Davenport Wash Trail #89 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Brody Seep Trail #264

[ checklist ] Barnhardt Canyon Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness Club Cabin Club Ranch Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad Davenport Peak Mazatzal Peak South Fork @ Davenport Crossing Table Mountain

Club Ranch

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joebartels

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Despite our checkered past with these outings, I can't turn down a Joe Wish List hike, and Club Ranch was a new one for me, so I took a day off work and joined him. We took off from Barnhardt ~6:30AM and had partly cloudy skies most of the day. From the start, there was more water around than I expected--we could hear it flowing down in Barnhardt Canyon before we could see it, and Big Kahuna had some decent pools and small falls.

Past Big Kahuna, the trail was cleared so wide you drive a car through the manzanita tunnel. We continued onto Mazatzal Divide and checked out Chilson Spring before turning south on Brody Seep. Everything past that was new territory for me, down through Chilson Camp and onto Davenport Wash Trail, where we benefitted from Karl's recent trail work [ photoset ] . Joe didn't plan to go all the way to the ranch, so we parted ways with ~5 miles to go and planned to meet up somewhere around Chilson Spring when I got back.

I had good views of the west side of Mazatzal Peak along Davenport Wash as I dropped down toward the South Fork of Deadman. The trail transitioned from rocky to grassy, and it was tough to spot the large cairns in some spots through the dry prairie. South Fork had a little water, and the geology and scenery around there were among the highlights of the day. It was a steep climb up the other side before dropping another ~1,000' toward Club Ranch, passing through well-cleared manzanita and then another round of cairn-spotting in dry grass as my boots and socks collected foxtails.

I reached the ranch just after noon, checked out the spring, and finally took a longer food/water break. Not much to see as far as structures at the ranch--the lone "standing" building is doing more leaning than standing these days and has mostly collapsed in on itself...going back through old photosets, it looks nothing like it did 20+ years ago [ photo ] .

[ youtube video ]

After ~20 minutes, I packed up and started back to rejoin Joe. Lots of uphill on the return, aside from the drop down to South Fork, where I took another break to eat and refill water. The trail seemed easier to spot through the steep grass going up the other side, but I learned later that's because it was--Joe had built up some of the cairns since I passed through earlier. Between that and snapping selfies while modeling the Spring '26 HAZ fashion line, he made productive use of our time apart. I found him waiting a little east of Chilson Spring, where he was setting up for a nap and was disappointed to see me return.

We kept a good pace on the hike out, and we'd almost made it through the day without seeing anyone else when we heard voices at Big Kahuna. We eventually got passed by a pack of shirtless teenage dudes who thought they'd hiked eight miles. I didn't bother telling them they were in the presence of greatness...if they only knew who'd named the waterfall they'd just visited.

We started and finished in daylight, a first for one of these longer Joe Wish List hikes. At ~12 hours, this one was roughly half of our previous outing. The whole experience was oddly drama-free: no medical emergencies, no hiking all night through catclaw, no investigating mysterious deaths. When we got back ~8PM, I mentioned to Joe that on our last hike, we were still nine hours from finishing at this time. It was good to get out for a longer hike in a new place and go clubbin' with Joe. Thanks for setting this up, and thanks to @BiFrost for preventing many, many scratches along Davenport Wash.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Foxtail

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Teva

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Decal

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness	Light flow	Light flow
	Pools and light flow at the falls, dry trail crossing

	Chilson Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Spring box full of stagnant water

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Dripping	Dripping
	Low flow but plenty of filterable pools

	Garden Seep	Dripping	Dripping
	Moist area long the Barnhardt Trail

	Hawaiian Mist	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Stagnant pools, no flow

	South Fork @ Davenport Crossing	Light flow	Light flow
	Nice clear pools at the crossing and light flow of water; plenty to make it a nice spot to filter.

230566

Apr 10 2026

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,899
Photos 14,815
Triplogs 6,000

56 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Barnhardt to South Fork of Deadman Creek, AZ

Hiking		Apr 10 2026
		joebartels • Triplogs 6,000

Hiking	19.80 Miles	4,257 AEG

Hiking	19.80 Miles	12 Hrs 23 Mns	2.06 mph
	4,257 ft AEG	2 Hrs 45 Mns Break

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Brody Seep Trail #264

[ checklist ] Antelope Horns Nelson's Larkspur New Mexico groundsel Palmer's Penstemon

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John10s

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Karl recently cleared Davenport. Seemed like a good opportunity to go back to Club Ranch.

10 was game. Up front, I mentioned I couldn't care less about making it to the ranch, and he should head down quicker once we got to the divide trail. More of a get back in shape hike for myself, and I needed to test several things. A new power bank I bought after 4PC, how long would a charge last on the Apple Watch with several promising adjustments?

6:24 am
Par for the course up until Chilson Camp. If you enjoy a good old-fashioned gnat invasion, you are in for a treat.

After Chilson, John continued, and I took the first of four breaks. Originally, I thought I'd get to the last big drop before heading down to Club Ranch. Based on my progress, I changed it up to South Fork before he left.

Tillamook Honey-glazed beef jerky that I put in my pack last year was outstanding. Dark pocket aging brought out intense, sweet, savory flavors.

Davenport is a decent uneven tread until it meets a grassy slope. A couple of the tall cairns were barely visible. It gets increasingly steep down to the creek.

