Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Dec 14 2019

joebartels

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

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Fort Reno - Reno Pass - Cypress - Park Tr Loop, AZ

Hiking		Dec 14 2019
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	15.44 Miles	4,142 AEG

Hiking	15.44 Miles	9 Hrs 16 Mns		2.01 mph
	4,142 ft AEG	1 Hour 34 Mns Break	18 LBS Pack

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Camp Reno

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Park Trail #66

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The_Eagle

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Area has been on my curious horizon for many moons. Suggested this loop Sept 2016 having traveled the top with jj on Slate Creek to Browns Peak hike in 2014. Bruce suggested it back for today. Knew it wouldn't be easy. Figured it would be an itch to scratch. Rarin' to check it out regardless!

Apparently the first day of bow hunting for deer. FR 22 Sycamore/Bushnell Tanks was packed. 2 guys decked out full GQ hunt were heading up Park Trail when we arrived. Likely cursing our presence but we were headed the other way.

Camp Reno
Best thing about this historical location is @PrestonSands guide. Answered questions I had and then some!

FR 524
This was our ticket up to the southern Mazzie backbone. Soon we encountered a cool family out hunting, glassing Daniel Spring vicinity. Bruce speaks their language so it's usually a semi entertaining encounter. He'd fit in at a tupperware party better than me too.

Humidity was brutal heading up. Reno Pass was almost as exciting as I remember from five years ago.

Cypress Peak
From the end of FR 1694 we headed off trail to the peak. Threw my pants on by chance. Boy howdy was that the right decision. It'd be a screamer in shorts. Years ago I gave this peak a 3 out of 5. Cursed the chaparral/cactus battle on hike. The views are pretty good, I love Arizona. Little interest in returning, just don't have the heart to slap a 2 on it. Great cell signal if you want to send Tibber a text!

We lunched at the top. Heading down the southside was friendlier, aka less, vegetation.

Park Trail 66
A brittle-faded carsonite stake is your trail clue off the side of FR 422. Faded ribbons and a faint trail lure you in a quarter mile. The best way to tackle the next 3/4 mi is with a bulldozer. Bruce graciously allowed me to lead. It's not horrible. Just dense brush that takes a stern push. Pants recommended. Two areas had us questioning the route of the trail. Nothing to fret.

With a semi tough day under belt we skipped the main instalike Park Creek Falls side trip. Found a winner trail snack heading down. Bite of trail mix followed by a bite of apple. Woo doggie, good stuff! The trail had better than anticipated views. Doubt many Tonto Basin locals utilize their nearby trail options.

Crossed park creek just before getting back to the trailhead. Lol, a two minute hike would have delivered a stunning view!

Synopsis
Grateful to have had the opportunity to hike this loop. Swore it off repeatedly throughout the hike after seemingly never ending obstacles.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Sotol

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cypress Peak

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Altocumulus Floccus Sunset

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Not much left, nor likely what most would seek in prime. Nice yellow tree in distance on rugged southern mountain side noted heading down lower half of Park Trail. Imagine spring fed being a loner. Sycamores near lower TH probably put on a decent show in the last month, just huge crispy leaves on trail now.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Quarter mile of light daisies on upper FR524, with a hint of purple twice.

_____________________

- joe

Dec 14 2019

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,760

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Camp Reno - Cypress Peak - Park Trail, AZ

Hiking		Dec 14 2019
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	16.01 Miles	4,389 AEG

Hiking	16.01 Miles	9 Hrs 16 Mns		2.03 mph
	4,389 ft AEG	1 Hour 23 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

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Camp Reno

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Park Trail #66

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joebartels

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

We'd been wanting to hit up this area for awhile.

The road to this TH is accessible to any vehicle with clearance higher that a Civic. All bets are off when wet.

We arrived at the TH as two bow hunters were heading up the Park Trail #66. So we headed CCW to Camp Reno on the 409.

