North Slope Trail - Saguaro NP • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

[ checklist ] Arizona Black Rattlesnake Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

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End of payment Drive to TH
After a minute of washboard, it's a series of corkscrew turns to gain elevation. After miles of wavy rock road, it turns into moguls. Finally, a sense of sanity for a mile or two passing Bellota Ranch, and you're at the trailhead.

Italian Spring Trail #95
The first 5.25 mi won't excite most. I think it's pretty cool on the edge of the Sonoran Desert with a different vegetation feel versus the outskirts of Phoenix.

Reached a creek crossing at about 5.1 miles, there's well over a hundred gallons of water. A larger pool in an unnamed tributary just 0.15 mi further to the next ravine. 7.2 mi up, you start getting shade and sanity if it's a hot day.

0.25 mi to the NPS gate, I noticed mica often on the trail.

Ferns were waist-high at Italian Spring. It started to sprinkle with calm waves of light rain to follow.

North Slope Trail - Saguaro NP
Only on this for its upper 0.5 mi. Satellite shows the east is torched. At least four fires, but it seemed trivial to me; most of this stretch is pine-covered.

Fire Loop Trail - Mica
Only on this for 0.35 mi. Notable for this out-and-back because the top is the high point at ~8607 ft.

Mica Mountain Trail
Have always taken this trail because it's the shortest distance to Manning Camp. It's not as nice as Jacinto or Big Bear, but seems as nice as Mount Baldy IMO.

Return
Expecting to see people at Manning Camp, I turned the sound off on RS earlier on Fire Loop, figuring I knew the rest of the hike by memory. Realized I was off-trail 0.2 mi up Cow Head Saddle Trail. Instead of heading back, I cut through the forest over a small rise.

Noticed evidence of large bears that ate large seeds. Perhaps hackberry seeds, as one was loaded with berries in various ripening stages.

It rained very lightly for maybe an hour total. Luckily, it was all in the pines and diffused because I ditched the umbrella. Only a couple of claps of thunder.

The Catalinas got pounded with squalls throughout the afternoon.

It was a light rain for the last couple of miles, so the hottest part of the hike never surfaced.

Synopsis
Furthest I've ventured solo since May 2020. This is one of my favorite hikes in Arizona. 2 months shy of 10 years since the good ol' days ended.

Almost in shape for lion season...

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Banana Yucca

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Carolyn's Creek Italian Spring Manning Camp Manning Camp Spring South Fork of Carolyn's Creek

	Carolyn's Creek	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	About 50 gallons, super clear with just a trickle of water I didn't notice this on the hike up, even though I heard it through Route Scout. On the return Route Scout mentioned it again. I looked and saw rain hitting the pool of water.

	Italian Spring	Dry	Dry
	I could not find any pooled water or any trickling water where the seep is notched out of the mountain, as MacEwen describes. The only moisture in the area was from a recent sprinkle.

_____________________

- joe

Oct 07 2022

GrangerGuy

Guides 34
Routes 138
Photos 931
Triplogs 111

68 male

Joined Dec 26 2018
Phoenix, AZ

Saguaro NP to Molino Basin, AZ

Hiking		Oct 07 2022
		GrangerGuy • Triplogs 111

Hiking	36.88 Miles	8,499 AEG

Hiking	36.88 Miles	3 Days 2 Hrs 12 Mns
	8,499 ft AEG		27 LBS Pack

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10 linked trail guides

Redington Pass - AZT #10

Hope Camp Trail

Quilter Trail

[ checklist ] Barrel Cactus Coral Bean Desert Cotton Hummingbird Trumpet Morning glory Showy goldeneye Skunkbush Spiny hackberry Spotted knapweed

Bellota Trail #15

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In support of the Arizona Trail in a Day fundraiser for the AZT, I volunteered for a segment in the middle of the Saguaro Wilderness. This meant a day walking into the starting point, and two days walking out from the finishing point. As a reminder, walking across the park requires paying a park fee or having an appropriate pass.

Hope Camp Trail
I started at the Loma Alta Trailhead of the Hope Camp Trail. There is a short section of dirt road passable by any car and good parking here. I was surprised there is no outhouse here. This is a popular weekday trailhead for people doing day hikes, apparently. Hope Camp Trail is wide and pretty flat. At about 2.3 miles I met the AZT and …

Quilter Trail
Named after Jake Quilter, an enthusiastic trailworker, who died suddenly while doing trail work. Info on him: [ John "Jake" Quilter ] . According to trail signs, Quilter Trail from Hope Camp Trail to Manning Camp Trail is 5.5 miles, although I measured it at 4.6. It’s always tough to get these right. There was good water where the trail enters the wilderness boundary, at The “Quilter Trail – 1.35mi Water Crossing”. At a signpost pointing right to the abandoned Madrona Camp, begins the …

Manning Camp Trail
Continuing northeast on the Manning Camp Trail, I encountered at seasonal stream flowing cheerfully at several gallons per minute at N 32.1787° W -110.60955°. This trail is flagged for maintenance. It looks like the park service will soon be fixing many places where the trail has become a stream. Thank you, NPS! About 2.3 miles from the Quilter Trail, there is an intersection with the Douglas Spring Trail going off to the left. This intersection is a little confusing. From here the trail heads east and south. The sky was darkening, and rumbling, and I could see I was going to get wet, so I quickened my pace a little to Grass Shack Spring Camp, arriving and getting my tent set up just as it started to rain. Note that camping here requires a paid reservation at Recreation.gov, but it is a nice camp, with good bear boxes that make great tables, and a really nice outhouse. The camp is 3 miles past the end of the Quilter Trail, or 10 miles from the Loma Alta Trailhead.

