and that made things much easier.

Got to a stretch with light flow about a third of a mile before Jackson Cabin, and decided to camp there since I didn't know whether there would be water near the cabin (there was). Warm enough down there to leave the rain fly off.

Saturday

Got up at 6am, left camp by around 8am IIRC. We decided to poke around the cabin for a minute, and seeing water in the cabin and downstream in Jackson Canyon, decided we should've camped there. Stretches of trail in Jackson Canyon were apparent, but it was usually easier to stay in the creek.

When we got to Redfield, it was apparent water would not be an issue for awhile. There was surface flow for all but 100 feet. The walking was easy up to Hooker Cabin; it somewhat reminded me of hiking in Aravaipa Canyon. Took a short break at the cabin. The rest of the canyon got more difficult to move through, but it also got prettier. The upper part of Redfield was the highlight of the trip for me.

At around 1:30pm or so, after a bit of poking around, we found the trail back up to West Divide. A little brush, but not by any stretch the worst. Cedar Flat was really pleasant; the terrain there was grassland and large Junipers. Occasional water in the drainage. The trail was well defined most of the way down to Gold Gulch, where there was intermittent flow and a couple of nice campsites. By now it was after 3:30, so I proposed we camp there, but that would probably put a day hike to Powers Garden out of reach. My friend seemed to want to continue, and proposed we decided by coin flip.

So with less than 3 hours of daylight left, we continued onto what I expected to be the worst stretch of trail all trip. Probably 2/3 of the way up the divide there was no trail to be seen, and half of where there was trail, it was through very thick vegetation. It took us two hours to reach the divide, and I was really worried we'd be bushwhacking in the dark. Fortunately the trail down the north side was well-defined and somewhat clear, so we made it down to Kielberg Tank in short order. Found a corral, with water below the tank, and decided after 10.5 hours or so of hiking, it would suffice.

Sunday

Woke up in the morning feeling good knowing the Kielberg Divide was out of the way. Started hiking around 9am, took a short break at Powers Cabin, then down to Rattlesnake. We dropped packs here and hiked down to Powers Garden and back, and this was the most pleasant hiking of the trip. Warmer than I expected through Rattlesnake, but there was surface flow most of the way. Took about 3 hours to get there and back.

Rattlesnake trail was a lot rougher than I expected, with a lot of brushy stretches. Took a couple of hours to get up to the Holdout Spring area, where we set up camp (we used the flat area along Rattlesnake just east of the spring spur). Walked up to the spring to check it out, but I actually liked the water in the creek better.

Monday

Got up a little earlier so as to get home at a reasonable hour, and started hiking by 7am. The rest of Rattlesnake Trail was in pretty solid condition, other than one bad washout where I thought for sure I was going down (based on the satellite, it looks like there's a way to avoid the washed out area). The climb up to East Divide felt long, but not too bad overall. Got up there by 8:40am.

The first mile and a half of East Divide was outstanding. Trail was clear, and the upper part of Paddys River was pretty. After High Creek we hit our first stretch of thicket, but it was clear sailing for another mile or so after that. About half way through, we passed through one really bad thicket that had me nearly at my breaking point, so we took a little rest. The rest of the way wasn't as bad, with some clear stretches, some climbs, and some brush, but route finding wasn't really an issue at all. Took 5 hours to get from the Rattlesnake junction to Ash Creek trail.

Having closed the loop, we were feeling pretty good, and made good time down to the creek. The last mile or two really dragged, and I think I was running entirely on fat metabolism at that point, which made Ash Creek seem longer than it ever had before.

Overall

This was a phenomenal trip, and an amazing loop, but one that involves a lot of suffering. Highly recommended, but I'll never do it again.

	Cedar Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Drainage has intermittent light flow the whole way up to the spring.

	Echols Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Not at the spring, but there's light intermittent flow in Gold Gulch along West Divide trail.

	Holdout Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Box is full but just a seep, plenty of water flowing into the pool 20 feet upstream.