I filtered water at the creek for the hike back. It seemed really steep heading out, and then I realized I missed the first switchback... Lol

Took a short break under the one tree up to the grass slope. Then, when you're back on trail, there's a turn with a large tock that served as a good break spot.

Immediately upon reaching Chilson Camp, the gnats were intense. I suspect a quarter to a half-mile swath was slurried with beef broth, or they filmed another scene from Carrie at the slaughterhouse.

Later, out of the gnat zone, I stopped at a large slanted flat rock, thinking I would sleep for an hour. Minutes later, guess who's back. 10 knocked out seven semi-challenging miles quicker than I anticipated.

We heard what sounded like two 20-year-olds playing in the water at Big Kahuna Falls, but never saw them.

Five 15 or 16-year-old guys passed later on. Four shirtless, one in Crocs, none of them had a pack. Said they did eight miles. Probably six. They looked and sounded like they had a lot of fun.

Favorite quote of the day
There's a weather thread?

Synopsis
The symphony of nature is relaxing. Good stepping stone back to Lion/Lemmon caliber.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Water Strider

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Gear Intrepid Back Shot Point

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Chilson Spring Hawaiian Mist South Fork @ Davenport Crossing

Wildflowers Observation Light
Western wallflower, Dudley, larkspur, yellow stuff

Green carrot plant like the cabin hike [ photo ]

	Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness	Light flow	Light flow
	No water at the crossing but plenty very nearby up canyon

	Chilson Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Barely dripping but full

	Garden Seep	Dripping	Dripping
	Wet swath across trail

	South Fork @ Davenport Crossing	Light flow	Light flow
	Large pools, minimal flow from pool to pool.

_____________________

- joe

230528

Mar 27 2026

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Backpack		Mar 27 2026
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	6.43 Miles	2,889 AEG

Backpack	6.43 Miles	4 Days
	2,889 ft AEG

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scatdaddy

Headed out Davenport Wash Trail in the Mazatzal from Barnhardt Trailhead to do more trail maintenance. We had dropped a water cache of 8.5 gallons two weeks prior at the camp site. This worked out well since we didn't have to waste time hauling water and could focus on trail work.

Our group of 4 started hiking about 8am from Barnhardt and up to Chilson Camp where we had lunch. Then continued down Davenport to South Fork of Deadman Creek. Took an extended break at the creek and enjoyed the nice creek and abundant water. Stayed there until about 430 to beat the heat before climbing out and up the 1.75 miles to the camp site. Arrived at the campsite and setup for the next 3 days. Checked the water cache and everything was good there.

After good night of rest next morning we headed out westbound on Davenport Trail to start work where I left off from last time. The goal was to clear trail all the way to Club Ranch site just under 2 miles away. We made good progress on the first day and cleared trail about 1 mile nearing Red Rock Spring before heading back to camp.

Another night at camp and next day we continued clearing down to Red Rock Spring which did have water. There was no water where the trail crossed but upstream about 100 feet there were some good pools and flow. The actual spring is about two tenths of a mile upstream from the trail crossing. After a break we continued working clearing trail passed Red Rock Spring and towards Club Ranch.

In the afternoon about 230 we finally reached Club Ranch clearing the last 1/2 mile of trail. Great water at Club Ranch Spring and we took another extended break to avoid the afternoon heat. We tanked up on some more water and about 430 headed back to camp.

Back at camp spent another pleasant night relaxing before the long hike out next day. Next morning everyone packed up and started hiking back reaching South Fork Deadman Creek first. Stopped for a snack, rest and water refill. Then started up the hill out of the creek which is about 2.4 miles and 1300 feet AEG back to Chilson Camp. Made it to Chilson in early afternoon and took another break.

Then just finished up with the last 7.2 miles back out to Barnhardt TH. Really happy with the work we were able to get done and reaching the goal of clearing trail all the way to Club Ranch. Davenport Wash Trail is now effectively cleared of impassable sections from Horsehose Dam all the way to Chilson Camp. However, it's still a rough back country trail and not AZT quality with some trouble spots that we hope to improve in the not too distant future.

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230377

Mar 14 2026

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Trail Water Cache, AZ

Backpack		Mar 14 2026
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	23.60 Miles	3,881 AEG

Backpack	23.60 Miles	2 Days
	3,881 ft AEG

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slowandsteady

We had an upcoming trail maintenance event on Davenport Trail in 2 weeks. I was a little concerned about the water situation and wanted to setup a water cache. So Kathy and I hiked into Chilson Camp from Barnhardt TH fairly early and upon arrival setup camp at Chislon and had some lunch.

After lunch we grabbed our relatively empty packs and some collapsible water containers and hiked westbound on Davenport Trail down to the South Fork of Deadmans Creek. As expected SF Deadman was flowing nicely with great water. We took a good break and then I began filling up the water containers for total of 8.5 gallon capacity.

With full containers (35 lbs in each pack) we hiked the 1.75 miles and about 500 plus feet AEG up the trail to the upcoming event camp spot that I selected from previous trail work. Once there it was about 430 and we pretty spent from the effort but we still had to hike all the way back to Chilson. I dropped the water cache and secured it in a tarp and then we started the 4.6 miles back to Chilson.

