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Hospital Flat Campground - 1 member in 21 triplogs has rated this an average 3 ( 1 to 5 best )
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May 21 2025
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Cunningham SpurTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar May 21 2025
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking7.00 Miles 500 AEG
Hiking7.00 Miles
500 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Spur trail :next: Hawkings Trail :next: Hospital Flat :next: Grant Hill.
Solid afternoon of hiking.
No water to be found.
Bear sign all over Grant Hill.
:D
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May 15 2025
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar May 15 2025
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking5.00 Miles 550 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
550 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
It's high country season!
I always start with Grant Hill Loop on Graham.
Completed the clockwise outer loop followed by the Hospital Flat nature trail counter clockwise.
Felt so good to be hiking the top of the mountain again!
:D
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Oct 01 2024
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Oct 01 2024
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking5.00 Miles 500 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
500 ft AEG
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Partners none no partners
Full outer loop counter clockwise.
Aspens just starting to turn color.
Short stop at Hospital Flat.
Got a video of a black bear crossing the Swift Trail on the drive back down.
:D
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May 14 2024
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar May 14 2024
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking6.00 Miles 500 AEG
Hiking6.00 Miles
500 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Dirt road portion of the Swift Trail has been reopened for summer.
Hiked the Grant Hill inner loop to start.
This is a bad burn area and I knew it might be a mess from winter ... it was.
Actually...the first 2 miles was not that bad, but the western portion was a mess with lots of deadfall.
I hike this complex now for the overlooks and they were scenic as always!
I then drove to Hospital Flat for the nature trail, down the back trail over to Treasure Park and back over to Hospital to end.
I stayed at Hospital for the sunset.
It's May, but when that sun goes down at 9000 ft ... cold!
Wildlife - Too many deer to count and I stalked 3 gobblers at Treasure Park.
Fun day, always good to be back on top!
:D
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Mar 05 2024
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Swift Trail (State Hwy 366)Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Snowshoeing avatar Mar 05 2024
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Snowshoeing3.50 Miles 200 AEG
Snowshoeing3.50 Miles
200 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners partners
AddSanz
Probably my last snowshoe of the season on Graham?
We first hiked in on the closed dirt road portion of the Swifty down to the upper Hospital Flat meadow.
From there we snowshoed across the meadow to Hospital Flat and over the hill down to Treasure Park.
At Treasure Park we kicked it for an hour with a fire, burritos & chocolate bananas!
Then it was back up to where we parked completing a loop.
All the meadows are still covered with snow, the creeks are now becoming exposed with good snow melt flow & everything looked wonderful!
Am so happy we got this one done ... it will all be gone soon :(
And now we chase poppies!
:D
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Feb 22 2024
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Swift Trail (State Hwy 366)Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Snowshoeing avatar Feb 22 2024
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Snowshoeing4.00 Miles 300 AEG
Snowshoeing4.00 Miles
300 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Wanted to get another snow day in on top before it all starts to vanish.
Parked at the end of the black top and hiked in on the closed dirt road.
Walked the sludgy Swift Trail down to Hospital Flat where snowshoes then became mandatory.
First went across the big meadow :next: down to Hospital Flat :next: over to Treasure Park, had a warm up fire and lunch here :next: back up to the Swift Trail and back to where I parked.
All the roads down to the campgrounds and meadows are still fully covered in snow and looked beautiful!
All the creeks were flowing good with snow melt.
Ended the day at Ladybug Peak for sunset.

Just 4 miles, but snowshoeing it ... well that wore me out :sweat:
Awesome Day on Graham!
:D
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Sep 08 2023
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Sep 08 2023
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking6.00 Miles 600 AEG
Hiking6.00 Miles
600 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Was recently told the outer Grant Hill loop was cleared.
This whole complex was badly burnt by the Frye Fire.
Drove up to check it out with low expectations.
Wow! Not only has the entire outer loop been worked, but worked well!
This was a 40 man DOC group that not only cleared the trail, but widened & rerouted it in a good way to get around some of the bad burn areas ... they did a great job.
Enjoyed the entire loop, very green and beautiful throughout.
Almost felt like the old days before the Frye Fire ... almost.

With 2 hours of light left I stopped at Treasure Park for a road loop hike around the meadow and dinner on a nice stump I found.
Sunset was had at the Arrow Tree overlook.
Wildlife spotted - 10 white tails, 1 buck in velvet, 1 red squirrel, 3 Abert's & 1 skunk.

