Cane Spring Trail #77 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Apr 08 2023

louie

Routes 4
Photos 134
Triplogs 19

54 male

Joined Jan 07 2004
Phoenix, AZ

Cane Spring Trail #77

Phoenix, AZ

Cane Spring Trail #77

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Apr 08 2023
		louie • Triplogs 19

Hiking	2.35 Miles	1,288 AEG

Hiking	2.35 Miles	2 Hrs	1.18 mph
	1,288 ft AEG

no routes

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I have great news about forest road 401A. It is in stellar shape. It has been recently graded and any stock 4x4 can run it no problem. It's the best I have seen it in 20 years. Now the bad news upon arrival to 401A the gate was closed with a road closed sign and held shut with just a one twist of the wire. No where on the Tonto’s website does it say the road is closed and there was no order posted to the gate so it made no sense this road would be closed. Every road I’ve ever come across has had the order posted and was padlocked so no clue what was going on here. But on with the hike!

We followed the road to where it dead ended at Circle Bar Ranch which is a working ranch. Cane spring was running nicely with a pipe flowing with clear water into some storage basins. We did not hike the trail, but instead traveled up Cane Spring Canyon which was flowing nicely. The goal was to make it to Browns Cabin Spring, but spent too much time exploring the Circle Bar area and only made it up the canyon a half mile or so.

One question I have is if there is an actual cabin or remnants of a cabin at Browns Cabin Spring. I'd like more info about the Brown's as they seem to have a number of landmarks named after them.

Beautiful area. Check out the pics!

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

Cane Spring

Gallon per minute

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Not all who wander are lost...

Mar 22 2014

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,797
Photos 14,494
Triplogs 5,894

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Four Peaks Circumference, AZ

Hiking		Mar 22 2014
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	27.60 Miles	7,400 AEG

Hiking	27.60 Miles	16 Hrs 28 Mns		1.78 mph
	7,400 ft AEG	1 Hour Break	14 LBS Pack

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Four Peaks Trail #130

Alder Creek Trail #82

Cane Spring Trail #77

Soldier Camp Trail #83

Cottonwood Camp to Lone Pine via Alder

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BiFrost

This loop and especially Alder Creek has intrigued me since the '90s. Karl & I started at Mud Spring TH, hiked the road to Lone Pine then took #130 out to #82 ( not to be confused with Alder "Saddle" Trail #81 ).

Alder Creek Trail #82
Nature has reclaimed the trail. Perhaps 7% exists for the 6.25 miles heading down to Brown's Cave. Of that the creek is a less painful avenue. The area is everything I envisioned as a wided eyed kid thumbing through hiking books. Water is abundant and trees offer shade on occasion. The challenges of life are defenseless against you and Alder Creek Canyon is all yours.

Once out of Alder Creek the trail over to the trailhead is just route finding. Someone has kindly re-cairned 0.5mi to 1.6mi ( west to east ). It follows quicker than in previous years and catclaw only snagged once.

Cane Spring Trail #77
Easy to follow... in the dark! Someone must do periodic maintenance. Shocking out in the middle of nowhere and it only leads to the tragic mess on #83.

Soldier Camp Trail #83
Difficult to assess as it was dark. Seemed like a nuisance cairn hunt. I'm guessing it's not so bad in daylight. Killer night view back to Phoenix heading up to Big Saddle.

Never say never, it "seems" unlikely I'll redo this loop. One thing for sure... feels GREAT to join the got 'er done club! Thanks to Karl for helping bring this dream home!

Carried 5 quarts, consumed 6.

Wildflowers Observation Light
Strawberry Hedgehog was busting out for 10-15 miles of our hike. 1 - Desert Anemone near Paint Puddles, 1 - Desert Chicory mid Alder Creek. Medium patches of Desert Phlox on south expanse. A few iron yellow varieties.

	Adams Camp Spring	Dry	Dry
	Immediate area was damp. Perhaps something to filter if you poke around.

	Alder Creek - Four Peaks	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Flowing about 80% through upper 5-6 miles ( majority ) of creek. Shockingly* great flow, maybe 10 gpm. Lots of three foot waterfalls along the way. No sign of cattle grazing. * Last rain was 1-2 inches three weeks ago. Previous rain was two months prior, very dry spring around Arizona in 2014.