Saturday morning, I began my commitment to Arizona Trail in a Day, leaving camp around 6:15 am. In 4.6 miles, arrived at Manning Camp, another place where you could camp after making the reservation at Recreation.gov. This camp is a backcountry camp for maintenance and fire crews, and is really well appointed with faucets delivering running water, giant wood furniture, picnic tables, solar showers, cabins, covered corrals, and a propane stove that would serve dozens. It’s a puzzle to me why there isn’t a circle drawn around this place excluding it from the wilderness. No one was around. I enjoyed a hot lunch (using my own stove) at their picnic table, and then continued NE on the …

South Fire Loop Trail
You only go about 0.1 mile on this trail before it bears off to the right, with the AZT / Mica Mountain Trail continuing straight.

Mica Mountain Trail
A quarter mile up this trail, I encountered something I had never seen before, a chronolog.io photo stand. The idea here is you set your camera on the stand and take a picture, which you email to their upload site and they add it to their time lapse photo series. Unfortunately, at 8000’, my brain doesn’t work quite so good, and I am “icon-challenged” in any case,

so I put my camera on the stand backwards. If you are in doubt, take pictures both ways and sort it out when you get home. At 1.5 miles from Manning Camp, I took the short detour left on…

North Fire Loop Trail
… arriving at the summit of Mica Mountain, my high point for the trip. Then back the way I came to the intersection with the Mica Mountain Trail. There is quite the trail network up here, and the trail labeling is imperfect up here, and people have scratched edits on the signs so you don’t lose the AZT. Mostly I was following my GPS, so I had no issue. I continued straight on the north Fire Loop Trail, which seems to be marked Mica Mountain Trail, past the intersection with the Bonita Trail and turning left on the…

North Slope Trail
I headed down this trail 0.6 mi to Italian Spring, which is a large grassy puddle, with good water. Just as I finished up stocking up my water and having a snack, the skies opened up with thunder and lightning and hail. Not my favorite thing on mountain ridges, but I hoped that the radio tower on Mica Mountain would be a better target than me. Hail stings on bare skin. I headed as fast as I could down…

Italian Spring Trail #95
I was much slower than a couple other parties of younger folks dashing from the storm, including an unauthorized dog, but there was no point in rushing and getting hurt. Once out of Saguaro National Park, and entering the Rincon Mountains Wilderness, I had completed my section of Arizona Trail in a Day, but I just kept walking until the rain stopped, setting up camp on a flat spot with great views.

Sunday, October 9, I was in no hurry to leave camp, and continued down the hill, with my pruning shears and saw handy. I trimmed a lot of catclaw and mesquite that was encroaching on the trail, but eventually ran out of time for this. Just before exiting the wilderness, I encountered a seasonal stream flowing vigorously, which I have added to the water sources.

Where FR 37 comes in from the left to go to Italian Trap Tank, there is a wide sandy wash flowing that had to be forded, but never more than an inch or two deep. I’m confused as to whether this is the beginning of the Italian Spring Trail or if Italian Spring Trail #95 begins at Reddington Road and follows the alignment of the AZT. Even the Far Out app shows this location as the transition from AZT Passage 9 to Passage 10, while the AZ Trail webpage shows the dividing line at Reddington Road.

From here it was clear I would have to push to get to my intended camp at The Lake where the trail crosses Bellota Road. I picked up a gallon of water I had cached at Reddington Road and pressed on the …

Bellota Trail #15
The hike through the rolling meadows of the Reddington Pass area is beautiful, and far different from the high rocky wilderness to the south. I watched numerous storms meandering through the area, but none hit me. A lot of target shooting goes on in the area, and even after dark

. I wished I was wearing my orange hunting season hiking gear as I walked along the ridge top. I arrived at The Lake just before 6 pm, set up my tent, and had dinner in the dark. A great horned owl serenaded me all evening. As I sat there, a helicopter and fixed wing plane came in and circled for about 20 minutes, looking in the dark for who knows what?

Monday morning, I was walking toward Molino Basin at first light. It is nice rolling country, and I watched the moon set and the sun rise as I went. Took a long break at West Spring, and then made the thousand foot climb up over the pass to Molino Basin.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

Wildflowers Observation Light

	Carolyn's Creek	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Flowing at gallons per minute of clear, cool water.

	Fletch's Creek	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Flowing at gallons per minute across trail.

