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| Hiking | 8.71 Miles |
888 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.71 Miles | 3 Hrs 55 Mns | | 2.22 mph |
| 888 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The last time I hiked in the Goldfield Mountains was when AZLumberjack and I bailed on attempt to climb Dome Mountain. I guess that was 2015. Seemed longer ago. Too long, anyway, so off I went.
My plan was to hike from the Horse Trails Trailhead, on an unnamed, unnumbered, foot trail northwest past Cottonwood Spring. After three miles, I would head north for ¾ of a mile on a jeep trail through an unnamed canyon. I then planned to turn south onto another unnamed, unnumbered, foot trail ¾ of a mile to Anniversary Arch. From the arch, it is not quite three miles back to the trailhead.
The Goldfield Mountains are riddled with jeep trails, foot trails and side canyons. It is very easy to wander off in the wrong direction. I saw no trail signs, so unless you have a REALLY good sense of direction, you should take a GPS loaded with the route attached above, which includes waypoints such as “split left” and “sharp right turn”.
After breakfast at Denny’s in Apache Junction, I arrived at the Horse Trails Trailhead about 8:00 a.m. There were a number of horse people and offroaders camping out in the large dirt lot. I managed to wander 50 yds. down Apache Trail / AZ-88 before finding my way around a fence, but the hike actually starts straight across the road.
The loop begins on a apparently decommisioned jeep trail, which is riddled with horse hoof prints. The singletrack continues another 1½ miles to Cottonwood Spring, winding between distant rock outcroppings, through grassy hills, and across dry washes. The saguaro were generally young, but I saw several that had large, apparently spineless, darker green sections that resembled alligator skin. I wonder what that is?
The wash between Cottonwood Spring and the spring box was muddy, though more likely from recent monsoon flooding than the slow drip of overflow from the spring’s catch basin. The spring box had some water in it, but again from rain, as the pipe was totally disconnected.
At Cottonwood Spring, I picked up a jeep trail, following that off & on down wash for the next mile. A ⅓ of a mile north of Cottonwood Spring, a foot trail splits left for a longer loop. Instead, I stayed on the jeep trail / followed the wash bottom as it instead turned northeast into a small canyon with close, lichen covered walls.
Just under four miles into the hike, on the south side of the wash, there (currently) is a cairn. I turned right onto the foot trail, which climbs 200 ft. in a ½ mile, the only real elevation gain on the loop, past nearby cream- and rust-colored rock formations. From the top of the climb, it is a ½ mile across a saddle to Anniversary Arch.
Both across the saddle, and from within Anniversary Arch itself, there are great views north and east, with the old standby — Four Peaks — easily visible. The reddish mountain that looks like it is about half way to Four Peaks is El Recortado, on the north side of Canyon Lake. Anniversary Arch is not large, but there is enough room for several people to comfortably sit. The arch also funneled a pleasantly cool late morning breeze.
From Anniversary Arch, the trail winds a ½ mile down to the flat below the backside, then turns south, following a wash 1¼ miles back to the base of the the loop. There’s some decent shade in the wash. Although the trail is going up, the elevation change is barely noticeable. From the base of the loop, I booked the mile back to the Horse Trails Trailhead.
 , 2.22 mph seems slow. I wonder if I got the hike duration wrong. 
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/509527859 |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Some a small cluster of penstemon (?) on the climb up to the Arch. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
At the enclosure there was a sign talking about the importance of protecting natural springs and that this was now the end of fs 3512. As a hiker, I am of course, fine, even estatic with this development. However, as I hiked along the Packsaddle Trail I noticed multiple tire tracks in the wash/road. Obviously, there is more than one way to get back to this area. I was doing some meandering as I hiked the Packsaddle, but I passed the terminus for FGTH around (3.2 miles) and then shortly came to another eastward turn off at (3.3 miles). This trail is unnamed and doesn’t appear to be in HAZ. Seemed like a relatively new use trail. Still easy to follow, but not as defined as some of the more established trails. It quickly “T”’ed into a more solid trail. I opted for the segment that was heading towards Anniversary and I ended up coming into the western end of Anniversary Arch. I did the loop and then started exploring some of the many threads that splintered off the loop. Beautiful area. Probably some of the nicest “scapes” that I’ve enjoyed in the Goldfields. I ended up following a solid trail that went east along the ridgeline, south of, and paralleling the Javelina Rough Eye. This track is not in HAZ yet, (but it should be) and eventually ties into the Javelina Trail. From here I took unnamed use trails and roads to get back to the Dutchman TH. 
) . And just like the chickens, we crossed the road to get to the other side 
to start hiking.
, 2.22 mph seems slow. I wonder if I got the hike duration wrong. 
