|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 7.47 Miles |
940 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.47 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 2.49 mph |
| 940 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Wow! Great hike! I've done this trail several times over the years, but this was much nicer than I anticipated. This was a combination of great weather (a good breeze, cool temps and dark billowy clouds), beautiful foliage ( everything was green and there were splashes of color everywhere) and a challenging trail that kept me engaged throughout.
Got on the trail just after 3pm. Went in in the Spur Cross and had pleasant company with a woman who was a recent transplant from Colorado/Minnesota. She was enjoying her first winter here...we'll see how she likes the summers.  I took the Tortuga for a short time to get to the Elephant Mountain Trail.. At first the Elephant starts out as an old, rutted road but within a .25 miles it turns off and drops into a wash. (This juncture is signed. One has the option of continuing on this "rutted road" and joining the Limestone Trail higher up. By doing this though you'll miss out out on over a mile of the Limestone and some beautiful views). I opted for the longer loop. There use to be stairs descending into the wash, but many of them have atrophied and are just remnants of what they use to be. As soon as I started to descend into the wash the trail changes notable. Going from a fairly open, 5 foot wide track, to a narrow single track with healthy growth encroaching from both sides. The trail joins the wash for a short time before climbing sharply up the west bank. The wash is well cairned and there are actually lined rocks to help guide the hiker on when to exit the wash. The climb out is fairly steep, but the trail is evident and easy to follow...one should enjoy this while you can. The trail eventually reaches the top of the ridge and goes from a sharp climb to a gradual climb as it continues to makes its way to the signed Elephant trail juncture. Up until this point the trail , though "encroached" is in good shape and easy to follow.
It became immediately evident that the Limestone Trail was receiving minimal use. At times it wasn't so much finding the trail but identifying the growth that was most trodden upon. Honestly there was a decent mixture of the aforementioned overgrown trail with stretches of "clear" trail as well. These "clear" trails were confirmation that I was still on track along with a multiple of cairns, which I usually didn't see until I was passing them. I lost the trail once, almost immediately after leaving the Elephant, at "the pump". This is where the trail drops down and crosses a usual dry wash (water was still flowing nicely  ). If you try to go right while in the wash there is an old pump and (luckily) a wall of foliage. As soon as I turned around it was clear where the trail exited the wash. The trail maintains its elevation for a time before losing all the elevation that was gained on the climb towards Elephant Mountain. The trail eventually crosses a major wash and climbs the bank where it joins the "connector trail" (the rutted road that was left earlier in the hike). You know you will have reached this juncture because there is a very cool trail marker composed of carved stone images. (Very Cave Creekesque......I had done this hike years ago and come across another trail marker like this, but I didn't see that second one today).
From this point the trail became more defined. It's funny, when doing this loop I always misremember which side of Sugarloaf Mountain the trail wraps around. I'm always envisioning the trail wrapping around the west side, when in fact, it makes its way around the east. (Side note: some day I would love to bag Sugarloaf....has anyone ever done that? I don't ever recall seeing a write up). Reaching the saddle is always a good feeling. Views are nice, especially today with the play of the clouds across the surrounding scape. Also, it is almost all downhill from here, which is a nice reward after the up and down and up nature of the trail. The trail gets a little overgrown when it crossed what I assume is Limestone Spring. The foxtails are pretty thick at this area....they always have been. I said it was flowing a quart per minute. It was probably less than that, but not by much. Much closer to this caption than dripping. Hit the coral and the Spur Cross and it was just a matter of negotiating Cave Creek 5 times. It was flowing pretty well, but I was able to rock hop the first four crossings. Ironically, the one closest to the Metate Trail proved the most challenging. I believe in the past they've had boards to help, not today. And to complicate matters the nearest cluster of rocks that may have facilitated a dry crossing were being utilized by a group of kids, drinking and listening to music.  Ended up doing a wet crossing. Luckily I only had about a mile to get back to,the TH. (The rocks were a bit upstream so I'm not even sure if they would have worked anyway). Started sprinkling just as I reached the TH.
Overall awesome hike! I need to play in this area more often. Didn't see anyone for almost the entire hike. Just at the beginning and then at the end on the Spur Cross. Ideal place for social distancing. Wildlife included a few rabbits and quail, quail quail. (Saw some deer when exiting). |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
I still needed to hike but had no desire to get out of bed. So I mustered up a little motivation, 
On the way back down I gave them a second coat for good measure. 
so I got Cathy on board and we went up today to find Brian's keys. 
Sorry we came back empty handed Brian. 
