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| Backpack | 45.00 Miles |
11,100 AEG |
| | Backpack | 45.00 Miles | 4 Days | | |
| 11,100 ft AEG | | 40 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | 3.5 Days:
Broke trail down the New Hance, it appears several had walked to the head of the trail and turned around after finding it unbroken. I hit all the right moves. The trail was seldom seen for the first two hours, and spotty all the way to the Redwall. Drifts up to 2 feet, but surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all until below the Coconino. Very little ice but a lot of snow, I'm glad I had my yaktrax.
Hit the river, found the beach empty - but no time to waste. Climb back up and head for Hance Creek. Along the way I am hobbled by leg cramps, too much for my body in one day after lack of training for this trip due to illness and other issues. Made it to Hance by 9PM. The moon was my guide, didn't really use the headlamp.
Day 2: Climbed up the Miners Spring route to an empty Horseshoe Mesa, and down to Cottonwood. My quads are still complaining, badly, and I'm making poor time. I consider camping at Cottonwood, but press on for Grapevine. Spent a beautiful, but cold night in Grapevine next to the creek.
Day 3: Hobble my way along to the Tonto, pausing at Lonetree to collect water. The going is good until I get to Cremation. What the hell happened to the nice Tonto trail as you near Cremation? It's like someone from an insane asylum took over trail routing. I think I will try Butchart's route next time, if ever, and avoid the mess.
Day 4: Out the South Kaibob with the hiker shortcut, 3.5 hours to the rim from starting. Legs somewhat better. Hiked to highway 64 and continue for about a mile until I finally hitched a ride with some lovely German exchange students back to my car.
Updated water report for this last weekend:
Red Canyon: water flowing mid canyon where the trail comes down, however it dries up a mile before the beach.
Hance Creek: Mild flow @ Tonto crossing, not as strong as the last time I was there in previous years, but should be good for at least several weeks, I would guess.
Cottonwood: Mild flow of main west fork (last 3/4 mile of Cottonwood trail to the Tonto), not as strong as the last time I was there, but should be good for at least several weeks, I would guess. Main east fork barely a trickle and would be difficult to collect with a filter, impossible with a bottle.
Grapevine: Good Flow in a western side-tributary and the main west fork is flowing very strongly, east fork was dry. Grapevine was the winner for the most water, by far.
Burro: Dry
Boulder: There are 2 small shallow puddles downstream of the trail crossing, one is almost fully evaporated, the other won't last more than a week. I didn't walk upcanyon to check, but didn't see anything promising from looking at it from the Tonto. Others with more experience describe it as likely, but from my perspective it didn't appear promising unless one was willing to hike at least a half hour upcanyon.
Lonetree: Slight flow, a bit more than a trickle, but there are big pools at the trail crossing.
Cremation Forks: Dry, dry, and dry. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Lonetree Creek - GC |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Slight flow, a bit more than a trickle, but there are big pools at the trail crossing. |
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Page Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| | | Seeping nicely |
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Red Canyon Creek - GC |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | water flowing mid canyon where the trail comes down, however it dries up a mile before the beach. | | _____________________
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Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife! |
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