Great day, big thanks to the DOC crews that are keeping these upper trails alive, would be nice to see the Forest Service do something good up there ... anything!
:D
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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Jun 13 2023
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Cunningham SpurTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jun 13 2023
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking7.00 Miles 1,000 AEG
Hiking7.00 Miles
1,000 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners partners
AddSanz
Figure 8 - Cunningham Spur :next: Hawkins Trail #74 :next: Hospital Flat :next: Swift Trail :next: Grant Hill.
Plan was to get the newer Hawkins Trail connector completed, but a risky washed out gorge turned us around just before completing ... live to hike another day was the new plan.
Cunningham Spur - Great views across the valley and up to the Large Binocular Telescope.
Hawkins Trail - Newest Graham connector trail needs some touch up work, like a bridge over to the Big Creek Trail. We off-trailed down the canyon over to Hospital Flat.
Hospital Flat - Very green and beautiful with a light creek flow.
Swift Trail - Took around to Grant Hill.
Grant Hill - We took the shorter outer loop to the big overlook. Overlook was windy, but with very clear sky views south out to Dos Cabezas, Wilcox Playa & the Chiricahuas.
Wildlife along the way - 4 white tails, hawks, buzzards, Abert's squirrel, ground nest with 4 of the smallest bird eggs I have ever seen & bear poo ... lot's of bear poo!
Thank You Addie & Graham!
:D
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Apr 18 2023
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Swift Trail (State Hwy 366)Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Apr 18 2023
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking4.50 Miles 300 AEG
Hiking4.50 Miles
300 ft AEG
 no routes
The upper back portion of the Swift Trail reopens this Friday the 21st.
One of my favorite trips every year is to hike the road pass the locked gate before the summer crowds move in.
We took the road first up to Grant Hill then made our way down and through the campgrounds.
Always so cool seeing and having this whole area all to ourselves.
Still some big snow patches here and there and all the creeks were flowing good with snow melt.
Hot chocolate & strawberries was our break at Treasure Park before hiking back up to the start.
Lots of wildlife spotted including 10 deer, 12 turkey and a lone Abert's squirrel.
It was a good day on the Graham!
:D
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Jun 07 2022
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
High Peak Road #507Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jun 07 2022
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking6.00 Miles 1,000 AEG
Hiking6.00 Miles
1,000 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Hot down in the Valley, cool up on the mountain ... I'm going up the mountain!
One of my routine loops, but for how long?
Parked at #507 road.
Up High Peak Rd with rest stops at the first & second meadows.
The road up was nice and both meadows looked great.
Then down Big Creek Trail.
What a mess the first mile down. Total burn area with ton's of fallen trees, new aspens growing on the trail & flood damage. My first time ever wishing I wasn't on this trail. The lower mile section is now full of log teepee's some burnt others waiting. The trail has also been cleared of all tree growth, but they cut them down to 4-6 inch stumps. Why do they do this, massive tripping hazards all the way down the trail. Looks more like a logging site now then a forest trail. I miss the old Big Creek Trail!
I then made a short visit down to Hospital Flat where I met the head of the Safford Forest Service and the Trails & Rec Director. Good talk and they told me that the campground will reopen this summer after being closed the last 4 years.
The Swift Trail brought me back to the start ending perhaps my last time hiking this loop ... wildfires suck!
:)
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Moderate
It's picking up.
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May 27 2022
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Cunningham SpurTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar May 27 2022
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking4.00 Miles 800 AEG
Hiking4.00 Miles
800 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Well I screwed a little of my plan up today.
Drove up and hiked the Spur Trail to get the cords/mileage on the new Hawkins Trail #74 connector to make a description. Here is the short, I lost my info ... will have to go back up again another time.
Anyways, I hiked the Spur Trail :next: took Hawkins to Big Creek :next: then across Hospital Flat and a tad down the Nature Trail :next: up to Grant Hill where I had parked.
Not much water flowing right now on top, the meadows are greening up nicely, not another person spotted on the trails, 80 degree sunny blue skies with a cool breeze & the wildlife was hiding today.
On the drive back down the mountain I must have passed 50 vehicles going up for the holiday weekend, including Game & Fish, DPS and 2 fire crews.
Fun times on Graham!
:D
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Light
Wildflowers are picking up.
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Nov 12 2021
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Cunningham SpurTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Nov 12 2021
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking5.00 Miles 600 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
600 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
One last hike up on top before the Nov 15th seasonal road closure.
Chose Cunningham for the scenic overlook views.
Half way up I encountered a new FS trail head sign ... what?
Hawkins Trail No. 74, a new connector trail linking Cunningham over the mountain to Big Creek ... cool!
Took the new trail over and down to Hospital Flat.
Had a close encounter with a bobcat walking the meadow then noticed a couple G&F bobcat traps set up. Not sure what's going on here ... rabies or just removing a few. There have been a lot of bobcats on top the last few years.
I then hiked over and a little ways down some of Grant Hill where I found 2 more bobcat traps.
Highlight of my day was meeting 2 of the FS Trails & Rec girls at Hospital Flat. We had a good talk and I got some good info on future plans for the mountain.
I had a good day!
:D
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  3 archives
Jul 06 2020
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jul 06 2020
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking4.20 Miles 300 AEG
Hiking4.20 Miles
300 ft AEG
 no routes
With Snow Flat closed because of logging I had to go with Plan B ... and I had no Plan B.
Threw together a loop I have though about for some time using a little of all the linked trails starting from Grant Hill. It worked out great and I got to see some new forest never seen.
Wildlife was great today - Chased 4 turkeys across Hospital Flat then had a family of skunks follow me down Grant Hill a few yards away and in turn I then followed them for about 100 yards, one of the coolest animal experiences I've ever had!
One white tail doe on the drive home ... almost forgot, another Red squirrel encounter.
:D
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  1 archive
Apr 06 2020
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Swift Trail (State Hwy 366)Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Apr 06 2020
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking4.25 Miles 500 AEG
Hiking4.25 Miles
500 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
My annual hike down the backside closed portion (foot travel allowed) of the Swift Trail before it reopens April 15.
Treasure Park - Arrived down to the meadow to find 50+ turkeys trotting around ... wow! Not much snow left here, but lots of snow melt flowing down the creek so I added Big Creek to the hike.
Big Creek Falls - Heaviest water flow I've ever seen down the canyon! Did not make it down to the big falls, became just a bit too dangerous for my liking. I then climbed over to Hospital Flat.
Hospital Flat - Still lots of big snow patches along the southeastern slopes and more big snow melt flowing down this canyon as well.
Swift Trail back to the start.
Everything looked wonderful today and I had it all to myself.
Took in a great sunset at the Arrow Tree overlook 8/10
6 deer headlighted on the drive back down.
:D
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Sep 16 2019
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Hospital Flat Nature TrailTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Sep 16 2019
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking5.00 Miles 350 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
350 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
T'was a good day on top!
:D
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Jun 17 2019
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Grant Hill LoopTucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jun 17 2019
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking5.00 Miles 500 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
500 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Outer loop returning on the middle loop.
Rest break at Hospital Flat.
Swift Trail back to #507 where I parked.
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Jun 03 2019
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
High Peak Road #507Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Jun 03 2019
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking3.80 Miles 642 AEG
Hiking3.80 Miles
642 ft AEG
 no routes
Up High Peak :next: Down Big Creek :next: Over to Hospital Flat :next: Swift Trail to High Peak to complete the loop.
Lots of deer along the trails (8-10).
Lots of yellow sunflowers.
Hammock hang at the High Peak meadow, aspen leaves almost all in.
Lots of burn, lots of flood damage ..... but a nice walk through the woods (where it was green).
:?
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Oct 08 2018
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
High Peak Road #507Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Oct 08 2018
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking6.50 Miles 1,000 AEG
Hiking6.50 Miles
1,000 ft AEG
 no routes
Partners none no partners
Drove up to the top of Graham as the first snow of the season was falling.
9am temps at 9000 feet was 32 degrees, full winter clothing was needed.
I chose an all-time favorite loop for this first snowy day.
Up High Peak Rd :next: down Big Creek Trail :next: across Hospital Flat :next: Swift Trail back to High Peak Rd.
Light snow fell as I hiked through the clouds many times on the upper trail.
Light snow turned to rain on the lower trails.
I got to view some of the new burn areas not yet seen and it was more hard punches to the gut, but also hauntingly beautiful covered in a light dusting of white.
The aspens were a mix of green, yellow and bare. They just don't look right this year, something is off and I'm not sure why ..... the fire, early cold?
Had many deer sightings on the trails and drive, counted a total of 17 for the day.
It was good to be back on top of the mountain after a year long break!
:D
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Light
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Sep 18 2017
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
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55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Frye Fire 2017 Aftermath, AZ 
Frye Fire 2017 Aftermath, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Sep 18 2017
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking11.00 Miles 1,500 AEG
Hiking11.00 Miles
1,500 ft AEG
 no routes
1st trip
On Thursday 9/14 the top portion of the Swift Trail (366) was opened back up to the public.
This was the first opportunity for the Gila Valley residents to drive up and view the effects from the Frye Fire.