Even though Davenport is a trail it's still backcountry quality and not like the AZT so it took awhile to hike back. Also, dropping into SF Deadman creek we had a 1300 foot climb back up to Chilson Camp. Safe to say it took awhile and we did not arrive back at Chilson until 8pm and hiked the last hour by headlamp. We were also completely spent so that slowed us down as well.

Fortunately, John 9L had hiked in to join us for the camping part and he had everything setup, camp fire included at Chilson. Was very nice just to walk into camp and sitdown around the camp fire

After nice night in camp the next day we hiked out together out to Barnhardt TH arriving about 130. Tough trip but was very happy to get the water cache in the right place!!

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2 archives

230373

Apr 06 2024

rcorfman

Guides 1
Routes 226
Photos 1,675
Triplogs 1,867

65 male

Joined Oct 17 2008
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Apr 06 2024
		rcorfman • Triplogs 1,867

Hiking	13.80 Miles	1,064 AEG

Hiking	13.80 Miles	5 Hrs 35 Mns	2.76 mph
	1,064 ft AEG	35 Mns Break

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Three geocaches were newly placed off of the trail on the way to the wilderness boundary. They were my incentive for this hike. I started at Horseshoe Dam and walked FR479 to the trail, then followed the trail to the wilderness boundary. I diverted from the trail to find the three caches. On the way back, I went off trail again to find another geocache along the Verde.

I messed up getting on the Davenport trail and crossed Davenport creek. The water was flowing pretty good. I soon realized that I shouldn't have crossed, so I went back and got on the trail.

On the way out, one side by side stopped and asked me if I was ok. That's always nice as I may have had a disabled vehicle or something like that. I should have asked them what the river crossing was like but figured it was manageable since they were there. On the way back, two motorcyclists passed me, heading back to cross the dam walkway.

The weather was about perfect for the day. I had a T-shirt and a long sleeve button up shirt on and was comfortable the whole time.

At one time, a hummingbird hovered in front of my face. It had a bright violet head. Not sure I've seen one like that before.

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Go find a LonelyCache

214555

Apr 06 2024

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Trail Maintenance, AZ

Backpack		Apr 06 2024
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	29.00 Miles	4,500 AEG

Backpack	29.00 Miles	5 Days
	4,500 ft AEG

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Back in December Alex and I cleared more of Davenport Trail but ran out of time clearing the brushiest section of trail. So, my plan was to come back where we left off and finish the section. I hiked out from Barnhardt trailhead 13 miles to within a tenth of mile of where we stopped in December. Setup camp Saturday night and settled in. Was treated to a cool SpaceX launch tracer across the sky just after sunset.

Next morning I needed to get 3 days of water for trail work. With all the rain and snow everything is flowing in the Mazatzal and had water about ½ mile back up trail. I filled everything I had about 15 liters of water and took it back to camp. Then grabbed my gear and tools to start the trail work.

As I was approaching the spot where we stopped work back in December I stopped and in my tracks. I looked down and right next to the trail I saw a very dead body. A bit shocked at first after a few minutes I fired up my Garmin InReach and texted my wife to contact the Yavapai County Sheriff and let them know I have a dead body situation.

After about 20 minutes she texted me the Sheriff’s number and we started texting the information and coordinating a landing zone for the recovery. About two and a half hours later they were able to land ¼ mile up trail from the body. We hiked down to the site and the pilot mentioned that the body had probably been there a month possibly longer with the recent cold weather. Pilot and Sheriff then bagged up the body and hauled it back to the helicopter.

[ youtube video ]

At this point we were not able to find any gear and the body had no ID. The Sherrif said if you find anything like gear or campsite to please let them know. After they left it was late afternoon but decided to scout my trail work for the next day. As I was returning and passing the body site there was still a lingering smell. Wondering if there was possibly something else, so I checked in the thick brush and there I discovered his backpack.

Texted the Sheriff that I found his backpack and he asked me to check for ID. I found a wallet in the backpack with driver’s license and various cards. Driver’s license said he was from Nevada, so I texted them his name, date of birth etc. The Sheriff said they would pick up the backpack the next day and asked me to carry it up to the landing zone.

It was an eventful day with everything that happened, but I was still there to do trail work and wanted to finish the job. Spent next 2 days clearing trail and was able to finish off the really brushy section and break through to the clearing. I was able to continue clearing for another 1/2 mile before the 5 day stint was done. Of course, there is still more trail to clear but the brushy section where the trail was non existent is now completed. I’ll be back again to continue the work but let’s hope I only come across manzanita and scrub oak next time.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Aircraft Camp-fire Campsite Trail Maintenance

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4 archives

214608

Dec 15 2023

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Trail Maintenance - NorthPeakSummit, AZ

Backpack		Dec 15 2023
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	37.84 Miles	11,400 AEG

Backpack	37.84 Miles	7 Days
	11,400 ft AEG

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North Peak Trail #24

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alex1derr

John9L

Two part backpack in the Mazatzal Range checking out The Park and North Peak before heading over to Davenport Trail for some maintenance for 7 day total. On Fridy hiked in North Peak Trail with John 9L and camped at the Park. After relaxing night at camp the next morning, I decided to hike North Peak while John decided to hike AZT to Rock Creek Trail and check that out.