	Jackson Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Intermittent flow from the uppermost spring down to Redfield.

Jackson Canyon Spring

Gallon per minute

	Kielberg Tank	76-100% full	76-100% full
	Tank overflowing the dam, intermittent flow in the creek below.

	Knothe Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Nothing in the box. There's a little water in the drainage below the spring.

	Lower Ash Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Lots of water from here all the way down past the FS boundary.

	Negro Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Looks like it had as much water coming from it as Redfield.

	Powers Garden Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Tons of water, surface flow in most of Rattlesnake.

	Rattlesnake Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Tons of water in the area.

	Upper Ash Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Nothing in the box, light flow in the creekbed above and below the trail.

_____________________

Mar 25 2024

Layne32

Photos 18
Triplogs 3

male

Joined Jan 08 2023

Galiuro Loop, AZ

Backpack		Mar 25 2024
		Layne32 • Triplogs 3

Backpack	35.00 Miles

Backpack	35.00 Miles	4 Days

no routes

Linked

linked

Partners

none

no partners

I am an experienced backpacker with over 300 backcountry nights in the past half-decade all across the country from the Southern Appalachians to the Northern Rockies to the Desert Southwest. The Galiuro Mountains may be the toughest place I've ever hiked. They weren't made any easier by 2 days of snow before my trip began and 2 more days of snow while I was out there.

On a related note, 3 of the most recent trip reports in the Galiuros are from the same guy. Does anyone know this dude, jacobemerick? Is he ok? Must be an absolute madman. The Galiuros left me feeling like an abused spouse - beaten up, knocked down, battered & bruised - but head-over-heels in love - but feeling like I shouldn't go back for my own good.

The maps I used had inaccurate trails, no topography, and not many place names. I will do my best to describe things but I don't know the name of many of the canyons, features, etc. along the way.

Tortilla
From Deer Creek TH the route nominally starts along the East Divide Tr before connecting with the Tortilla Tr. Snow started falling in the open beginning stretches of Tortilla. I had trouble following Tortilla after it dropped down by Sycamore Cr, there was a lot of overgrowth and snow covering the ground. I began to wonder what I was getting myself into. Tortilla eventually, mercifully, finally left Sycamore Cr and began climbing around the mouth of a couple cyns before dropping into Rattlesnake Cyn & Powers Garden Tr. I made camp just south of the ranch area, not a great place really but the sun was setting & temp dropping into the 30s.

Powers Garden
I had trouble following the trail directly out of Powers Garden for the first mile or so, finding it easier to just walk down the streambed once it dried up. After that the rest of Powers Garden was very nice (for a trail in the Galiuros, it would be considered mildly rough elsewhere). A bit of overgrowth but much better compared to other cyn trails in the Wilderness. So much interesting history along here - from the Powers Garden meadow to the cabins, structure on a hill, & tons of old equipment further down.

West Divide
I hiked a short out-and-back stretch of this trail from Powers Garden Tr to Shootout Cabin & Powers Mine. Worst catclaw portion of the trip. But what incredible history around the cabin - of the 8 men involved in the shootout in 1918, 4 died there that day and 3 later received life sentences after Arizona's biggest ever manhunt.

Rattlesnake before Holdout
Things got rough(er) for me. As I was finishing up West Divide back to the Powers Garden-West Divide-Rattlesnake intersection a thick wet snow started falling. The beginning of Rattlesnake was among the worst trail stretches of the trip, I had trouble. Horrifically overgrown and snow covering everything made navigation difficult. Often I could identify the "trail" only by finding the thickest patches of vegetation in the woods. The wet snow covered the vegetation and soaked me from navel to feet.

Holdout Spur
As the temp dropped into the 30s I made it to Holdout Spring. Holdout Cave was an absolute miracle that I didn't expect. I slept on the shelf in the cave - not sure if that is recommended because I did see rodent droppings so hantavirus may be a concern. I was so cold and wet that I was desperate for shelter.

