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| Hiking | 3.34 Miles |
696 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.34 Miles | 1 Hour 27 Mns | | 2.30 mph |
| 696 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I don't like leaving unfinished business, so off my wife and I went. Stopped at the Filiberto's /Shell just inside Wickenburg on Hwy 60 for a chorizo breakfast burrito. (Guy in line behind me, said he was getting a meal deal, said a menudo and "this", and showed me a roll of TP.  ) Big, *hot*, and mmm-mmm good. Too bad I did not notice the grease I was dripping down my jacket and pants as me and the wife ventured south on Vulture Mine Rd. 
After I showed her where to wait for me (the Vulture Peak alternate jeep trail where I parked on New Year's), and the actual trailhead potty, we doubled back so I could start from where Barrett and I started before Pam's Peak Party.
I had found a map that purported to show the arch's location ( http://www.myfathersretirementranch.com ... 15_0_1.pdf ), but it was blurry. So I had zoomed MapDex to the same scale, traced a likely route, and took that with me.
I had a suspicion that Barrett and I may have been one wash too far, so when I got to the first saddle, and saw a cairn, and a very faint trail east, I turned up that. (But not until I peed on a cholla ... turn about is fair play!) That takes you into the wash immediately south of Hill 3245T. (What's up with the "T"?) I was walking slow and scanning the ridgeline north and south, but saw nothing. After a couple hundred yards, the wash splits in two at a small knob. I went right. I was not seeing anything north of me, so I figured the arch had to be the ridge south of me. Up I went, needing to do a little scrambling the final 50 feet or so. Got up, looked around, and saw nothing other than steep downness. I figured the arch *had* to be to my right, further up the ridge, so down I went, towards the wash Barrett and I had searched around. (I butt scooted in some spots, and lost my water bottle along the way, so if anybody finds it next time, I apologize.  ) I was scanning back up the ridge when I saw a very distinctive, and large, crack in the rock. Comparing that to azpride's red-line photo, I knew the arch was to the crack's immediate left, as I looked north. I took a few steps over, and ... BANGO! (As the great Eddie Doucette used to say.) But I could see where the arch revealed itself more if viewed from it's right, than from it's left (where Barrett and I had been), due to its angle in the rock.
The arch's grid coordinates are N 33o54.055' W 112o49.213' . (I can't figure out how to get my 60csx to display in digital lat & long).
* From BaseCamp ... lat 33.900917 long -112.820218
I then exfiltrated down the wash towards where my wife was waiting. There is actually a cairned trail that way as well, so every so often I would stop, take a photo back up trail, and put a waypoint on my GPS, so as to create an alternate route to the arch for those who might care to give it a try. I think it might actually be easier to find that way. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
After enjoying the views of the beautiful clouds coming in, we packed up and headed back on a much more straightforward path. Beautiful day out exploring a new area with great people! 
. How do they survive?). Anyway, the trail reached a low lying saddle and shortly after "Y"ed. Following this "left trail", put a wash to the right of me and a large hill/small mountain to the left. (It is this mountain where Dana's Arch is located). This trail follows the contours of the mountain, eventually entering a wash and heading in an eastward direction. I was only in the wash for a short time (a 100 feet maybe) before cairns were directing me out. I followed several more cairns up a hill until I lost them. I kept gazing around trying to find the next cairn to see where the trail went. After I stopped looking for the cairns and started looking at my surroundings, I realized that Dana's Arch was right in front of me. 
I did a short scramble up the side of the hill and then scaled to the top via a surprisingly large crevice, at the base and to the right of the arch. I wandered around the top for a bit. The rock (limestone?) had all kinds of nooks, crevices and caves to admire. While I was up there I scoped out the surrounding area. Saw what I believe was another trail and then in another area a large cairn, perhaps part of the trails that Kingsnake described in his log. Weather was perfect! Cloudy with a slight breeze. Surprisingly, didn't see any wildlife, except 1-2 lizards.
However, on the other side of the boulders, there's a Trail and a very defined one at that... 