The hike up North Peak is all off trail and very steep and my approach was from the south since we camped at The Park. It just so happened that Chumley was day hiking North Peak that day but approached from the north side since he was coming from the trailhead. We both had cell signal so was able to text on our progress and eventually we met at the summit for a break and take in the views. After the summit we hiked back down the south approach to The Park where were met up with John and hung out around camp for a bit. Eventually Chumley had to hike back to the trailhead while we enjoyed another night at The Park.

Next morning 9L headed out back to North Peak Trail while I hiked southbound on AZT towards Chilson Camp where I was meeting up with Alex around Noon. We literally hit the junction at Chilson the same moment and took a break. Then the 3.5 mile hike to our campsite to setup our trail maintenance.

First day of trail maintenance went well but the brush is really thick in this section. It’s the last section of the brushy spots before the trail starts to open up as it heads west towards Club Ranch. However, this section will not give up easily, so we really had to work hard to make the progress that we did.

Second, day was more of the same with hard slog cutting manzanita, scrub oak and other assorted scrub brush. However, we were able to consistently find old trail tread, so we knew that at least we were not cutting completely new trail even if it felt like it at times. Day 2 came to a close and headed back to camp around 4pm.

From the forecast we knew that it would rain overnight and it did quite a bit. Continued into the morning so we didn’t get going on trail work until around 10am. Of course, things were very wet and muddy so that slowed down the work. To compensate we worked until just before sundown to maximize the time. However, even with that we were not able to finish the really brushy section finishing about two tenths of mile from where the trail opens up more. Just have to make another trip out to finish it off.

Back to camp for the last night at the same spot. Next morning, we just had to hike out the 11.5 miles to Barnhardt trailhead. Nice hike back across the Mazatzal and managed to make it out by about 3pm.

	Hopi Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	very low water but was clear

	Pete's Pond	26-50% full	26-50% full
	water was a bit murky but plenty of it. There were some smaller pools nearby that had better looking water

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1 archive

212264

Apr 23 2022

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 886
Triplogs 363

43 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Barnhardt - South Fork Deadman Creek, AZ

Backpack		Apr 23 2022
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 363

Backpack	23.00 Miles	5,000 AEG

Backpack	23.00 Miles	1 Day 2 Hrs
	5,000 ft AEG

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Brody Seep Trail #264

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Decided to spend the weekend poking around the Mazatzals again, this time with my overnight gear. I thought I might shoot for Club Cabin. Didn't get started until ~10:30am, but figured I'd have plenty of time. The Barnhardt Superhighway was relatively quick and easy, and got to Chilson Camp in roughly 3 hours. That's where things start getting fun.

Davenport Trail was surprisingly easy to follow all the way to the crossing over of the ridge around which Davenport Trail contours. On the west side, route finding was a little more difficult due to the grass, but the route was well-cairned and overall not terribly hard to follow. I was expecting worse. South Fork of Deadman Creek looked very impressive, had good flow, and it was getting to be past 3pm when I got there, so it was awfully tempting to stop there should I find a usable campsite... And I did, just after crossing over to the west bank (there's only room for two tents, tops, here).

Spent the next hour and a half or so meandering down the creek in sandals, and where it turned around, it was looking almost as verdant as Fossil Creek. This is such a pretty canyon, and I definitely intend to come back and explore more of it, with a little more planning.

Had an uneventful but nice evening, a gusty night, and woke up feeling refreshed for the hike out, which I began around 6:30am. The trail was a little harder to follow in the uphill direction, but I got to Chilson by around 8am. Decided to take Brody Seep trail south to the divide, but after a mile or so the track disappeared into the brush and I didn't feel like dealing with that, so headed back to Chilson.

After that little misadventure we were making good time again, and got to the car by 12:30. Fun time out there, water is still easy to find right now.

Chilson Spring

Dripping

	South Fork Deadman Creek	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Flowing up to and beyond the Davenport crossing.

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195996

Apr 15 2022

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Wash Trail Work, AZ

Backpack		Apr 15 2022
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	25.00 Miles	3,350 AEG

Backpack	25.00 Miles	3 Days 47 Mns
	3,350 ft AEG

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Hiked back into the Mazzies and Davenport Wash Trail for some follow up trail work. Friday left work early and drove to Barnhardt trailhead to start hiking little after 3pm. Was able to make South Fork of Deadman Creek in little over 4 hours for camp first night.

Next morning got up early and filtered 12.5 liters of water from South Fork creek which still had good flow. Needed all the water for two days of trail work and cooking etc. Then had to haul the water plus pack uphill 1.5 miles to camp spot in the work area. After arriving quickly setup camp and grabbed daypack for the day’s work. Worked from about 9am to 530 before heading back to camp for the night. This section is the thickest brush on the entire Davenport Wash Trail so slow going for sure.

After good night rest got up early and started around 7am working my way through the brush. Did periodic checks in the brush to find old tread and stay as close to on track as possible. By the afternoon I was able to find the better tread, less brush and cairns placed from years past. Working until about 6 was able to reach the better tread less brush section and made for a good place to stop.

Definitely good two days getting through the worst brushy part of Davenport Trail. The rest will have to wait until fall or next spring. Next morning just hiked out with a few trail touch ups on the way out.

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1 archive

195819

Apr 08 2022

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Wash Trail Recon, AZ

Backpack		Apr 08 2022
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	23.00 Miles	3,300 AEG

Backpack	23.00 Miles	3 Days
	3,300 ft AEG

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slowandsteady

We headed into Mazatzal Wilderness for trail recon of Davenport Wash Trail. There was trail maintenance done in late 2019 just before Covid by ACE trail crew and wanted to check out how much was completed. Started from Barnhardt about 730 on Friday morning and made it to the divide in a few hours. Then headed over to Chilson Camp and the start of Davenport Wash Trail.

