|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 3.00 Miles |
131 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.00 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 1.00 mph |
| 131 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Been going out a good bit recently above Lake Pleasant with the 4wd and the topos. Humbug Creek, Fort Tule, Black Cave, Petroglyphs, connecting Cow Creek through Table Mesa, etc. Another POI on my list were the Ruins on Tule Creek and the old Ghost Town of Columbia. Exploring the trails and tapping into the GPS we made it down a road headed towards Columbia. At a gate a couple miles from target, a man heading the same direction stopped and asked what we were looking for. When I said "Columbia," he asked, "Why in tarnation for?"
I responded, "Because it's on the map."
He chuckled and said he was the caretaker and come on and follow him.
When we reached the Columbia site, he gave us the short story tour and asked if we were going to attempt the hill. From where we were we could see a disabled vehicle half way up the switchbacks glinting sunlight back at us. We s'plored around a bit and then crossed Humbug Creek and began heading up the hill in question towards Tip Top. There were gobs of mines along the way and we stopped near a few for pics of old equipment and the view. The vehicle turned out to be an old Subaru that had pretty much busted all of his front suspension in the rutted old road. We reached the top and then headed down until we reached the beginning of Tule Creek. We ate a nice lunch and then began the hike.
Only a few minutes into the hike, we came upon a ruin almost grown over by brush. As small as it was, it couldn't have been to comfortable but at least it had a chimney.
We continued on through the sometimes vegetation choked creek bed. The constant route finding added a good deal to the time and overall distance. There was still some water in some parts of the creek. We scared up 15+ Javalinas on our way in. We reached one of the main ruins and were happy to spot the other two structures across the creek a little further downstream. After poking around for a bit, we began hiking back since we had evening engagements in town. We would've liked to continue on to Tip Top and down through Table Mesa, but we needed to get back so we drove back down the switchbacks the way we came, smoking brakes and all. |
| _____________________
May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
Armchair Crisis Design |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
