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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
2,287 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | 4 Hrs 13 Mns | | 2.37 mph |
| 2,287 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Early morning hike in Prescott. I had done Charcoal Gulch a few months ago and I was excited to see how Nemo Springs interacted with Charcoal. (When I had done Charcoal Gulch I had missed the turn that led to Nemo Springs and I was hoping that going this direction would connect the dots that I had somehow missed).
Got started from the Green Gulch TH around 7:30. It was light out, but the sun still had crested the horizon. Amazing! The turn off for Nemo is at .45 mile, though it isn’t signed. The first 2.25 are unimpressive. The trail gains little elevation (so no distant views), is rocky and juts up against several properties. One of these homes had numerous dogs, which created quite a ruckus when I walked by. I was really hoping I would find the Charcoal Gulch juncture because I really didn’t want to go past the dog property again. I hit Joe’s Tank around 1.55 and then Fain’s Tank at 2.25. And as described, it looks like the trail (road) wants to cut right through the tank. Both of these tanks were dry, so that would have been doable. There was a cow path that circumvented Fain Tank which I followed briefly. It looked like the cow path headed up the wash, but I cut back to the road as soon as I determined that. I got back on the road and started a major climb around 2.35. The climb was what I expected for this ATV trail, steep and rocky. The steep part, lasted for about .5 miles, but continued to gradually climb the ridge from 2.85 to 3.18. At 3.18 there was a split in the “trail”. The road continued to follow the ridge up, but there was a single track, cow trail that held its elevation and followed the contours of the hills. Since the trail description seemed to indicate the second option, I followed the cow path along the slopes of the hills. This turned out to be the nicest part of the Nemo Springs Trail. A solid, smooth singled track with minimal elevation and some decent views of the nearby surroundings. I missed the mile mark on my Garmin, but at some point you reach a saddle and start a steady descent towards Nemo Springs. There are several switchbacks and slopes so you don’t see Nemo Springs until you are almost on top or it. Nemo Springs had a small mud puddle at the cement trough, but was otherwise as dry as the previous two tanks. Continuing past Nemo Springs, it looked like there were two roads that departed to the southeast, but they quickly came together and ended up being the same road. The road continued for a short time before “T”ing into another road.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but this “T” was the Bannie Mine Road juncture. Apparently, if you follow the “T” left you are still on Nemo Springs Trail and if you follow the “T” right you are on Bannie Mine Road. At no time up to this point had I seen any trail signage. I am basing this assumption off of how HAZ breaks down these trails. Turning right onto Bannie Mine starts a major climb. From about 4.5 to 5.6 it is an uphill slog. At 5.6 I reached another water tank (this one with water) and (for me) a recognizable section of 9419. I had passed this tank on my previous hike and never realized that this was the turn off from Charcoal Gulch Trail. Still no signage. It wasn’t until I was about .5 miles up the road that I saw my first 9419 trail sign. On the way back I was able to look down on Nemo Springs Trail and see the split at 3.18. It looks like the road would bypass Nemo Springs and possibly connect to 9419, creating a shorter loop.
Nemo Springs Trail doesn’t offer a lot. It’s not hard to understand why no one has this on their wish list. It does make a nice loop with Charcoal Gulch which steals the show, both at the top and around Charcoal Gulch tank. There are also a couple of use trails that might be worth exploring. The road off of Nemo Springs at 3.18 miles being one of them and then there was a use trail right off of Charcoal Gulch at 3.4 miles (just after the steep ascent following Charcoal Gulch tank) that looked like it might connect to Nemo Springs. Weather was perfect for this hike; clear skies and cool temps. Minimal wildlife, a couple of squirrels. Encountered one hiker as I was ending my hike. |
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