I drove up and parked at High Peak road. Completed a big loop to & through the above linked trails/campgrounds.

I've only got 2 thoughts -

#1 - The fire was good for the overall future health and growth of the Pinaleno Mountain range for the decades and more to come, I do not deny that fact.

#2 - For myself ..... the 40+ year hiker, backpacker, camper, fisherman & photographer of this magnificent mountain range ..... I am totally devastated and heartbroken by the destruction I viewed on top.
The Pinalenos will never be the same for the rest of my life.
I am shook, I am bitter & I am angry, but I am also very thankful that I got to see and share with my family and friends the incredible beauty of what once was. There will be many more great memories made on this mountain ..... just in a different way now and in different locations.
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  1 archive
Mar 16 2017
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 Guides 4
 Photos 4,732
 Triplogs 2,607

55 male
 Joined Sep 29 2004
 Small Town USA
Mount Graham 10,720Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Mar 16 2017
SkyIslander18Triplogs 2,607
Hiking8.00 Miles 1,100 AEG
Hiking8.00 Miles
1,100 ft AEG
 no routes
Perfect day to be on top of the mountain!
A variation of a loop I did last October.
The snow is now disappearing fast on top.
All of the creeks and drainages were flowing good with snow melt.
Approx 25% of this hike was in snow.
Most of my route was past the closed winter gate and I saw not a person the entire hike.
Only wildlife sighting the entire day was on the drive back down the mountain where I saw a rooster walking down the Swift Trail at the Coronado sign ..... What The :pk: True story :lol:
:D
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