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| Hiking | 9.08 Miles |
1,286 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.08 Miles | 3 Hrs 28 Mns | | 2.62 mph |
| 1,286 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | After my trip to Maverick and (not quite) Tritle 10 days prior with trekkin gecko, I thought it might be wise to do some altitude acclimitization hikes before tackling another peak. The Groom Creek Loop #383 / Wolf Creek Loop #384 figure-8 offered some decent distance, at 6000+ feet, without any really steep bits. As usual, a topo / sat map recon revealed some bits for exploring.
Groom Creek Loop #383 is sandy-surfaced single track. Except for some deep spots, it would make a nice quick MTB loop. Wolf Creek Loop #384, on the other hand is jeep-trail wide (and sometimes on actual FR trails), and mostly hard pack.
First variation was a short trip up Hill 6296, which despite not being a prominent terrain feature has great views of the Bradshaw Mountains and surrounding valleys. Recommended. While the trip up 6296's northeast slope was mild in slope, and had no obstacles, the trip down the southeast slope was steep and brushy -- which is why I quickly diverted into a slight wash (which you would expect to be brushier, but was in fact clear sailing).
Second variation was crossing the (dry) Hassayampa River to what MyTopo said was an old jeep trail between FR 79 and FR 9403. Saw an interesting boulder formation at the crossing, including one delicately-balanced specimen. The connector trail was blocked off from vehicle access, had obviously not been used in years, and was likely in recovery. When I got to FR 9403 -- not sure which letter -- there was a NAU Ecological Restoration Institute pickup there. No tree doctor though. I then dropped back into the Hassayampa River, following the dry creek bed until I found a crossing, then heading back up to Trail #384.
Given the complete lack of water in Wolf Creek and the Hassayampa River, I decided to skip the "falls". From there it was a slow, mostly shade-less, walk back up to the #307 trailhead.
Video (3:29): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zIg91N10Yk?mo ... autoplay=1 |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Not many, but what flowers there were were pretty and profuse. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
I wished we had frozen hydrologic events like this more often. After watching the radar all day on Friday, I made the drive up to Prescott with intent of checking at Wolf Creek Falls and then cross country skiing around some of the local FS roads. This was my first time ever going to Prescott, let alone Prescott National Forest. As I drove through the community of Groom Creek, I quickly realized that the Senator Highway's paved segment ends at the turn off for Wolf Creek Road. There were at least 10 inches of snow that had fallen the night before sealing off access to me and my subaru. This was a surprise to me. I had expected to drive the access road all the way to the trailhead for Wolf Creek Falls. I quickly changed plans, parked on the side of the road where the snow-plow had cleared a turn-around area and whipped out the cross country skis! On my way down wolf creek road, I noticed the Hassayampa flowing above the snow level.