	Grass Shack Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	The stream flows vigorously through the camp, by all the campsites.

	Italian Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Pretty pool of water in the grass. Good source.

	Manning Camp Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	I collected water at the faucet at the cabin. There was water everywhere.

	Quilter Trail - 1.35mi Water Crossing	Heavy flow	Heavy flow
	Lots of water flowing in the ravine today, just where the Quilter Trail crosses into the wilderness.

	The Lake	51-75% full	51-75% full
	Plenty of water in the Lake, although I did not check it out for drinking quality.

	West Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	There was good water in a pool at the spring.

1 archive

May 28 2022

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Memorial Mica, AZ

Backpack		May 28 2022
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Backpack	34.34 Miles	8,952 AEG

Backpack	34.34 Miles	3 Days
	8,952 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

12 linked trail guides

Mica Mountain - Saguaro NP

Spud Rock Trail

Mica Meadow Trail

Italian Spring Trail to Spud Rock

[ checklist ] Devils Bathtub Italian Spring Mud Hole Spring - Mica Spud Rock Spring

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partners

	BiFrost	cmatheez
	desertchild	John9L
	slowandsteady

What better place to spend a long weekend than in the islands!?

We rolled out of the valley late Friday for a car camp in Happy Valley along Turkey Creek. This allowed us to get a relaxed start and still be on trail in time to cover the lower elevation miles before the heat would become bothersome. In actuality, pleasant breezes and a layer of high clouds made the temperatures quite enjoyable.

Turkey Creek 34 was new to me and after a couple of easy miles it really kicks into gear. There was good water at Mudhole Spring, guarded by a beautiful AZB rattlesnake. We took a break here as this is the end of the exposed stretch and the rest of the climb is wooded.

Some of this trail has some pretty rough erosion and can be really steep. Especially just above and below the Mud Hole Spring area. Several reroutes have been constructed to bypass damaged sections with beautiful tread and nice switchbacks. I presume that similar construction will occur to fix the remaining stretches over the next year or two?

We cut over to Spud Rock, a campground I had only previously seen while looking down on it from above, so it was nice to check it out on the ground. It's set in a nice grove of pine and aspen. From here we headed up to Heartbreak Ridge via the Switchback Trail before dropping down to camp on the Fire Loop.

We arrived to a deserted camp and had our choice of sites. Despite the holiday and positively wonderful temperatures, I knew that there were no other reservations for the weekend.

Later in the afternoon, we did a four mile loop from camp to hit up Spud Rock for the views and the true Mica Mountain highpoint. Upon returning to camp we met the NPS ranger along with a small trail crew who had been sweeping the AZT with a fine-tooth comb. Aaaah, NPS money!

Sunday we did a nice 10 mile loop hitting the North Slope Trail, Italian Spring, the east side of the Loop to Mica Secondary, Reef Rock, Mica Meadow and Man Head, before taking an offtrail route down a drainage to Devils Bathtub. The entire drainage was dry, including the bathtub. The ranger said there hadn't been any flow in over a month, so it wasn't surprising that all the pools had dried up by now too. We saw a couple of turkeys that delighted Kathy by gobbling back at her.

The last half mile back to camp, Karl and I followed the drainage that Manning Camp Spring feeds. While the flow was light, there were some nice pools, narrows, and a cave, and we were both able to go for a refreshing swim.

After a break at camp, Karl and I headed out to see if it was possible to summit Helen's Dome, but we came up a little short, settling instead for Helen's Secondary, which is just a few feet shorter, and also keeps the view to about 340 degrees ... with the missing 20 degrees blocking the civilization of the greater Tucson metro.

Monday morning we opted for the Tibberoute, starting on the Manning Camp Trail (AZT) to Devils Bathtub and then headed down Heartbreak Ridge before cutting back via the Deerhead Springs Trail. We saw a couple more turkeys near the Heartbreak Junction and the same snake was relaxing at Mud Hole as it was on Saturday, but that was all the wildlife we encountered on the weekend. From this point we covered the same ground back to the cars as we had hiked on the way up. The last 2 miles seemed to drag a little more than they did two days earlier and I spotted a group of locals a hundred yards from the trailhead ... the only other hikers we saw all weekend!

I really enjoy this mountain. It has some great terrain and you can peel off some good miles in cooler temperatures (it hit 38 at night ... 78 during the heat of the day). It was great to hike with Sam and Chris again.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Claret Cup Cactus

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Deer Head Spring	Dry	Dry
	No sign of spring or water or anything that resembles a spring location. Except the NPS sign identifying it.

	Devils Bathtub	Dry	Dry
	Not a drop!

	Italian Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Nice pool of clear, clean water.

	Manning Camp Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Light flow through the narrows and pool below. Faucet was on at the cabin which made collecting and filtering easy.

	Mud Hole Spring - Mica	Dripping	Dripping
	Nice pool with problably 20 gallons at the spring and a few yards of trickling water in the "creek" that it creates. Rattlesnake seen in the same spot two days apart.