Camp Reno was less than exciting, but that itch is scratched. Interesting History, none the less.

We gained the first chunk of elevation on the steady climb up FR524 next to the noisy Reno Creek. Water everywhere.

We turned to the south, taking FR1694 to the end. Here's where the "Fun" began. 2.5 hours to climb 1000', over 2 miles. There were a few areas the were "kinda thick". The climb up the north side of Cypress Peak, looked a little daunting, but actually went quicker than anticipated. Lunch on top showed off nice 360 views of the area.

Cypress Peak - 5952

[ youtube video ]

The retreat to the South, then East was much nicer.

The Park Trail #66's upper TH would be very easy to miss w/o a track. This trail was flagged and even slightly trimmed in spots recently in the upper reaches. That ended after a bit. It's a brush push in spots and we lost it twice.

Short on time and not wanting/needing any more AEG, we skipped the side trip to the falls. Too bad, with all the water, I was looking forward to seeing them. A reason to go back I guess. The remainder of the trail was clear and in decent shape to the TH.

With all the steep up and steep down on this hike, knees were barking at the end of the day.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	Boulder Tank	51-75% full	51-75% full
	Appeared full from a distance

	Cloudburst Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Flowing quite well

	Corner Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Plenty of water in the area

Park Creek @ the Park Trail

Medium flow

Reno Creek @ Camp Reno

Medium flow

_____________________

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

May 03 2014

topohiker

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

AZT21/Reno Pass Loop - Mine Tour, AZ

Hiking		May 03 2014
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	30.10 Miles	6,265 AEG

Hiking	30.10 Miles	13 Hrs 50 Mns	2.84 mph
	6,265 ft AEG	3 Hrs 15 Mns Break

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Boulder Creek Trail

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

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I’m amazed at all the stuff there is out of the Bushnell tanks area. I spent the day exploring around the area.

Mines: Little Daisy Mine & Golden Rule Mine
I took FR23 to the Golden Rule and the Little Daisy Mine. There some mining processing machinery still at the Little Daisy mine.
The Little Daisy mine is big and choked with vegetation. I started to push through the vegetation and came across the mine guardian :scared:

. I heard a rattler, but couldn’t see where it came from

. I kindly apologized and retreated from the area.
There are a couple of other mines in the area, but nothing worth mentioning.

Reno Pass to the Edward’s park
I took FR524 to Reno Pass. I downloaded JJ’s MT Ord to Brown’s peak route. The fun began when the road ended and the off-trail began. The off-trail is not that hard, it just seems like it takes forever. Long pants might be good idea for this section. The vegetation is not thick, but it eventually starts to aggravate your legs. The warmer temps didn’t make the bushwhacking easy. Near the end I deviated from JJ’s route. I noticed that he went out his way to go to Cypress peak. I skipped that and went to a drainage to Bear spring. I did this to avoid an unnecessary climb and to reload on water. I was drinking water and an alarming rate with the sun exposed bushwhacking. Bear spring had no bears :lol:

, just a pool water. I filtered 3 liters and consumed 2 on the spot. I was never happier when I saw FR422 :y:

! If I do this cross-country again, I might redo the route to where I cut across to the Park Creek trail.

One thing I noticed is that my Delorme showed a road almost right next to JJ’s route. There is no evidence of a road out there.

I had a late lunch at the Edwards park. All the kids had gone home by the time I got there.

AZT21
I took the AZT to the 2nd corral and bushwhacked across boulder creek to the boulder tank and picked up a very old road. I took the old road around three more tanks and back to FR22.

It was a warm day. I had packed 7 liters of water and consumed 9 for the day. There was a nice cool breeze once I got above 4,500 feet. Once the sun dropped , the temps were cool-ish.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Automobile Remains/Wreckage

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Mar 06 2014

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Phoenix, AZ

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 06 2014
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Hiking	7.50 Miles	2,375 AEG

Hiking	7.50 Miles
	2,375 ft AEG

no routes

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	CannondaleKid	joebartels
	JuanJaimeiii

JJ and Joe started the monster hike at Slate Creek :worthy:

From there I took the JJ-mobile to Lone Pine TH.