First mile of Davenport is really noticeable with how much work was done. There was some good tread work and rock/tree obstacles removed compared to how it was prior. Eventually the trail reaches a large grassy area above South Fork of Deadman Creek. This area is difficult to clear trail that will last because it’s all grass. However, the crew put up many cairns across the area so just have to hike from cairn to cairn and it’s followable. Towards the bottom there are switchback cuts that make the trail easier to follow down to the creek. South Fork of Deadman Creek was flowing strong with plenty of water for camp. We ended up camping on a bench just above the creek for 2 nights.

After pleasant night of camping by the creek I headed up trail to continue the recon. From camp there is cool rock ramp for trail that is easy to follow. For the next 1.5 miles it’s decent trail as it crosses two drainages (the first one had good water) and gains about 500 feet of AEG. Took a side trip to check out Divide Spring from top of the ridge about ¾ mile off the trail. Nothing left of the spring now except some thick brush and trees in the area.

Back on trail from the ridge it heads into the thick brush and I could see where the maintenance crew stopped. The wall of brush has been an issue for a while because the area has not been touched since before the Willow fire in 2004 which decimated the trail. However remarkably there are still remnants of trail that survived under the brush I discovered on previous trips. Regardless it will take serious effort to clear but there is at least something there.

Spent the rest of the day clearing some trail remnants and scouting more areas ahead. Then headed back to camp for another pleasant night by the creek and croaking frogs! Next morning, we hiked back out towards Chilson Camp clearing some catclaw along the way. Made it to Barnhardt around 3pm and headed home. Good to see Davenport again and evaluate the conditions. Also, nice to see so much water in the Mazzies in many of the spots that are usually dry!

	Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness	Medium flow	Medium flow
	good glow over the waterfall and into the pools below

	Chilson Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	spring tub was almost full but also lots of algae so the water quality was not the best

	Divide Spring	Dry	Dry
	not sure this spring has seen water in quite awhile. Searched the area and did not find any evidence of recent activity. Just lots of brush and trees clustered in the spring area

	Hawaiian Mist	Light flow	Light flow
	light flow across the trail

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2 archives

195603

Mar 22 2022

egreen

Triplogs 4

58 male

Joined Feb 21 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 22 2022
		egreen • Triplogs 4

Hiking	16.70 Miles	5,499 AEG

Hiking	16.70 Miles
	5,499 ft AEG

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Bad news for Mazatzal die-hards. Upper Davenport is not passable between S. Deadman and Red Rock Spring. Left one truck at Peeley and started our hike at Barnhart. The plan was to connect Barnhart to Davenport to Sheep Creek to Peeley. Like many other attempts in the inner Mazatzals, it didn't work out as planned. Headed down from Chilson. There were plenty of cairns and the trail was reasonably easy to follow without GPS. We did lose the trail a little at the bottom of S. Deadman but had no trouble getting down and finding the trail back up. We climbed the other side and continued up to the next set of ridges. Surprisingly, the trail was still easy to follow. We were looking forward to topping the ridge so we could start down to Club, and then we hit a massive wall of brush. It was weird because the trail was really nice in that section and then, boom, dead end. We were already exhausted so we found the nearest spot flat enough to throw down sleeping bags right there at the end of the trail. Next morning we tried to bust through but the brush was like a maze and we were disoriented. It looks like the brush continued on for another 1/4 mile before topping out so we had to bail. I would say this section of trail is dead unless somebody brings a lot of tools and manpower. It's a real shame though because we were really enjoying the rest of the trail, difficult as it was. We back-tracked to the Divide trail and hiked to Peeley the civilized way.

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194991

Feb 05 2022

The_Eagle

Guides 42
Routes 1,799
Photos 15,483
Triplogs 2,925

70 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Davenport Peak

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 05 2022
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,925

Hiking	20.80 Miles	2,831 AEG

Hiking	20.80 Miles	9 Hrs 45 Mns		2.39 mph
	2,831 ft AEG	1 Hour 3 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

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	BiFrost	joebartels
	LindaAnn

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Joe and I did a longer loop out here 8 years ago that took in the Ridge benchmark and Frustrum #30. During the hike Davenport Peak stood out as an interesting destination.

We attempted to cross the Verde to cut out 7 miles of road walking. In Karl's 4runner, we made it through the 18"-24" deep first crossing without incident, but the 2nd crossing had a flow that was too strong to attempt. So we retreated to the Dam.

Linda, Karl, Joe and I started out in a brisk windless (finally) morning. The road walk went quickly with the banter and catching up with Linda and Karl.

On the Sears Trail Joe and I attempted to follow the cairned path that stayed out of the wash. Linda and Karl smartly just followed the wash. I tangled with a few Christmas Cholla that I am still paying for today.

Our cairns took us back to the wash and Linda/Karl, where the Sears Trail started it's steady climb. The trail is pretty easy to follow going through grassy landscape and crossing a few washes with unnamed running springs.

We jumped off the trail to follow a ridge that would take us to the eastern approach to Davenport Peak. The climb went from steep, to STEEP. Nothing too tough, just slow going.