	Alder Creek - South Swim Hole	76-100% full	76-100% full
	Full, clear and creek flowing at least a gpm. Soon after the creek dried for the next mile.

	Paint Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Enough to filter. From previous experiences you can find a slight flow to pools further down.

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- joe

Mar 22 2014

BiFrost

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

55 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Four Peaks Circumference, AZ

Hiking		Mar 22 2014
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,257

Hiking	27.63 Miles	7,433 AEG

Hiking	27.63 Miles	16 Hrs 28 Mns	1.97 mph
	7,433 ft AEG	2 Hrs 25 Mns Break

Linked

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Soldier Camp Trail #83

Alder Creek Trail #82

Four Peaks Trail #130

Cane Spring Trail #77

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joebartels

This hike has been on the list and Joe offered it up and worked out the route. Of course had to say yes to this oppturnity. Early start about 615am from Mud Spring TH walking up the road to Lone Pine TH. Good warm up for the real hike to come.

Once at Lone Pine TH we started down Four Peaks trail enjoying the traverse over to Black Bear Saddle. Great views along this section of Four Peaks and the lake. Black Bear Saddle is where the fun begins or pain depending on your perspective. There is a trail Alder Creek #82 but it's pretty much not there. We made several attempts to follow the trail but brush was too thick and path of least resistance was the creek. Very nice in the creek with water and pools most of the way down. So we did about 6 miles of boulder hopping down canyon to where the trail leaves it and heads over to Cane Spring TH. Alder is a great canyon...really enjoyed the numerous pools, mini-falls and scenery.

Finally made it to where Alder trail leaves the canyon and started heading over to Long Canyon. This section is also really nice...Joe pointing out some of the dramatic views, cliffs, and interesting rock. Also saw wild burro and pack of javalina's between Alder Creek and Cane Spring. Wish we had more time to explore this great area but time was not on our side.

We got to Cane Spring TH and it was getting very late in the day. Had to do much of the last 7 miles in the dark and trail conditions or non-trail in many spots made this time consuming. It was a tough stretch but finally made it over Big Saddle on the Soldier Camp Trail #83. Tough trail to follow but maybe it was due to darkness.

Thanks for putting this one together Joe

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Javelina

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cag Shot

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Adams Camp - Four Peaks Wilderness Adams Camp Spring Alder Creek - Four Peaks Shake Spring

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Nov 07 2013

CannondaleKid

Guides 44
Routes 162
Photos 24,766
Triplogs 2,411

75 male

Joined May 04 2004
Mesa, AZ

Cane Spring Trail #77

Phoenix, AZ

Cane Spring Trail #77

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Nov 07 2013
		CannondaleKid • Triplogs 2,411

Hiking	4.50 Miles	906 AEG

Hiking	4.50 Miles	2 Hrs 6 Mns		2.23 mph
	906 ft AEG	5 Mns Break	15 LBS Pack

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Soldier Camp Trail #83

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Part Two of a recon hike to plan for a future hike up to Brown's Peak and back.

Rather than do an out-and-back along Soldier Camp Trail #83 I decided to return via Cane Spring Trail #77 south to Forest Road 401A and west back to the Soldier Camp TH. Although I spent some time scanning for any sign of the trail from the junction with Trail #83 but found nothing so I just set out generally following a track I drew in Route Manager. It was a quarter mile out before I spotted the first cairn and another quarter mile before I could actually see two cairns at the same time.

With the cairns few and far between I relied quite a bit on my GPS track. About a mile south of Soldier Camp Trail the cairns became plentiful, but by now the trail was well-beaten enough (likely more by animal than humans) there was no longer a need for them. And similar to certain sections of Soldier Camp Trail, this part of the Cane Spring Trail used to be an old wagon trail way back when. The farther south I traveled the easier it was to follow the trail... note I said easier to follow, not easier to hike on, as it was quite rough with plenty of loose rocks hidden in the grass.

Also like part one of this hike (on Soldier Camp Trail) I trimmed a few spots where one would be forced to leave the trail to bypass overgrowth, but I did leave a few that would have required a lopper rather than the hand trimmer I had along.