	Spud Rock Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Open spring pool was full of very cloudy unappealing water. The covered spring box was cleaner. No noticeable flow, but plenty available for filtering.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

1 archive

May 28 2022

BiFrost

Guides 4
Routes 491
Photos 10,890
Triplogs 1,257

55 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Memorial Mica, AZ

Backpack		May 28 2022
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,257

Backpack	34.34 Miles	8,952 AEG

Backpack	34.34 Miles	3 Days
	8,952 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

13 linked trail guides

East Slope Trail

Mica Mountain - Saguaro NP

Spud Rock Trail

Mica Meadow Trail

Italian Spring Trail to Spud Rock

Partners

partners

	chumley	cmatheez
	desertchild	John9L
	slowandsteady

Great weekend in the Rincons on a holiday weekend. Car camped the night before and made it to Manning Camp via Turkey Creek Trail pretty early. Surprised we didn't see any other hikers or backpackers. The NPS crew was at Manning Camp but that was it. Then in the afternoon we day hiked to Spud Rock taking a break in windy conditions but still nice. Then a quick stop by Mica Mountain high point on the way back to camp.

Relaxing night around camp with Kathy, Chumley, 9L, Chris and Sam so a good group to spend in this awesome sky island! Next morning slow rolled it out of camp and did about 9 mile loop on top. First over to North Slope hitting Mica Secondary viewpoint taking a short break. Then continued on to Italian Spring and up the trail towards Reef Rock. At Reef Rock we took our lunch break and really enjoyed the spot and views. My personal favorite for views on the mountain with the Galiuros, San Pedro Valley and everything eastside as well as Rincon Peak to the south. Finishing up we headed downtrail passed Manhead and then took an off trail drainage route to Devils Bathtub. Unfortunately no water to speak of in the drainage but still some fun downclimbs. On the way back to camp Chumley and I split and hiked off trail up the drainage that flows out of Manning Camp. Best water on the mountain for sure with a few good pools for a swim.

Back at camp made a short trip over to Helens Dome before sunset. Really can't get to the summit without ropes so Chumley and I opted for the secondary high point which was a solid backup plan. After that another great night in camp.

Next morning we hiked out slightly different route than hiking in with some new trail but still exited Turkey Creek trail for the last 6 miles. Awesome to hike in the Rincons again with a great group!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Claret Cup Cactus

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Arizona Black Rattlesnake

_____________________

2 archives

May 01 2021

andrewp

Guides 3
Routes 13
Photos 231
Triplogs 15

male

Joined Sep 27 2020
Tucson, AZ

Rincon Tour, AZ

Backpack		May 01 2021
		andrewp • Triplogs 15

Backpack	41.29 Miles	10,633 AEG

Backpack	41.29 Miles	3 Days 7 Hrs 1 Min
	10,633 ft AEG

Linked

11 linked trail guides

Rincon Peak

Miller Creek Trail #28

Happy Valley Lookout 7339

Mica Mountain - Saguaro NP

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I’ve wanted to do a multi-day tour of the Rincons since I was a teenager, but interest, fitness, and proximity never seemed to line up. Fortunately for me that alignment finally happened and I had a great (and sometimes challenging) trip.

The overall plan called for a four day / three night trip that included a visit to the summits of both Rincon Peak and Mica Mountain.

Day 1 — Going up!
The plan for the first day was to hike to Happy Valley camp via Miller Creek and drop the bulk of my gear there. I’d then take a day pack to Rincon Peak and return to camp for the night. Since it appeared that water wasn’t available anywhere near Happy Valley I had to carry all that I would need for the first two days. In case you’re wondering that ended up being 11 liters of water (at 2.2lb per liter it made for a heavy pack).

After an especially brutal 4:00am alarm I was on the road and heading for the trailhead before dawn. I arrived at Miller Creek around 6:30am and upon opening the rear hatch of the truck found my pack in a puddle of water! Not an auspicious start. As best I could tell the pack rolled over onto the hydration bladder mouthpiece and the bladder drained outside the pack. Fortunately something told me that I should put an “emergency” gallon of water into the truck the day before so all I had to do was refill out of that. I was extremely lucky that the leak was external to the pack. Although my entire sleep system was in a dry bag it would have sucked to have the rest of my gear get wet.

I was intent on getting to Happy Valley as quickly as I possibly could. Not only did I want to ensure that I had plenty of time to make it up and down Rincon Peak I knew Happy Valley was fully booked and I wanted to ensure that I got one of the two “good” sites there. I pushed hard up the Miller Creek trail with only a few brief stops.

Lesson learned — never race up a steep trail while carrying a heavy pack! By the time I got to Happy Valley I was absolutely spent. I had never pushed myself that hard on a hike and I was feeling it. The entire campsite was empty so I snagged site 3 for myself, hung my hammock, and got my daypack setup.

After a quick break I set off for Rincon Peak and was marveling at how much better I felt with such a lightweight pack. Then the trail started climbing and my morning adventure really started taking its toll. Getting up Rincon Peak was hard. My legs were spent and my energy reserves were depleted. On top of that I was concerned about water. I knew that I had plenty, but was a bit concerned that this day’s hiking was going to have a heavy impact on the water I had available for myself tomorrow.