We took our lunch at noon on top of the peak to great 360 views. It was a mostly windless and very clear for extended views.
Youtube -> [ youtube video ]

Getting down the west side also had it's steep moments, but again, nothing too crazy.

We ultimately made our way down into the flowing Davenport Wash. Pretty walking, clear water, interesting geology. There was quite a bit of evidence of some high flow events here with logs tangled in spots.

We made our way out of Davenport Wash through the interesting canyon area that Joe and I had taken before. I call these the Papago-Zatals. A fun area to play in for sure.

We hopped on the Davenport Wash Trail for the trek back to the truck.

A fun time in the western Mazzy's. Great to see Karl and Linda again (and Joe).

Finally some perfect weather to hike in.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Trail Signs and Markings

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Davenport Peak

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	Andrea Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	The wash was running the entire distance we were in it. Un able to tell were the spring source was

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

1 archive

193764

Feb 05 2022

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,899
Photos 14,815
Triplogs 6,000

56 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Davenport Peak

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 05 2022
		joebartels • Triplogs 6,000

Hiking	20.03 Miles	2,861 AEG

Hiking	20.03 Miles	9 Hrs 45 Mns	2.30 mph
	2,861 ft AEG	1 Hour 2 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Club Cabin Club Ranch Davenport Peak Indian Butte Mazatzal Peak Mazatzal Wilderness Table Mountain Thompson Peak

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	BiFrost	LindaAnn
	The_Eagle

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A little uncertainty with where we'd start. Karl tried crossing the Verde in his 4Runner. We could just see land across the first crossing and the water seemed borderline-ish at about a half foot above the lower door. The second wasn't looking good so we abanded plan-A and hiked across the dam. The added 6.8 miles RT is an easy road walk.

Dam to Sears 0 to 3.4 mi
It was wicked Siberian cold to start. With no wind, layered up and perhaps low humidity, it seemed pretty nice at a moving pace. Road miles ticked off quickly and it was good to have Linda & Karl in the mix.

Sears 3.4 to 8.65 mi
Cairned well but you have to constantly hunt 'em to sorta stay on track the lowest 1.75 miles, then it gets better. Unnamed Sprs on topo 4.25 miles up #90, then Spr at 4.65 mi had a slow clear trickle in the creek.

Off-trail to Davenport Peak 8.65 mi to 10.0 mi
When we got to our turn-off for Davenport Peak @ 2,920 ft, Karl and I followed @mazatzal's 2014 track up while Bruce and Linda started up slightly differently. We stopped to wait for them at a 3,200 bench. That lasted about ten seconds before they magically appeared within a stone's throw. We took a break at 3,440 to mentally prepare for the 4,010-peak in the next 0.3-mile... up.

Davenport Peak Mom, apple pie, etc
The nicest weather day and lunch I recall since Oct. 360-degree smorgasbord of views. One blooming brittlebush. No internet.

Peak to Davenport Wash 10.0 to 11.5 mi
Going... DowN! Barely in my range. Three-point-contact twists and two butt scoot-slides got the immediate 400 ft drop outta the way. Then it's easier but slow through hidden cactus mines, catclaw, loose rock, and such. I fell once as most did today.

Crick to Davenport Trail 11.5 to 13.4 mi
Davenport Wash is a treat in this section. Clear light flow, huge cottonwoods, cliff cut edges dotted with lots of Saguaros. From the wash up to the trail was my concern pre-hike planning. It resembles a mini version of Papago Buttes terrain in swiss cheese fashion. No issues.

Back to Square One 13.4 to 20 mi
Got a little warm dressed like an Eskimo. A couple of quick razor-type quads.

Synopsis
Definitely wear pants and a long sleeve shirt for the catclaw and twists through brushy spots. Linda had helpful suggestions along the way(no clue why I took this note... lol) and was excited about bonus-AEG opportunities. Good to hear the famous Karl kackle after almost two years. Four absolute opposites, what a group. I'm honored any would tag along with this pimple on a flea for twenty miles... lol

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Gear Throwing a Wendy

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
one sprig of blue onions along lower Davenport

	Andrea Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	creek is flowing well and clear

	Sears Unnamed Spr 3	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	A little better flow than the two Sprs grouped nearby. Felt like the true source.

	Sears Unnamed Sprs 1 + 2	Dripping	Dripping
	Very slow trickle didn't seem quite like a quart per minute... Lol

_____________________

- joe

193756

Feb 05 2022

LindaAnn

Guides 119
Routes 2,501
Photos 9,787
Triplogs 2,844

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Davenport Peak

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 05 2022
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,844

Hiking	20.03 Miles	2,911 AEG

Hiking	20.03 Miles	9 Hrs 46 Mns	2.28 mph
	2,911 ft AEG	59 Mns Break

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	BiFrost	joebartels
	The_Eagle

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While Davenport probably isn’t a peak I would have chosen on my own, it sounded interesting, as did the other options given, and I’m glad I was able to get this one done.

After deciding to not use Karl’s 4Runner as a boat, we parked at the dam and got started to some crisp temps. I was delighted, and considering I hadn’t brought a jacket anyway, stuck with just a light long-sleeved shirt. Warmed up within a couple of minutes.

The road walk was pretty close to flat, pretty smooth, and the first few miles flew by.