Rattlesnake after Holdout
Back on Rattlesnake the next day, the section directly east of Holdout Spur was in much better shape than the section directly west. After ascending out of Rattlesnake Cyn the trail gets a bit sketchy climbing to the ridge, and the entire thing was covered in 6+ inches of snow, but I was able to maintain course pretty well to the East Divide Tr intersection.

East Divide before Paddy's River
The first few miles of East Divide were the best trail of the trip. For the most part it was a nice wide highway along the ridge. A bit of overgrowth and tricky navigation in the snow from time to time but very nice for the Galiuros. I found a bald hill off the trail to cowboy camp on for the night - I named this hill Yeehaw Point.

East Divide after Paddy's River
Absolutely brutal. I wouldn't see much more than a hint of trail from the Paddy's River intersection until the Corral Cyn intersection. A mile or 2 after the Paddy's River Tr intersection the East Divide Tr dropped down into a canyon. I had trouble, lots of overgrowth and snow. After climbing out I think it dropped into and climbed out of another cyn. After that it contoured around Kennedy Peak through a lot of burn. Snow was everywhere and combined with the downfall to make navigation extremely difficult.

East Divide after Corral Cyn
Still absolutely brutal. There was some very helpful flagging tape showing the first stretch of trail from the Corral intersection switchbacking down through overgrowth. With the brush and the thick snow cover I may still be out in the Wilderness to this day if not for that flagging. After a certain point the snow stopped but the brush got worse. There started being a lot of downfall mixed with thick brush before and after Oak Creek. The final flat and open stretch of East Divide back to Deer Creek TH was no problem.

I couldn't in good faith recommend anyone backpack the Galiuros. But if you do, there is breathtaking canyon scenery (I actually think Galiuro Canyons is a more accurate representation of the area than Galiuro Mountains), unique history, and plenty of chances to build your character. Hopefully you can find better maps than the ones I used which were often inaccurate. It took every bit of route-finding experience and skill that I possess to make it through this Wilderness in the snow, brush & downfall. I, or more accurately the trail, was often lost. Do not underestimate the Galiuros.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Galiuro Wilderness

3 archives

Nov 29 2021

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Nov 29 2021
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Backpack	36.00 Miles	9,000 AEG

Backpack	36.00 Miles	2 Days 5 Hrs 30 Mns
	9,000 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

Linked

Sycamore Trail #278

Deer Creek Cabin - Galiuros

Partners

none

no partners

Put together a plan for two nights in the Galiuros, and found a few friends willing to subject themselves to it. Original plan was roughly a night at Powers Garden, a night at Holdout Spring (with a detour to Powers Cabin), then back via East Divide.

Friday

Got to Deer Creek TH at around 10:30am, and started with a slight diversion to the Deer Creek administration site. It was meh. Took Tortilla Trail out so a to get to the Garden with some daylight left. Trail was more enjoyable than expected, it's basically a highway. Horse Canyon was pretty. Reached the cabin by around 3pm, set up camp and had a nice campfire.

Saturday

Some in the group were concerned about whether there would be water at the spring, given the lack of recent reports. I felt very confident there would be, based on how much there was at the garden, but so as to keep everybody happy I acceded to the proposal to day hike to Powers Cabin and spend a second night where we were. I did like the idea of not having to break down and set up and extra time...

So off we went at a leisure pace, stopping when we found something interesting. Like the cabin just north of the Rattlenake Spring area, which I didn't know any. Tom mentioned stopping by someone's cabin on the way to the mine, I'm wondering if this was what he was talking about.

At the Rattlesnake junction, we found a pack sitting there, so it would seem we weren't the only ones out there. Ran into the owner shortly thereafter. The mine and cabin were interesting, but definitely not as pleasant a location as the garden.

Considered a day trip to Holdout Spring (other group confirmed there was indeed water), but would've been pushing daylight at that point. Got back and enjoyed another nice campfire.

Sunday

Learned on Sunday morning that I had, in fact, brought more whisky than necessary. But after getting some electrolytes in my belly, recovered well. Decided we would prefer to take a different way back, so we decided to try Sycamore.