After a lot of stops to take pictures and give my legs a break I arrived at the peak. The views were outstanding as expected, but the wind made it really hard to enjoy. I snapped some photos and took shelter behind the remnants of the giant cairn to have a snack.

The hike down was mostly uneventful, but due to the steepness of the grade and my overall exhaustion I was getting concerned that I would end up rolling an ankle. Ultimately, I made it down without any injuries and returned to camp.

The evening was relaxing and the campsite never did fill up. After dinner I read a bit and turned in really early.
Day 2 — Moving to Mica Mountain
Although I got over 9 hours of sleep I was still up before dawn. The plan was to break camp and hike Heartbreak Ridge to cross over to Manning Camp, which would be my home for the next two nights. Knowing that part of this hike was exposed I wanted to be sure to get an early start. I had a quick breakfast, broke camp, and was on the trail by 7:20. I have to say that switching to a hammock has made camp setup and breakdown sooo much easier.

The hike was mostly uneventful. Knowing that I really overstressed myself the day prior I made an effort to keep my overall exertion level in check. I didn’t want to risk overdoing it again as that would be a surefire way to injure myself.

I made a stop at the Happy Valley lookout (the hantavirus hotel) and found it completely locked down. The views were stunning, but the wind was just as bad as the day before so I didn’t stay too long.

After the climb to the lookout the rest of the hike was nice and easy. I routed via Devil’s Bathtub and was bummed to find that there was barely a trickle of water over the falls. I took another break here, but not for long due to the wind.

With a little more climbing I made it to Manning Camp and found the place completely empty. At first I though that the cabin was open, but that was only the door to the breezeway. The kitchen was setup out back and it looked like it had been recently occupied, but there wasn’t a ranger in sight. I didn’t see one the entire time I was there.

I walked through the camp and ended up selecting site 3 (farthest from the cabin). Found some trees for my hammock, cleaned myself up, and took a little nap. After that it was dinner and another early night.

I have to say that Manning camp is a bit spooky after dark when there’s no one else there. It’s kind of like the summer camp setting from a bad horror movie. As I was reading in my hammock I swear I saw a headlamp coming up the trail and later some spillover light from the direction of the cabin on the trees above me. I didn’t think much of it as I assumed that it was a late arrival (it was only about 8:30pm at this point).

Day 3 — Touring Mica Mountain
I had another very restful night (loving this hammock thing) and used the fact that it was 33 degrees to lounge in my quilt for an hour. My view was of Rincon Peak and I spent the time watching the change of colors on the mountain as the sun rose while listening to the forest wake up and get on with its day. I can’t imagine a more peaceful way to start a day.

After getting up I walked around manning camp expecting to see the owner of last night’s light, but found no one. None of the campsites were disturbed and there was still no sign of life at the cabin. Spooky…

I had a lazy morning and eventually hit the trail with a day pack. My intention was to hike as many of the Mica Complex trails as I could. I set off on a counter-clockwise walk of the Fire Loop trail and went off trail on several occasions to take in the view from a rock outcropping or to investigate the forest around the trail. The views from Reef Rock were outstanding and as luck would have it the wind wasn’t too bad so I was able to soak in those views for a bit longer than at prior stops. One thing that caught my eye was a stand of aspens on the hillside below me. At the time I didn’t realize that they were adjacent to the Spud Rock campground which I would end up visiting on my way out.

I continued on the Fire Loop and ran into a pack of 5 or 6 Coatimundi just a little bit past Reef Rock. Based on other trip reports this appears to be a popular spot for them. I always enjoy a Coati sighting as they always appear to be having so much fun.

Shortly after the Coati I started getting a very uneasy feeling as if I was being watched. I stopped several times to look around and saw no one and nothing. I kept moving and the feeling subsided, but I do wonder if I had caught the eye of a bear or mountain lion. It was all very unnerving to say the least.

Throughout this hike I was struck by the overall health of the forest. Sure there was evidence of recent fire, but it wasn’t the scorched earth that I’ve grown accustomed to in the Catalinas and Santa Ritas. I don’t know if it’s a difference in how the NPS manages the land or just pure luck, but I was thrilled to be able to experience it. This is what Mt Lemmon used to be like when I was growing up.

I continued on the Fire Loop and made a stop at the Mica summit then took a detour to scramble up to the top of Spud Rock. This was another impressive view and I had to chuckle to myself that even the most mundane lookout points had stunning vistas and I was becoming a bit jaded. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up again to I didn’t stay longer than a few minutes to take it all in and have a snack.

At this point I was debating on doing the North Slope trail or heading back to camp. It was still early but I also wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with what some trip reports had described as an exhausting bushwhack. Ultimately my stubbornness won out and I dropped down to check it out. I promised myself that if the trail got too sketchy I would turn back. Of course but the time I hit the bad sections I felt I was too far in to turn back.

