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| Hiking | 13.90 Miles |
2,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.90 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.99 mph |
| 2,600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | It’s extra work to get up so early and a long drive out to the Sierra Anchas, but it’s always worth it. The weather was perfect, never too hot, and the skies were clear all day. This hike finished up all the official trails out there for me, plus one decommissioned trail that parallels the Reynolds Creek Trail.
We were supposed to originally have 4 of us. Alex had other plans come up, Joe had a backpack to do, and Stefan said something about a 5 ft. hole in his kitchen once he found out it would take over 6 hours to complete the hike. So the only ones left were me and Wally.
On the way to the trailhead, we once again saw a deer on 288. Then along FR410 we saw a rafter of turkeys. I need to remember to have my camera up front with me on the rides out there. I kept it up front on the way home, but naturally we didn’t see anything then. ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") 
We started at the end of FR410 again, taking the Reynolds Creek Trail. The nettles are still in the same spot, but a little drier than 2 months prior. Rather than try to maneuver around and between them again, I decided to get ready for the new Star Wars movie and use my hiking pole as a lightsaber and cut them down. There were also some briars growing in addition to the nettles, and they got the lightsaber treatment also. 
As we approached the junction of the Reynolds Creek and Center Mt. Trails, we could hear a raptor screeching from a tree above. It kept doing so for so long that were able to spot it, and I even got a so-so picture of it. Looked like some type of hawk. Wally was looking for a nest somewhere in the trees up there, but neither of us could spot one. 
From there we continued briefly onto the Center Mt. Trail and then took the decommissioned trail southward, which parallels the Reynolds Creek Trail. The decommissioned trail is really steep at the beginning, but is also very easy to follow there. Looks like it’s held together ok. It faded out a bit once it levelled off, but being level, it was still pretty easy to follow. The views from this trail to the east are way nicer than along the Reynolds Creek Trail, not sure why this trail has been decommissioned. Wally told me about some ruins that are accessible from this trail. I was initially interested in trying to find them, but with all we had planned for this hike, we didn’t have time.
Once we got back on Reynolds Creek, we took it to the Murphy Trail, which has been reopened. Last time the grass was much higher and wetter, causing me to fall twice. This time was easy going. The shade at the top gives way half way down as it levels off before you reach the Rim Trail.
At the junction of the Rim Trail, we headed south to the Moody Point Trail junction, which completed my trek of all official (and most unofficial) Sierra Ancha trails. Thankfully it’s shady at that junction, making it perfect for lunch before heading back.
On our way in, about halfway from the Murphy to the Moody Point Trail, we saw a doe that stared Wally down for a while and then took off. The views into the unnamed canyon just east of Devil’s Chasm are pretty dramatic. Interesting cave along the cliff there, also. On my way back along the Rim Trail, I lost the trail for a second, only stepping off one or two steps. I stopped to look around to try to find it, taking a step forward. It was then that a huge gopher snake uncoiled and zoomed back across the trail to his hole. It startled me for a second until I could see that it wasn’t a rattler, but I still almost fell over trying not to step on him as he moved.
On our way back along the Reynolds creek trail, we stayed on the official trail, opting not to try to negotiate the steep downhill section of the decommissioned section. Still, at one point we got off the trail a bit. Rather than head back the way we came, we decided to just head downhill directly to the trail. It seemed pretty clear, but then as usual, we ended up thru some heavy brush before getting back on trail.
The mileage on this one was hard for me to determine. HAZTRKS said 16 miles, which I know isn’t right. My Oregon’s odometer said 13.3, then after the track was saved, it said 12.3. After I put the track on my computer, it said 13.6. I decided to go over uploaded tracks of these trails over the years, piecing the sections together that we did. My final result from that was 13.9, which seems right. I’m going with the 2600’ AEG my GPS gave me, which felt about right. |
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