Once I hit the junction with Forest Road 401A it was just a matter of following the road, such as it is back to the Soldier Camp TH. Although no route finding was needed, due to the loose rocks on the road I had to pay attention with every step. When I was within .3 mile of the trailhead, by following the road I still had 3/4 mile left and I was sorely tempted to make a beeline cross-country to save the distance, but I knew it would probably just as long and take more effort so I stuck with the road.

Having a tire with a slow leak I wasted little time on the rough FR401A so I could get back to town in time to get it checked out before a weekend camping trip. It turns out the bullet-proof Kevlar sidewall isn't thorn-proof and wouldn't you know it, as a legacy of being the nice guy pulling trees off the road last week I picked up a thorn in the sidewall.
](*,)

Of course it's where they will not repair it so the tire had to be replaced. Although the warranty gave me a free tire, it cost $52 to continue the warranty on the replacement tire.
:roll:

Oh well, it's better than replacing it at $350.

The triplog of Part One of this hike along Soldier Camp Trail #83 is here:
http://hikearizona.com/trip=95744

I posted 25 of the Cane Spring photos on HAZ.
All 110 photos (including the Soldier Camp Trail photos) are here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/album.php?id=633

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Trail Signs and Markings

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Four Peaks Sheep Mountain 3567 - Salt River

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CannondaleKid

Nov 07 2013

CannondaleKid

Guides 44
Routes 162
Photos 24,766
Triplogs 2,411

75 male

Joined May 04 2004
Mesa, AZ

Soldier Camp Trail #83

Phoenix, AZ

Soldier Camp Trail #83

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Nov 07 2013
		CannondaleKid • Triplogs 2,411

Hiking	5.26 Miles	2,794 AEG

Hiking	5.26 Miles	3 Hrs 9 Mns		1.81 mph
	2,794 ft AEG	15 Mns Break	15 LBS Pack

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Cane Spring Trail #77

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Part one of a recon hike to plan for a future hike all the way to Brown's Peak and back.

I took FR401 from AZ87 to Cottonwood Camp then drove the 4 very rough miles on FR401A to Soldier Camp TH. When I got out of the car I was greeted by winds easily in excess of 45-50 mph. Almost knocked over immediately I turned back and grabbed both hiking poles for stability. Good thing I did because on a number of occasions there were wind gusts well over 60 mph, and in fact even with the hiking poles I was twice knocked to my knees. I took many photos more than once due to bad focus being knocked around. I have a few videos to edit yet but they will show the extent of the wind.

Ok, back to the hike. Although there were no cairns to mark the trail for the first half mile or so, it was pretty easy to follow the narrow trail. Soon you reach a point where the trail starts following what used to be a wagon trail well over a hundred years ago. With 10 to 12 feet somewhat level between rocks on either side for most of the hike there was little need to seek out cairns, although by now there were plenty popping up. Once I reached a part with thicker brush the cairns weren't visible from very far away but I passed by they were helpful to let me know I was still on the trail.

Upon reaching the Cane Spring Trail #77 junction I took a short PB&J break while seeking the Cane Spring Trail. No luck locating any cairns heading south. Oh well, I've got some extra time to I headed farther out along trail #83. About a half mile I was about to turn around when I noticed a Laub Mine on my GPS basemap. Just a few hundred yards away I just had to see if there was anything of interest. All I found were numerous large bowls cut out of the mountain but not one single bit of mining equipment. If there were any shafts, they were covered or filled in long ago.

While scanning the area, I noticed what appeared to be a horizontal mine shaft across the canyon from me. It took a while to locate a route avoiding both the steep drop-offs and heavy brush but I managed choosing some thorny brush over a 30 foot drop. Approaching the mine I looked around for evidence of animals and finding none decided to film my exploration. Barely inside and I'm swarmed by thousands of flies so my first thought is there's a dead animal in here. It wound around one corner and maybe 40 feet in I hit the dead end, and thankfully, no dead critters.

Ok, time to head back to catch the Cane Spring Trail down to Forest Road 401A and the 2 mile climb back to Soldier Camp TH.

I thinned to photoset to 40 photos on HAZ.
All 110 photos (including the Cane Spring Trail photos) are here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/album.php?id=633
I'll post Part Two, Cane Spring Trail shortly.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Mine Shaft

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Browns Peak Four Peaks The Wata Ridges

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CannondaleKid

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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