Sears Trail was initially pretty easy to follow, got a little more vague, then turned into a cairn search where Karl and I bailed down to the wash while Bruce and Joe seemed to be able to continue following cairns. The wash was easy walking and we all met back up where the wash intersected the creek. After that, we stayed on the more-defined trail and continued uphill. To me, it seemed like Davenport Peak ahead of us had not gotten any closer after all these miles, while Joe assured me it was at least twice as close as the last time I complained.

Once on the off-trail, we continued heading uphill through catclaw, prickly pear, yucca, and a bunch of other sharp vegetation. Bruce and I contoured slightly more to the west before heading up to the ridge. I managed to roll a rock out from under my foot and did a hard sit on my pumpkin, but avoided landing in a cactus. I will NOT be posting any pics of that bruise. Met up with Joe and Karl’s route after that, then we took a short break with the peak looming above.

After that, the incline got real and we made our way up to the peak. Steep, loose in places, and just up. Once on a ridge of sorts, the rocks were more stable and it was a fun scramble to the highpoint, arriving a couple of minutes before noon. Amazing views in all directions while we had lunch and enjoyed the nice weather. No names in the register since 2014.

Left the peak to the west. Initially, although very steep, the rocks were pretty stable, although Bruce tried to loosen up a couple of them. The good rock didn’t last enough and it became a slippy, slidy descent down the ridge. I semi-scooted in a few places, but managed to not fall. As the steepness lessened, the ridge curved around to the west and north. Just before reaching Davenport Wash, it got steep again, was like walking on ball bearings, and we had to detour slightly to get to the wash.

Reasonably easy walking in the wash, which had a nice light flow of water. Lots of evidence of significant flooding at some point. The wash was enjoyable but slow at times while we negotiated keeping our feet dry and the debris strewn about.

We left the wash and headed over to Bruce’s “interesting rocks”, which were kind of like a mini Papago Park. It was fun working through the maze of rocks, ridges, and gullies on the grippy surface. Neat area, with sort of a Utah or Mars feel.

Once on Davenport Wash trail it was an easy road walk back west. Lots of tall grass, but the trail/road sees plenty of traffic and the grass was flattened. Some neat views off to both sides of the trail. Once back on the original road walk, those miles went by quickly again.

Fun day, with plenty of fun conversation. Kind of nice to bookend the week with twenty mile hikes.

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

193757

Feb 05 2022

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Peak

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 05 2022
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Hiking	20.80 Miles	2,831 AEG

Hiking	20.80 Miles	9 Hrs 45 Mns	2.39 mph
	2,831 ft AEG	1 Hour 3 Mns Break

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	joebartels	LindaAnn
	The_Eagle

Davenport Peak in the western Mazatzal turned out to be a fun mix of trail, no trail, creek hiking and route finding. Initially we tried to float the Verde River in my 4Runner but realized the Verde is probably undefeated in that category. So we headed for the dam trailhead to start the hike.

Across the dam and onto the road hike for over 3 miles to the start of Sears Trail. This was a fun mix of old road and hunting for cairns along with trail tread. Very pretty area as we continued the approach to Davenport Peak. Eventually we exited the trail and made the final approach which got steeper as we ascended. Took a short break about ¾ of the way up before the final ascent.

Perfect day for a summit with blue skies and almost zero wind. Took our lunch break on top and enjoyed the 360 views for about 30 minutes.

After lunch it was down a different way with the objective being Davenport Wash. The descent was quite steep especially first 500 feet or so but gets much less steep as we followed the ridge down to the wash. Once in the wash we were treated to cool riparian scenery with plenty of flowing water for the stretch we hiked.

Bruce had marked a route out of the wash which turned out to be one of the coolest parts of the hike. It followed the wash and went through some cool Utah like rock formations that we navigated back to the Davenport Trail.

Once back on the Davenport Trail it was a beeline back to the dam road and out to the trailhead. Great hike with a little bit of everything and fun to hike with everyone again!

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

_____________________

1 archive

193775

Mar 21 2021

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,677
Triplogs 1,389

68 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Sears Trail #90

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 21 2021
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,389

Hiking	8.00 Miles	2,301 AEG

Hiking	8.00 Miles
	2,301 ft AEG

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Started from the dam and walked the road to the Sears TH. Took the trail in a couple of miles and then cut across Davenport Wash to the lower part of Davenport trail. The first couple of miles of Sears is very overgrown and painful.
Saw two groups of ATVs along FR 479 and two equestrians on Davenport.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Horseshoe Dam

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

_____________________

184799

Oct 15 2019

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Trail Scouting, AZ

Backpack		Oct 15 2019
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	23.44 Miles	5,699 AEG

Backpack	23.44 Miles	2 Days
	5,699 ft AEG

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Headed up to Barnhardt trailhead Tuesday morning and met with trail crew leader Jake for some scheduled Davenport Trail maintenance. The crew is from ACE (American Conservation Experience) who does a lot of AZT trail maintenance. Our goal was to hike in and scout the area and I was there to share my knowledge of trail conditions being familiar with the trail. We also had a packer Bill that hauled in 150 pounds of food and gear for the crew to Chilson base camp.

We started in about 830 and made good time arriving at Chilson Camp before 11am. Bill let the horses graze a bit and we talked about the trail scouting plan for the day. We then said goodbye to Bill and he headed back down to the trailhead. Jake and I headed down Davenport Trail to scout the condition. Of course, this trail is in serious need of maintenance since it has not seen any formal attention in probably 25 years. The Willow Fire in 2005 also caused considerable damage to much of the trail.