If you’re not familiar with the North Slope trail it generally parallels the NW Fire Loop, but does it 200 - 300 ft down slope. In 2003 this area was hit HARD by the Helen’s 2 fire and it still hasn’t recovered. This was a hot fire and is one of the few spots on the mountain where it is truly scorched earth. Very few trees are left standing, but most of what has fallen has been cleared from the trail. There were still some rather large obstacles to climb over, but it wasn’t one tree after another as I had feared.

Overall the trail wasn’t too bad and some of the reports either exaggerated its state or were of very different conditions. The trail did simply disappear in several places, but most times I was able to find a blaze to get me back on track. In the times that a blaze wasn’t available I realized that there was a certain method to the madness of these trails and I could generally predict where it should go if the pattern held. I never had to backtrack and always ended up back on the trail so it wasn’t too bad. The biggest issue was overgrowth of thorny bushes (fortunately no cat’s claw) but those areas were limited and easily pushed through.

There were a couple of unburned areas in the middle of the overall carnage and they provided a picture of what the forest had been like. This was a beautiful stand of Douglas Fir with some Ponderosa Pine mixed in. As mentioned by @ShatteredArm the trees that are still there are enormous (especially by AZ standards). The most impressive healthy section was at the NE end of the trail near Italian Spring. The trees were amazing in this area as was the view from a large granite outcrop.

Once I hit Italian Spring I hung a right on the AZT and took that all the way back to Manning Camp.

Upon arrival I met my new camp neighbors who had a clogged water filter. After filtering some water for them I settled in for a relaxing evening.

Day 4 — Going down
I was greeted with another chilly morning, but knowing the stats of the hike ahead of me I knew I had to hit the trail as early as possible. The cold was slowing me down as I wasn’t packed up and on the trail until 8:30. This was a little later than I had hoped.

The plan was to follow Fire Loop trail

Heartbreak Ridge

Switchback Trail

East Slope

Spud Rock CG

Dear Head Spring Trail

Turkey Creek Trail

Road walk

Miller Creek TH. That’s about 3 miles of trail before I hit Turkey Creek and started descending in earnest.

The first part of this hike was beautiful and I was making good time. While the Switchback Trail is an apt name, I do think that a better one would be the ‘Overgrown Thornbushes with Ankle-Rolling Rocks’ Trail. I was glad to be done with it.

I wanted to stop by Spud Rock campground in order to see what it was like and decide whether or not I would want to stay there on a future trip. Upon arrival I passed through the aspen grove that I had spotted from Reef Rock and it really was a beautiful sight up close. The campground was nice, but I’m not sure I would want to make it a destination. I really appreciated the solitude, but feared that it might be a bit far from everything to be a good place to stay. The spring was bone dry and that further underlined the disadvantage of this site.

Once on the Turkey Creek trail I was making reasonably good time, but was slowed down in spots by the steepness of the trail. Add in some really annoying gnats swarming my head and I was not enjoying myself at all. Fortunately, I had brought along a head net or I would have been truly miserable.

Roughly halfway into the hike I had to stop in order to attend to a hotspot on one of my toes. This was a bit of a shock to me as I haven’t had a blister in decades, but something wasn’t right. Turns out that my big toe was rubbing in a small gap between the edge of my orthotic insole and the upper. Apparently the descent had made the geometry just right to form the start of what looked to be a pretty nasty blister. Out came the Leukotape and after wrapping my toe I was able to stand and walk without pain so I pressed on.

Soon after the steep descent stopped and the trail transitioned into a combination of shrub and grassland. The tree I stopped under to attend to my toe was one of the last spots of shade that I had until I hit the bottom of the road. While I was thankful for the gentler trail tread I was cursing the exposure. I could make good time on this trail, but with the temps already in the high 80s and the sun directly overhead I had to manage my exertion very carefully.

Fortunately, I had plenty of water and was able to maintain a sensible pace, but I wouldn’t want to be on this trail at all if it were any warmer. After about a mile I completely understood the benefit of an umbrella for hiking and made plans to acquire one as soon as possible. Hell, had I run across a pop-up umbrella stand on the trail I likely would have paid a premium for anything that would provide shade.

Aside from the brutal conditions the trek to the trailhead and then down the road was uneventful. Once I hit the campsites near the junction with FR35 I stopped and took a much-needed break in the shade. Continued on and found my truck just where I left it. Fired it up, cranked the A/C, had some lunch, and then started the drive home.

All in all this was a fantastic trip and I have tons of great memories and photos to serve as a reminder of the challenge and sense of accomplishment. Most importantly I learned a lot about myself and some of the stupid things that I end up talking myself into (like rushing up Miller Creek). This experience pushed me outside my comfort zone on many occasions and will definitely impact choices that I make on future trips.

The Rincons really are a special place and I definitely want to spend more time exploring Mica Mountain (off trail) as well as the area around Happy Valley and Rincon Creek. The forest is beautiful and since it requires so much effort to reach you are unlikely to see many people. I saw a total of 7 people over the course of the entire trip and that isolation made it much easier to enjoy nature. There weren’t any noisy people over the ridge disturbing the wildlife nor were there the constant reminders of human presence that you see on so many other trails.