Okay, if you're not surprised yet get ready... At Lone Pine TH I met the CannondaleKid and he drove us over to Reno Pass including a little boulder assault to avoid a strange road block on an open road

We checked out a mine while waiting for the monster hikers to show. Mark went in about 150 feet, me about 10 feet it was full of flies and I didn't want to see dead fred :scared:

JJ and Joe showed up 30 mins ahead of sched and we took off for Cypress Peak where Mark and I took a lunch break and watched the monsters descend to FR 422.

Headed back to the boulder climbing jeep - great to meet Mark and see JJ and Joe again. Saw one deer.

Thanks guys - I like days off work with new peaks :y:

_____________________

Mar 06 2014

CannondaleKid

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

75 male

Joined May 04 2004
Mesa, AZ

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Phoenix, AZ

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 06 2014
		CannondaleKid • Triplogs 2,411

Hiking	7.50 Miles	2,375 AEG

Hiking	7.50 Miles	5 Hrs 13 Mns		1.44 mph
	2,375 ft AEG		25 LBS Pack

no routes

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	joebartels	JuanJaimeiii
	mazatzal

Nice meeting Richard for the first time and nice to see JJ & Joe. (It was over 2 years ago I last hiked with JJ and 2-1/2 since my one-and-only hike with Joe)

The first part of the off-trail I lead the group at a JJ pace until I realized I was slowing and was holding JJ & Joe up so let them take the lead from there, which is when we all split up, JJ & Joe one way, Richard another and I took a third route. Although JJ & Joe seemed bound and determined to take the hard route we reconnected for a short segment before they left Richard and I in the dust again on the ascent of Cypress Peak.

The first half of the hike it was the fastest I'd hiked in years (I no longer have the need for speed) so we made up for it on the return, taking our sweet time.

Great day for a hike in the Mazatzals!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cypress Peak Four Peaks Mount Ord

_____________________

CannondaleKid

Mar 06 2014

joebartels

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

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Mount Ord to Browns Peak, AZ

Hiking		Mar 06 2014
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	34.06 Miles	10,848 AEG

Hiking	34.06 Miles	12 Hrs 46 Mns		2.81 mph
	10,848 ft AEG	39 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

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Mount Ord from Slate Creek TH

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Brown's Peak

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JuanJaimeiii

JJ got the bug to hike from Slate Creek, over Mount Ord, down to Cypress Peak then
up & down Brown's Peak.

Slate to Ord is the easiest 4k, yet the views heading up are worthy. The old road up is very smooth for hiking save one tiny rutted section. Stride is easy, you never raise your foot much and very little stabilizer muscle is used.

Ord to Cypress starts easy following the utility swath straight down. It is steep. We lucked out and didn't slip which we attributed to the soft ground from rain five days ago. We met Mark & Richard down at Reno Pass then hiked with them to Cypress. It's been a while since I'd seen Mark so it was great to cross paths again. The resilient duo gained a quarter mile lead in the blink of an eye. Never underestimate, never. The off-trail slowed us down as expected.

Cypress to Lone Pine started off as easy off-trail down to FR422 & Edwards Park. The road was a welcome sight. Overcast skies kept the sun off us most of the day. The humidity was noticeable. Temps were ten degrees cooler than expected. My frozen water wasn't thawing quick enough. Luckily jj made a cache trip yesterday. It was 9 miles away so my lack of planning made the rest of the hike more difficult than necessary.

After a nine minute break and the only five minutes I sat down all day it was time to hit up Brown's Peak. Doc Jaimie administered a chewy sweet tart and I felt mysteriously revived. Serious cramps made a debut with under a hundred feet to the top. That slowed us down a bit as I needed to hike down backwards to keep from flexing my legs.

