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| Hiking | 17.55 Miles |
3,875 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.55 Miles | 10 Hrs 33 Mns | | 1.78 mph |
| 3,875 ft AEG | 43 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | A fantastically long day out in the Mazatzal Wilderness. Wasn't entirely convinced I'd enjoy that ascent of the North Peak Trail, but I figured it couldn't possibly be worse than Carney Springs  , and with the promise of a loop hike, I wouldn't have to descend it.
We met up early, opting to do the hike clockwise out of the Mineral Creek Trailhead. As anticipated, there were no other vehicles at the trailhead, though we saw several cars and a couple of trailers parked along the roadside with camps set up.
The hike starts out pleasantly enough, gently ascending along side the Mineral Creek drainage....after the 3/4-mile warm up, the trail departs the drainage, ascending quickly. It was a slow grind with the steep grade and loose footing, though the views were wonderful. There are a few areas along the ascent where the vegetation gets in close, but there weren't any areas where the trail was completely obscured. In the higher reaches, we entered a manzanita forest that has seen some recent maintenance with the path wide and clear as we made our way onward through the mature (and surprisingly tall) stands. It was nice to see some young pines growing in the area as we passed through...also nice, a break from the relentless climbing, though there was still a bit of up and down before we wandered into the delightfully unburned Park and the junction with the Mazatzal Divide Trail.
We had thought to check out Pete's Pond and the Willow Springs Trail while in the area; however, our quick jaunt down to the Willow Springs junction quickly changed our mind as the intersection was marked with a cairn with no trail in sight. After looking at the topo and evaluating the route to Pete's Pond, we decided to skip it knowing the mileage we still had yet to cover to complete our loop. We took some time to rest for a bit at the park before continuing northward on the Mazatzal Divide Trail / AZT.
We made good time walking along the Mazatzal Divide Trail / AZT as it rambled up and down a couple times before crossing over a shoulder of Knob Mountain and beginning our long gradual descent. After contouring around on an area of reddish colored conglomerate rock and looking down into a pine-filled valley, we met up with the junction for the Red Hills Trail and departed the AZT to continue onward on the Mazatzal Divide Trail towards City Creek.
Once the AZT separated from the Divide Trail, things got a bit brushy in areas, though eventually opened back up again as we continued downward towards the foothills. As we carried on with our descent, we'd catch glimpses of our destined route out in the distance on much lower hillsides while North Peak also featured prominently in our views. We eventually caught sight of the road in the distance as we dropped closer to the city creek drainage though it would still be a bit before we were on it and heading up to follow Pole Hollow Canyon back to the Mineral Creek Trailhead.
The trail in Pole Hollow Canyon starts off as an abandoned two track, quickly narrowing down to an easy to follow single track path that meanders from side to side on the benches of the drainage making for fast walking. Unfortunately, once we hit the area near Pole Hollow spring, the trail evaporated, requiring us to rock hop and negotiate numerous deadfalls. Eventually, the path returned, moving through a bunch of young juniper before dumping out on the road just above the Mineral Creek Trailhead.
Others on the trail: One southbound section hiker passed us near the Park on the AZT. They indicated that they had passed a large group of northbound hikers earlier in the day (who we did not see) and also commented that those hikers noted that folks were working trail maintenance a bit further south on the AZT.
Wildlife: Evidence of bear, elk, a smallish cat observed. Spotted a few lizards, a couple of squirrel, a couple of bluebirds, and numerous other birds - most of which were not photographed. Also encountered a sonoran gopher snake taking in some sun on the trail.
Random notes: For some unknown reason, my watch was really far off on mileage calculation this time (I run it in low power mode on longer days in an attempt to salvage battery life and prevent total data loss). Usually it's pretty close to my hiking partner's RS results, but this time, it granted me an extra 1.75mi and 177ft of AEG... I opted to copy Jason's stats this time, since my numbers seemed too far off to be within a reasonable amount of error.
I'm really enjoying rediscovering the nearby wilderness areas. These long hikes are even more fun with good company. Thanks always for the invitation, J! |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Wildflowers were present, though at a significantly lesser rate than what we observed on the Barnhardt Y-Bar Loop. Alas, some of my photographs didn't turn out great, with the focus grabbing the background rather than the flowers I was intending to capture. |
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Mineral Spring |
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| | | We didn't go looking for the outlet of the spring though there was decent water flowing across the trail in that area. |
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Pole Hollow Spring |
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| | | some scummy pools and seeps in the creek | | _____________________
| Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Thanks S, for joining me again on another fun filled adventure. 
, and with the promise of a loop hike, I wouldn't have to descend it.
Route 
Nice clean flow
) and then back track to Midnight trail and down to Upper Wet Bottom Creek crossing.