The lower part of Powers Garden trail was very worthwhile, and Rattlesnake Creek started flowing a little about Pipestem, and by the Sycamore junction it was a real creek with water. Sycamore trail was rough, and the catclaw was vicious on some of the south facing slopes. Pretty much lost the trail after the spring, and eventually wound up just following the creek bed. Very slow going, over half the entire time getting back to the car was spent in Sycamore Canyon.

Couldn't find where the trail exits the canyon, so I ended up scrambling up to where it contours along a bench. Nothing like a little class 3 scramble with a full pack in the middle of nowhere! The track was faint up to the ridge, but there were occasional cairns.

Once over the ridge, the trail got much easier, and we made good time to the car. Got there just in time to enjoy a cold beer and a nice sunset.

Really enjoyed this outing. Kinda wish we had stuck to the plan, but as long as it doesn't burn down, there will be more opportunities...

_____________________

1 archive

Nov 20 2020

etale

Routes 1
Triplogs 1

male

Joined Feb 14 2018
Benson, AZ

Cedar Flat Galiuros Loop, AZ

Backpack		Nov 20 2020
		etale • Triplogs 1

Backpack	35.47 Miles	3,427 AEG

Backpack	35.47 Miles	4 Days
	3,427 ft AEG

no photosets

Linked

linked

Partners

none

no partners

Recommended for experienced hikers only, with strong backgrounds in off-trail hiking, navigation, and water-finding. This is a long, arduous hike with several difficult off-trail sections. Even though it largely follows the West Divide trail, little of that trail remains between Hooker Cabin and Cedar Flat, and there is no trail whatsoever from Cedar Flat to the saddle above Long Tom Mine. Many other portions of trail are faint at best. All marked Springs within 0.5 mi of the route were bone dry, with the exception of the unnamed Spring in the side canyon south of Kiehlberg Canyon, Holdout Spring, and Jackson Spring. Water is not easy to find in dry months, though the more narrow slot canyons do hold water almost year-round.

Drove to Jackson Cabin for a 7am start (Note: high clearance 4WD vehicle required for this). First day hiked Jackson Cabin to Hooker Cabin on the West Divide Trail. There was no water anywhere in the main drainage of Redfield Canyon this time of year (late November, major ongoing drought), but after snow melt in Feb/ March, or after a good Monsoon season, the canyon has lots of water. West Divide trail above Hooker Cabin grows faint, and I didn't take this route. Instead, took theunnamed side canyon to the northeast of Hooker Cabin, veering left at the confluence with Negro Canyon. There was good water in several pockets in this side canyon. Scrambled up to Cedar flat via an unnamed drainage, and spent the first night at Cedar Flat, finding more water in pockets along the drainages.

Second day hiked from Cedar Flat to Holdout Spring, taking the route of West Divide Trail up to Rattlesnake Canyon. There is no remaining trail between Cedar Flat and the saddle just south of Long Tom Mine, nor any sign of the trail that I was able to find. This was an arduous bushwhack up the canyons. Passed by Cedar Spring, Knothe Spring, and Echols Spring; all dry. I suspect these would have water at other times of the year, as the plants growing on them were healthier and greener than anywhere else. There is water in the spring box below the abandoned cabin in the canyon to the southeast of Kiehlberg tank, and there was some water around Kiehlberg tank itself. The trail starts to get decent again halfway between Kiehlberg tank and Powers Mine. Holdout Spring always has great water, and there were one or two pockets of water in the deeper stone culverts along Rattlesnake Canyon about a mile prior to Holdout Spring. Spent the night at Holdout Spring.

Third day hiked from Holdout Spring to just below Basset peak, taking the East Divide trail. In contrast to the West Divide trail, this was much more traveled, though no water at this elevation. It was a long day of hiking and carrying as much water as I could from Holdout. Extraordinary sunsets from below Bassett peak.