The ride down El Oso nearly did me in. Not motion sickness, just dehydration or upset stomach. An hour or so later I ate a little and felt fine.

Several creeks along the upper hike had a lite flow. Picadilla Creek which is crossed twice on the El Oso drive were just puddles. All roads, save FR463, have been graded in the last week. They are as smooth as the terrain permits without modifying with gravel or such. FR463 albeit a mess of a road is among the most dense forest in the Mazzies!

Carried 3 quarts, consumed maybe 4. Five or six would have been optimal.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Not much yet. The higher elevations ( majority ) are not in season yet. Should be a good year too with the recent rains.

_____________________

- joe

Mar 06 2014

JuanJaimeiii

Routes 596
Photos 9,604
Triplogs 2,400

58 male

Joined Jan 30 2011
Chandler, AZ

Mount Ord to Browns Peak, AZ

Hiking		Mar 06 2014
		JuanJaimeiii • Triplogs 2,400

Hiking	34.06 Miles	10,848 AEG

Hiking	34.06 Miles	12 Hrs 46 Mns	2.81 mph
	10,848 ft AEG	39 Mns Break

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Mount Ord from Slate Creek TH

Cypress Peak 5952 - Mazatzal

Brown's Peak

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joebartels

Last time up Mt. Ord via Slate Creek I looked out at Four Peaks and pondered the idea of hiking from Ord to Browns Peak. Then one night when I had a little time on my hands I got on Route Editor and plotted it out. I sent the draft to Joe and Cannondale Kid (Mark) to review. Joe is the Route Editor King and Mark has spent considerable time in this area. Mark recommended a couple changes and suggested I hit Cypress Peak along the way. He also volunteered to help with a shuttle.

My plan was to hike it this past Saturday but rain would interfere. This worked to my favor because I was able to get Joe to join in for the adventure. We met just after 6:00am in Fountain Hills. From there we took my Jeep over to Four Peaks Road. This is where we met Richard (part of the shuttle crew). He would drive with us to Slate Creek and drop us off just before 7am. From there he would drive north and then take Hwy 188 back to El Oso Road and Drive my Jeep to the Lone Pine Trailhead. Mark met Richard there and then drove the two of them to Reno Pass.

Joe and I would make our way up to Mount Ord via Slate Creek. It was brisk and we were making good time. Once up top we descended down the other side to the south following a powerline trail. It was steep but moist ground made it manageable.

Around Mile 10 we would intersect the boys at Reno Pass where the 4 of us would hike up to Cypress Peak. It was great catching up with Mark as it's been awhile since I have seen him. Then the off trail came. Joe and I went up one ridge while they went up another. Brushy and steep was the name of the game here for the next mile or so. We leveled out and looked over and realized that they took the superior route. They were a good ways ahead of us. From here it was a quick ascent to the top of Cypress and off Joe and I went as the clock was ticking.

Once we reached the Forest Road it was much smoother sailing. The road was great but it offered a good workout along the way. The profile of our hike thru this section looks like a saw tooth with all its ups and downs.

It was a long haul but we made it to the Lone Pine Trailhead by 5pm. Here we took a quick 9 minute break and then continued to our destination. Feeling revived and alive we couldn't wait to summit Browns. One mile or so up the trail we were reminded by our bodies of the distance and elevation gain we had already covered. We slowed but reached the saddle in a respectable 44 minutes. Then the final way up the chute and we were on top of Browns in no time.

Up top the reward was worth the days effort. Four Peaks was making a shadow on Roosevelt Lake. The sun was setting in the west. It was amazing but it was no time to relax. We needed to get down and out of the chute while we still had daylight. Success!

From there it was an easy couple miles back to the Cherokee. What a killer hike this turned out to be!

Much thanks to Joe for joining in. Even more thanks to the two gents who helped make it possible with the shuttle set up. You guys RoCk!

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Teva

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

_____________________

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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