I have to say that I’m somewhat in awe of the people who manage to do a similar loop as a day hike / run. That’s a level of strength and fitness that I can’t really fathom right now. On the other hand I couldn’t fathom doing the trip I did 6 months ago so my perspective will likely change. Even if I get to the point where I could do this in a day I’m not sure that I would want to give up the overnight part of the experience. This forest is truly magical in the early morning and that’s something that can only really be appreciated when you wake up in the middle of it.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Douglas-Fir

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark

Deer Head Spring

Dry

	Devils Bathtub	Dripping	Dripping
	Very slight trickle over the falls to a very shallow pool below.

	Italian Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Small pool of algae soup.

	Manning Camp Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Reasonable flow over the falls to decent sized pools below. Saw deer browsing inside the fenced area so this water really should be filtered, treated, or boiled before use.

	Miller Canyon	Dry	Dry
	One damp spot just up from the trailhead.

	Mud Hole Spring - Mica	Dripping	Dripping
	Very small amount of water dripping down from the spring.

Spud Rock Spring

Dry

Turkey Creek

Dry

Apr 10 2021

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Mica Mountain outer loop, AZ

Run/Jog		Apr 10 2021
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Run/Jog	21.97 Miles	5,403 AEG

Run/Jog	21.97 Miles	7 Hrs 39 Mns	2.89 mph
	5,403 ft AEG	3 Mns Break

no photosets

Linked

10 linked trail guides

Cow Head Saddle Trail

East Slope Trail

Partners

none

no partners

Didn't have any ideas for other places to go, so I decided to head back to the Rincons for a loop around Mica Mountain. Decided to try the outermost loop possible using official trails, which was almost 12 miles starting at the top of Turkey Creek trail. Parked at the end of the road, and it was already hot at 9am, but the temps were nice past Mudhole Spring. The climb on this route was worse than last weeks Heartbreak Ridge loop, because instead of being more or less done climbing at Spud Rock Spring, the climbing continued all the way up to Man Head.

I hadn't been up there much besides just passing straight across via AZT, but it's beautiful up there. Still stray patches of snow near Mica Meadow. The reef rock view was impressive, probably my favorite in the range after Rincon Peak. After I got done taking a pano, a coatimundi appeared from over the edge of the cliff, and didn't even see me until he was about 10 feet away. His reaction when he realized his mistake was priceless.

Just a couple minutes after leaving Reef Rock, saw a band of 4-5 coatis. Guess that's the favorite part of the park.

North Slope was nice, not as bad as some of the triplogs suggest. Very few fallen trees left. The unburned stretches have some of the biggest fir trees I've seen.

By Manning Camp, I was pretty tired. That was the first place I saw anybody. Filled up water, then continued down to Devil's Bathtub, and back to Turkey Creek trail. Was worried it would be hot down low, but it was probably just in the 80s, which wasn't too bad with a low level of exertion.

Much tougher route than I envisioned; it took me about the same amount of time to hike, fully-laden, 20 miles out of the grand canyon a couple weeks ago.

	Devils Bathtub	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Flow above the trail crossing has dried up, but below is still going strong. Some trickle still at the Heartbreak Ridge crossing farther up.

	Italian Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	No flow, but there's stagnant water.

Manning Camp Spring

Gallon per minute

	Mud Hole Spring - Mica	Dripping	Dripping
	Still the tiniest seep.

_____________________

Sep 18 2016

tibber

Guides 21
Routes 1,182
Photos 36,858
Triplogs 1,570

69 female

Joined Feb 26 2004
Phoenix, AZ

Your shoe's untied - Rincon's North Slope Loop, AZ

Hiking		Sep 18 2016
		tibber • Triplogs 1,570

Hiking	8.32 Miles	1,580 AEG

Hiking	8.32 Miles	7 Hrs 11 Mns	1.76 mph
	1,580 ft AEG	2 Hrs 27 Mns Break

Linked

linked

[ checklist ] Dos Cabezas Peaks Italian Spring Little Rincon Mountains Willcox Playa

Bonita Trail

Partners

partners

writelots

It says "would I do this hike again?". Not the North Slope for sure unless there is some trail maintenance. You do get some sweeping views, nice flora from time to time and it does make a loop but not much else to say altho you know I'll end up with several paragraphs.

After a nice nite, other than all of us getting cold feet in our sleeping bags for some reason, we had a leisurely breakfast before heading off for our various hikes of the day atop this mountain. Wendy wanted to go say hello to Helen so we headed northwest out of camp. Once again, there are sweeping views as you get to the edges, and there are lots of edges up here. We stopped for a selfie with Wrightson in the far background since we both were up there together in 2010. From this same point we could hear and then see Karl on Helen walking around so we got a couple pictures before heading on our way.