Final day hiked up past Bassett Peak, and back down to Jackson Cabin via what is marked on *some* maps as #287C, though this "trail" does not appear on any FS maps. Like several of the other sections, this part is not for the faint of heart as it is quite steep in places, with the old and worn trail washed out rockslides. Jackson Spring was flowing great, but this was the only water I found between Holdout Spring and Jackson Spring along my route.

The Galiuros are an extremely special and unusual place.

Wildflowers Observation None
Fall foliage was extensive and lovely.

Cedar Spring

Dry

Echols Spring

Dry

Holdout Spring

Quart per minute

	Jackson Canyon Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Great, clean flow.

Kielberg Tank

1-25% full

Knothe Spring

Dry

8 archives

Apr 04 2020

RedwallNHops

Guides 1
Routes 269
Photos 613
Triplogs 1,360

50 male

Joined Dec 22 2003
Tucson, AZ

Gailuros weekend, AZ

Backpack		Apr 04 2020
		RedwallNHops • Triplogs 1,360

Backpack	35.50 Miles	7,956 AEG

Backpack	35.50 Miles
	7,956 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

Linked

linked

High Creek Trail #290

Partners

none

no partners

day1 in thru high creek to Holdout
Day2 hike to shootout cabin and mine then to grassy peak and back
day 3 out - side trip to Sunset

_____________________

Nov 04 2016

Sredfield

Guides 4
Routes 29
Photos 1,691
Triplogs 467

male

Joined Sep 08 2002
Ahwatukee, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Nov 04 2016
		Sredfield • Triplogs 467

Backpack	23.50 Miles	2,067 AEG

Backpack	23.50 Miles	3 Days
	2,067 ft AEG

no photosets

Linked

linked

High Creek Trail #290

Partners

partners

Paintninaz

Six of us hiked in from High Creek TH to Holdout Spring and spent the night. Next day we all hiked down to the Shootout Cabin and Powers mine, then back to Rattlesnake and maybe a quarter mile further to the mine ruins for lunch. Then back to Holdout for the night. I'd been in there a few times 15 +/- years ago, my how things change. Much more overgrown, and steeper than I remembered, but I was younger then. Great time with great folks.

	Holdout Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Spring is a small pool a short ways down canyon from the cave. With 8 people using it, it didn't drop at all.

_____________________

Shawn
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

Oct 11 2015

chumley

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

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Powers Divide S.Field Loop, AZ

Hiking		Oct 11 2015
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	14.48 Miles	3,211 AEG

Hiking	14.48 Miles	7 Hrs 56 Mns	2.39 mph
	3,211 ft AEG	1 Hour 53 Mns Break

Linked

linked

[ checklist ] Grassy Peak Grassy Ridge Powers Cabin Powers Garden Spring Powers Mine Rattlesnake Creek South Field Canyon

Partners

partners

BiFrost

Day hike loop from Powers Garden to the shootout cabin and mine, with the return trip along the West Divide Trail.

Powers 96 was in fine shape, especially upstream of Corral canyon which was the source of a recent flood. South of Corral, there is no sign at all of the 2014 Oak Fire down in the valley. Once reaching the saddle and the Divide trail junction the trail down to the cabin is overgrown with catclaw. I'd say this trail should be cleared, but I suspect the FS is perfectly happy making it a pain to get to. And I'm actually ok with that. It's neat to see the cabin, having only scraped the surface of the history there. I'll have to watch Powers War again now that I've been there. I'm sure some of it will make more sense now.

We took a lunch break there and continued down the road to the mine where I was quick to voice my disapproval of the lack OSHA safety protocols in place.

On the way back, FOTG, LP, and Steady headed their own way while Karl and Pat and I decided to take the ridge back.

Like the other trails we hiked in the Galiuros, West Divide 289 is overgrown and involves some good bushwhacking, but isn't really too tough. The views were great, and a nice breeze kept the warm and largely shadeless route quite pleasant.

When we arrived at the first option to drop back to the garden, we opted to continue. The first trail is signed as Field Canyon 294, but I believe it is actually called Tent Lookout 294.

