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| | | Hassayampa River Wilderness, AZ | | | |
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Hassayampa River Wilderness, AZ
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| Hiking | 13.01 Miles |
1,830 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.01 Miles | 9 Hrs 58 Mns | | 1.42 mph |
| 1,830 ft AEG | 48 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Driving in, the road took an interesting hard left into a wash that was still wet and torn from recent storms. I was questioning if I was on the correct road at this point, considering I've never been here before. GPS map and my position confirmed I was good and kept going. 4x4 was comforting to have with the soft wet sand. It got better the last half mile. Upon parking and getting out of the jeep, I was greated by a dog coming out of the ranch. Little did I know this guy was going to hang out with me the whole trip!
It was a short walk down to the river. Seeing how wide it was had me a bit concerned, I did not want to get very wet and have soaked boots since I planned on exploring the desert around this area. I found a shallow, but wide, enough area to cross. I stayed as much as I could on the side I made it to, knowing the trail's access would be here. About 2 miles downstream, through thick overgrown bushes and low hanging trees, I came to the Needle trail. I went back to the river to hang for a bit before climbing out. "Quickly" I found out about quick sand. I so happened to step on a spot that swallowed my whole right leg up to my inner thigh. Luckily a small tree was within reaching distance. I was able to slowly pull myself out, trying to not lose my boot. I can feel the vacuum pulling it off. Success, I was out, but now fully wet and muddy. Oh well, so much for staying dry.
I got on the Needle trail and headed up. Passing patches of wildflowers, this part of the trail was very colorful. It was an easy accent, though losing the trail was just as easy at each small ridge summit where cattle have trampled and soiled the grounds. I had to use GPS to confirm my route.
The trail ended at what I think was either the Roy Waits or Fools Canyon trail, regardless, I head South Westish on it down to a sandy wash. Cattle here too have marked it heavy. Soon the Slaughterhouse trail appeared.
At first this trail was tricky to navigate, as it completely dissapears and even with GPS you don't see it, it is more of a route heading up. When getting to the ridge, the views open up looking down into the river wilderness. The trail was easier to follow at this point. When I was down in its sandy bottom wash, there was interesting colors showing on the edges. Deep rusty reds, bright solid white and even teal blue dirt was exposed. I even saw a Gila Monster strolling down the wash. Being that was the first time seeing one in the wild made my day.
When I got back down to the river, I was feeling good. But the trek back up river soon wore that feeling out. The river was wide, so either it was walking in the water or in the overgrown brush on the sides. Being in the water wasn't bad, until it was deep and quick. The brush on the sides posed its difficulty with a labyrinth of impenetrable dead ends or thorny "wait a minute" shrubs. I left the canyon bottom a few times to see if the desert was better. Its wasn't. Thicker denser and thornier plants awaited along with surprise drops. So I went back down and just settled with the crossings, brush and river rocks. Reflecting back, it wasn't really that bad, it was just my feet were done with the wet, grit and rocks.
I made it back to the jeep, said goodbye to the amazing trail dog that hung with me the whole time and listened to the ranch goats nearby scream in their interesting way.
As I drove out, the road seemed much easier. I thought about what I explored and experienced. Even though some sections were tough, a lot was beautiful. I reminded myself, that was a wilderness. It sure was. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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The word Hassayampa is an old Indian word that means “the river that flows upside down.” All tributaries on the west side of the Bradshaws flow into the Hassayampa.
