French Joe Canyon - Whetstone Mtns • Canyon Trip • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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mamakatt22

Ginny and I drove down to the whetstone Mountains to hike in French Joe Canyon. The Whetstones are one of Arizona's least visited mountains, there are no roads or trails going into these mountains only a few jeep trails going partially in. The jeep trail up to our starting point was rough and rocky the going was slow, definitely want to do it on an empty bladder. This is an area I have been to a couple times before and have never seen another person, although it is visited by others, hunters, campers and probably like me hikers. It is also used by illegals as evident by some clothes left behind. If you are into geology this is the place to go, it has the most complete sections of Pre Cambrian, Cambrian and Paleozoic rocks. We hiked up stream until the brush got too thick to push our way through and didn't want to continue up in the stream as it would of required us getting wet. Great hike and Ginny's second hike in her new boots.

French Joe creek had a light flow, most of it coming rom a side canyon just upstream from French Joe Spring and heads toward the peak called the Cape. There appears to be a faint trail up French Joe Creek creek not sure who uses it, a few hikers, animals and possible illegals (as evident by the clothes scattered about) The trail was welcome whatever it's source. We turned around where we lost the trail and the brush got really thick, Probably followed in the creek bed. Would be interesting to Know if it continues on upstream from this choke point. About 100 yards upstream of where we turned around is a canyon coming in from the south and appears to have a large waterfall. Maybe when the creek dries a little I will check it out. Not real sure if the trail would go too much further up because the creek runs up against the steep slopes of the Whetstone Mountains. That brings up a question as to why the illegals would use this canyon if it is a dead end?

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bolsa Quartzite

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	French Joe Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	The creek had a light flow, not sure where the actual spring is.

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1 archive

Mar 03 2013

MAVM

Guides 1
Routes 43
Photos 666
Triplogs 78

60 male

Joined Mar 15 2012
Sonoita, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 03 2013
		MAVM • Triplogs 78

Hiking	2.81 Miles	904 AEG

Hiking	2.81 Miles	1 Hour 56 Mns		2.08 mph
	904 ft AEG	35 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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Whetstone Mountains - French Joe Canyon

My wife Tresa and I took an impromptu afternoon jaunt over to the Whetstone Mountains ... meandering slowly up the rocky 4x4 route toward French Joe Canyon. Though listed in the description as Canyoneering, this is NOT necessarily the case - and was far from our aim on such a warm and pleasant winter's afternoon in the high chaparral of Cochise County.

The Whetstone Mountains have quite a few undocumented (HAZ) hiking potentials from one end of the range to the other ... hoping to make it back into this oft overlooked Madrean Sky Island for an extended outing to document one of them sometime soon.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Juniper

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	French Joe Spring	Dry	Dry
	Dry as it was last year ... seems to be a long abandoned source.

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The MaNtiS - Assume & be Damned!
http://www.mavm.com

Jan 06 2013

GrottoGirl

Guides 3
Routes 569
Photos 11,976
Triplogs 1,634

50 female

Joined Sep 18 2009
Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 06 2013
		GrottoGirl • Triplogs 1,634

Hiking	3.50 Miles	1,180 AEG

Hiking	3.50 Miles	4 Hrs 53 Mns	1.54 mph
	1,180 ft AEG	2 Hrs 37 Mns Break

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RedwallNHops

Gary took us on a bushwhack to pay us back for the beating he took on Valentine Peak (just kidding)! We didn't really have an agenda so we just took the canyon bottom for a while. We saw lots of tracks in the canyon bottom.

At some point we started up towards some cliffs with the thought that just maybe we'd make it to the ridge line. We scrambled up some of the cliffs, plowed our way through brush, got stabbed by cactus, crawled over and under trees, and slid down snowy/icy slopes. It was great!

We stopped a a pour off at the top of a shear cliff that looked over the canyon and had our lunch. Then we continued to tried to go upwards but finally decided that the brush was just too thick. Gary said that there had been a fire there, so that probably accounted for the thick underbrush. We'd try next time on the south facing slope where there was less veg.

On the way down, the brush tried to steal my Pringles! I cried out in dismay as I saw many chips laying on the steep slope. Worried that I was hurt, Gary rushed back and saw my dilemma. He shook his head and immediately started to help with the clean up and snacking! From then on I had to scramble down the steep hillside holding my Pringles can in one hand while using the other hand to get down.

We were shocked to find someone's truck at the TH.

Part of the adventure was the drive in and out. We took in two vehicles to be safe. Amazingly, the Outback made it! That is one rough road!

I can't wait to go back!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Parry's Agave

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Rides

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Named place [ checklist ]

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Jan 06 2013

RedwallNHops

Guides 1
Routes 269
Photos 613
Triplogs 1,360

50 male

Joined Dec 22 2003
Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 06 2013
		RedwallNHops • Triplogs 1,360

Hiking	3.50 Miles	1,180 AEG

Hiking	3.50 Miles	4 Hrs 53 Mns	1.54 mph
	1,180 ft AEG	2 Hrs 37 Mns Break

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GrottoGirl

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Apr 17 2012

MAVM

Guides 1
Routes 43
Photos 666
Triplogs 78

60 male

Joined Mar 15 2012
Sonoita, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Canyoneering		Apr 17 2012
		MAVM • Triplogs 78

Canyoneering	3.36 Miles	1,023 AEG

Canyoneering	3.36 Miles	2 Hrs 19 Mns		2.04 mph
	1,023 ft AEG	40 Mns Break	14.5 LBS Pack

Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use

A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit

II - Normally requires a half day

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I had put this route on my wish list with the intention of doing a reconnaissance type of outing like this. My main intent was to witness the possibility of bagging Apache Peak 7711' - the highest point in the Whetstone range - as a Solo single day hike.

It appears that it is quite doable with an early start, as round trip travel time to the the Trail-head from Sierra Vista is only 2'30" - 2'45". All accounts of bagging Apache Peak I've encountered refer to a 12+ mile up-and-back hike from the Western slope with extended travel to embark. The route as I see it from the Eastern slope is roughly an 8+ mile round trip. Of course it's all about the slope at the peak's base, etc. - should be a non-technical hike / peak-bagging some time soon... Avg. Grade 56.7% - GPS Route Available.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Parry's Agave

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Rides

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Apache Peak 7711 - Whetstone Mtns High Point

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

French Joe Spring

Dry

_____________________

The MaNtiS - Assume & be Damned!
http://www.mavm.com

2 archives

Nov 03 1995

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,348

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Apache Peak 7711 - Whetstone Mtns High Point

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		Nov 03 1995
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,348

Hiking	8.00 Miles	2,750 AEG

Hiking	8.00 Miles
	2,750 ft AEG

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