From this junction north on West Divide 289 we encountered the nicest trail conditions of the weekend. The ACC trail crew had been clearing this section and it was an absolute dream :y:

. Almost too good to be true! --And soon enough, in fact, too good to be true! We reached the end of where the trail had been cleared, and we were faced with about a mile of the worst trail of the weekend. The only good thing is there was no manzanita and no catclaw, but it was otherwise a linebacker's worth of pushing through trees, bushes, and branches. Crawling was a regular part of getting through. ](*,)

Finally we reached the junction with the trail that drops into South Field Canyon. The Divide Trail north of this point was clear again, as was the trail that we followed downhill. Despite the flowing water all over the east side of the Galiuros, we were surprised that this canyon was bone dry. Nonetheless, it was a scenic canyon and a pleasant hike. The trail deteriorated and fell into what seems to be a common state for trails out here ... overgrown.

One short climb up a ridge brought us to the junction of the lower end of the signed Field Canyon 294 trail that we had bypassed up top earlier. Before heading back to camp we decided to check out the Powers Spring area, which was an amazing narrows of rocks and flowing water.

This was a great day hike loop from the garden. It'll be great once the final northern section of the Divide trail is cleared.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Field Canyon Spring	Dry	Dry
	No sign of a spring here. Entire canyon was dry.

	Rattlesnake Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Didn't find spring source. Water flowing in the creek. Water also in tank at junction with Powers Cabin trail just upstream from here.

_____________________

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

1 archive

Oct 09 2015

BiFrost

Guides 4
Routes 491
Photos 10,890
Triplogs 1,257

55 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Oct 09 2015
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,257

Backpack	36.75 Miles	8,118 AEG

Backpack	36.75 Miles	2 Days 6 Hrs 12 Mns
	8,118 ft AEG

Linked

8 linked trail guides

Kennedy Peak Trail #287A

Corral Canyon Trail #291

Partners

7 partners

HAZ - Event

	chumley	clairebear
	FOTG	John9L
	Jonnybackpack	slowandsteady
	Tough_Boots

Great weekend in the Galiuros with awesome group. We hiked in on the East Divide Trail and did a drive by of Kennedy Peak. The peak had great views but the East Divide Trail as others have mentioned was in rough shape from recent heavy rains and major erosion on the steep slopes resulting from fire damage. Much of the trail on the slopes either side of the peak were completely washed out so it was slow going. Once down in Rattlesnake Canyon the trail improved and easy walking to Powers Garden.

After relaxing night of hanging out by the fire with the group we headed out on various day hiking adventures. Chumley, Johnlp, Patrick, Lee, Kathy and I headed for Powers Garden and Mine to check it out. Very cool cabin and mine with the history making it even more interesting. We spent some time exploring the mine checking out the old mining relics of the past and the impressive tunnel.

Hiking back from the mine we split up on the West Divide Saddle with Chumley, Patrick and I heading up West Divide Trail towards Grassy Peak. The goal was to hike West Divide Trail and check out South Field Canyon. West Divide Trail was fairly easy to follow despite being overgrown because it was on top of the ridgeline. Near the end of the ridgeline we found some areas that had been trail cleared by trail crew who just happened to be in Powers that weekend. Once off the ridgeline we headed down South Field Canyon and back to Powers Garden for another relaxing evening around the fire. That night the trail crew stopped by and we had the opportunity to chat and thank them for all their hard work.

Next morning headed out Tortilla Trail which is in much better shape than the East Divide Trail. Great wide expanse views on the way out...best views of the Galiuros range and surrounding ranges of the weekend.

_____________________

1 archive

Mar 28 2015

whereveriroam

Guides 8
Photos 48
Triplogs 66

55 male

Joined Mar 07 2003
Apache Junction,

Tucson, AZ

Backpack		Mar 28 2015
		whereveriroam • Triplogs 66

Backpack	4.29 Miles	2,014 AEG

Backpack	4.29 Miles	1 Day 6 Hrs
	2,014 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

linked

High Creek Trail #290