We spent most of our time finding the old tread and collecting waypoints. Jake’s goal was to have enough data to flag the trail for his trail crew and give them all the instruction they needed to manage the project. Eventually we made it down to South Fork Deadman Creek about 2.5 miles from Chilson and took a break. The creek crossing is a tough stretch because it drops about 1000 feet to the crossing but there are old switchback cuts on the downslope that Jake was able map out for the crew.

Once across the creek we continued another 1.5 miles which has some decent old tread and very visible trail cuts. However, that tread eventually runs out and hits a wall of manzanita, scrub oak and various brush. We ventured into the brushy section a bit so Jake could see how difficult this leg would be. Realistically the brushy section will probably not get completed at least this go around but he said they would most likely get a route flagged through the section.

After scouting what we need to see we headed back to Chilson Camp arriving just before sunset. Then hiked to Chilson Spring and filtered water before settling in for the night. Next morning, we left early and hiked back out to Barnhardt trailhead. Jake had to meet the crew who was scheduled to arrive late morning. It was a productive day scouting and gathering the information needed for the project. Honestly I didn’t think a trail crew would ever do maintenance on Davenport so it’s awesome to see these guys out there!! And I can't forget about Shawn Redfield who got all the paperwork for the grant pushed through. Many thanks for that effort

_____________________

2 archives

169977

Mar 30 2019

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Mazzy Transit, AZ

Backpack		Mar 30 2019
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	29.78 Miles	7,392 AEG

Backpack	29.78 Miles	2 Days
	7,392 ft AEG

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slowandsteady

We hiked this several years ago as a day hike and since toddak posted the event decided to try it again. However, this time I wanted to transit as a backpack instead of day hike. Toddak opted to still do as day hike starting at Barnhardt while we launched from Horseshoe Dam.

On trail by 645 it was cool to see the dam with all the water coming over the spillway. Then it’s a road walk of several miles to the official start of Davenport Wash trail. The trail continues as two track for several more miles until passing the wilderness boundary at about 6 miles in. Once in the wilderness the real trail starts and progress slowed a bit. As toddak mentioned there is a lot of growth out there from all the rain and the grasses obscured the trial. On the plus side things were very green and wildflowers abundant along the first 12 miles.

Eventually at 14 miles we reached Davenport Wash which was flowing nicely. We stopped for a break and to filter water. While there @toddak showed up and we traded trail information. The reports were confirmed that the manzanita and other shrubbery were as thick as ever. After about 15 minutes we parted ways and wished each other good luck! My plan was to check out Club Ranch and then go about another 1.5 miles past the ranch and camp on a ridgeline. Passing water in the drainage near Red Rock Spring was our last water source before camp. I filled up every container we had and then hiked up to the ridgeline for what turned out to be a great campsite with awesome views.

After a relaxing night we were ready for the manzanita madness in the morning. Leaving camp at 730 it climbs quickly and within a mile we reached the beginning of the thickest brush. Having done the off trail before I learned that staying high side and avoiding the ravines was key to our success especially with backpacks. It took about 2 hours to traverse the brush section that’s only about 2 miles long. We found a spring right before the thicket ends and took a break. After that the trail drops over 1000 feet into South Fork Deadman Creek which was flowing very nicely where we took another break.

From there it’s a long-sustained ascent to Chilson Camp and some marginal trail conditions as well. This part drags especially after all the off trail in the morning but we managed to arrive Chilson around 230 and took another break. Of course, from Chilson it’s back on real trail which seemed like a sidewalk compared to the Davenport Wash trail. We put it on autopilot and motored out to Barnhardt trailhead. Thanks to toddak for posting the event! Always interesting to see this seldom traveled part of the Mazzies.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Owl Clover

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Balloon

Wildflowers Observation Substantial
poppies, lupine, owl clover, indian paint brush etc

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	heavy flow from spring source. this spring is reliable year round

	Dog Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	dripping to light flow

	Red Rock Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	heavy flow across the trail downstream from the spring source. I didn't go to the actual spring

	Rock Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	lots of flow in the creek downstream coming from the spring

_____________________

2 archives

164584

Mar 30 2019

toddak

Guides 13
Routes 42
Photos 1,714
Triplogs 600

61 male

Joined Nov 15 2005
Jackson, CA

Mazz Transit, AZ

Hiking		Mar 30 2019
		toddak • Triplogs 600

Hiking	28.00 Miles	4,000 AEG

Hiking	28.00 Miles	14 Hrs	2.00 mph
	4,000 ft AEG

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Up Barnhardt and down Davenport all the way to Horseshoe Dam. Super green out there, with tons of wildflowers and abundant flowing water in the upper elevations. Very scenic, but all the miles of intermittent-to-nonexistent trail wore me down pretty good. Thanks to BiFrost and slowandsteady for the car shuttle.

_____________________

164544

Dec 19 2018

Guides 4
Routes 494
Photos 11,066
Triplogs 1,286

56 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Davenport Wash Trail Recon, AZ

Backpack		Dec 19 2018
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,286

Backpack	36.00 Miles	7,600 AEG

Backpack	36.00 Miles	5 Days
	7,600 ft AEG

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