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| | | Coleman - Gaddes Canyon Two Loop, AZ | | | |
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Coleman - Gaddes Canyon Two Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 7.93 Miles |
1,688 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.93 Miles | 5 Hrs 10 Mns | | 1.97 mph |
| 1,688 ft AEG | 1 Hour 9 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Time to finally get out with Kelly again. I didn't realize it had been since January that we last hiked together. I emailed Mary Jo and she joined us for our trip to the lower North country. The drive to the TH from my house only takes an hour and 1/2. We stopped at the campground area to use the restrooms which are very nice. We parked Tonto under a tree near the 108 TH and loaded up our gear for our trek.
This Coleman Trail starts out as a nice hike thru the forest though on a pretty rocky old road that becomes a trail. Mary Jo saw a viewpoint that we ventured over to and checked out before the trail curved away from the blue sky. We got some nice views of the SF Peaks and red rock country below. We would get even better views from the actual viewpoint at the Campground later.
It was interesting as when we started descending the trees started changing almost immediately. The trail is rather rocky and there were a couple areas where you had to pay attention to where the trail went but it's pretty well cordoned off where not to go. On the way down as the views opened up, there was some additional flora including hollyhocks and the red blooming Parry Agave plants. The trail starts to switchback which was very nice in some areas. Eventually you join up with the road where we saw 3 ATVers. You walk the road westward for a piece until the signage for Trail 9037 appears (in a shady curved section of the road right after the creek). There are some nice big rocks to sit on here for a moment before heading up the canyon [ photo ] .
The canyon is quite nice and really goes on for a long while. There are a couple little climbs along the way but nothing too difficult if you're feeling well... which I wasn't  . Not sure if it's residual left over from my 10 day road trip, lack of hiking conditioning or the heat. I had to get my poles out. Nice to have Mary Jo along to keep Kelly company since I was lagging. We took a break a couple miles into the canyon and had our lunch around noon before continuing on. You cross the currently dry creek off and on and we think there was a bit of poison ivy along the way too. It was leaves of 3 and green. We did see some little pools of water as we got further in the canyon. There was also another grassy area that was filled with lady bugs;Later one would land on my nose.
And then we hit the junction with the 110; go northward or to your right if you're heading back to the top. Here the trail was just lovely  and stayed that way all the way up to Gaddes Spring where it turned rather rocky again. The spring is a corralled area with a covered cistern. If you listen carefully, you can hear the water running. From here you have some more rocky climbing and then you top out, pass thru a gate and eventually hook up with the road.
We took a 1/4 mile detour to the Lookout. We asked if he was taking visitors and he said yes so up and up and up we went. John was very informative and told us some great stories. He's retired military and retired fire fighter. The views from here were great especially with all the rain showers and virga in the distances. We also saw a fire they were letting burn to the NE.
From there it was a road walk back to Tonto Jr but not before stopping at the viewpoint at the campground. We decided to get back to Tonto and come back over here for our snack and gauge the weather conditions to decide if we wanted to get in another little hike. We enjoyed our stay on the brick wall with our views to the SF Peaks (still with snow) and Red Rock Country (including Wilson Mountain, Airport Mesa and Cathedral Rocks showing on and off as the light moved) with the Verde River below. We decided the weather was kind of "iffy" so we headed down to Prescott. As we came into the Valley there was a show of showers that was pretty cool. We finished our day at Left-T's. EXCELLENT choice ladies!
The drive to the Valley was not bad and was highlighted by a huge taxidermyed elk head in the back of a pickup as it stared at us for several miles.
Some video on Coleman and the Lookout Tower and Viewpoint. (I, unfortunately didn't do very much video in Gaddes Canyon as I wasn't feeling well) but trust me, it's a pretty little canyon. Video 1: Coleman Trail with side excursion to viewpoint - https://youtu.be/J8 ... v4u0Video 2: finishing off Coleman Trail, road walk, a little in Gaddes Canyon, Lookout Tower, Viewpoint views - https://youtu.be/eU ... mxaI
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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