We continued on a nice trail across to the other side of the mountain where we met up with K&K as they were coming down from Helen. They headed off to Spud and we continued toward Italian Spring via the so-called North Slope Trail except that Wendy decided she was hungry. We stopped so she could fuel up and then she decided she wanted to go up and close with Helen. I waited below as I was still a bit sore from the previous day's climb, I mean hike. I could hear K&K up on Spud Rock and soon Wendy came back and off we went.

Well as soon as we rounded the corner to the other edge of the mountain, the trail blazing began. I think both of us thot it would be short-lived so we pushed thru ferns and over downfall and searched out the missing trail. But this went on for nearly two miles. We were going thru a burn section (I think from 1994). It was quite obvious there hadn't been any trail maintenance for a very long time. By the time we were wanting this to be over, it was really too late to turn back. My hopes were that after Italian Spring that the trail conditions would improve. So we pushed thru trees and brush and over and around deadfall that was on a narrow path of this slope. We were constantly having to tie our shoes :bdh: on top of trying to find cairns and metal blaze markers. Many times we found the markers but they were in the deadfall that we would have to negotiate. Oh, and one time we saw a big pile of bear scat and went "oh ya, bears"... kind of forgot about that.

We did stop to take in the views as you could see quite far today. As we paused for lunch not too far from Italian Spring in amongst some boulders, I pondered that we were the only ones up here; what would happen if something happened to us? No one would have a clue where to find us. Well that soon passed and we headed on down to Italian Spring. The trail from here on out was not too bad altho there were still moments when we lost the trail. Glad we stopped where we did too because there was nowhere to really sit around the spring area as it was surrounded by ferns and bees. At the spring there are two different trails to take too.

We continued up the hill thru the turning ferns with the light coming thru the forest for the trees. I'm still not fond of this "UP" process again but it wasn't too bad. Toward the end of the climb I was doing my tired dog imitation and hiking from shade to shade :lol:

. Now our original goal for the hike was to do this little loop and then head back to camp where we would go to the Devil's Bathtub. Well that plan went out the window so Wendy suggested we hike to Reef Rock, a place she hadn't seen up here. We used the Fire Loop Trail once we topped out.

Now this plan worked out very well and we had a nice hike on this east side of the mountain. We came to where you could start seeing far yonder and came upon a flat rock area with a big boulder. I thot this was Reef Rock but it wasn't. So I just call it the Eastern Overlook. We had incredible views here including of Rincon Mountain. We checked out the area and then continued on our way to Reef Rock at 8300 feet. The views were equally awesome from here and you could see the trail we came in on way below between the Park Boundary and the TH saddle.

From here we headed UP again but I knew there wasn't much elevation to be gained on this mountain so we eventually ended up on a nice forest floor and headed toward Mica Meadow. We hung a right and headed up to the meadow but then realized we didn't want to go that way. The signs are a little confusing up here so you have to decipher them. For instance, :-k

the question became: are we on the trail to Mica Meadow or is this the Mica Meadow Trail? The trail we eventually took is somewhat marked on the topo but not a named trail. So we took that and when it didn't quite match up we got a little worried but once it hung a left, it joined up with the Mica Mountain Trail... at least I think it did. We're not sure if that's a re-route or what.

But from here it was pretty much clear sailing back to camp. We followed a creek, altho those are not named on the topos, and thru some more fern-covered forest floors back to Manning Camp. It wasn't quite what Wendy had in mind for the day and I certainly didn't want to put those kind of miles on but it was quite an adventure and we covered a lot of the top of this mountain. We did encounter water everywhere too.

This mountain top has so much to offer as to its terrain with meadows and rock mountains and overlooks and creeks and all sorts of stuff; definitely worth a two-nite stay. However, please heed our warning, the North Slope Trail is really not and according to Karl, neither is part of the East Slope. It's too bad but if there's not enough traffic to justify the maintenance, I guess it's understandable.

K&K showed up about 1/2 hour later I think. I had quite a few scratches at that and some bruises from the day. K&K covered a lot of the mountain as well. We made ourselves some dinner, Karl kept a nice fire burning or we would have retired much earlier.

2-14-17 Part 1 to Helen's Dome and starting on the North Slope Trail [ youtube video ]
Part 2 North Slope Route not too far from Italian Spring [ youtube video ]
Part 3 Italian Spring via Fire Loop [ youtube video ]
Part 4 Reef Rock to Manning Camp via Mica Meadow [ youtube video ]

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Coral Bells Dwarf mistletoe Mountain Snowberry

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Throwing a Wendy

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

_____________________

For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled.

4 archives

Apr 16 2015

markthurman53

Guides 187
Routes 989
Photos 12,068
Triplogs 864

72 male

Joined Jun 27 2015
Tucson, Arizona

AZT #9c Manning Camp to Park Boundary, AZ

Hiking		Apr 16 2015
		markthurman53 • Triplogs 864

Hiking	11.30 Miles	3,109 AEG

Hiking	11.30 Miles	6 Hrs 37 Mns		2.35 mph
	3,109 ft AEG	1 Hour 49 Mns Break	15 LBS Pack

Linked

6 linked trail guides