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| | | Black Cross Fishiness, AZ | | | |
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Black Cross Fishiness, AZ
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| Hiking | 16.83 Miles |
4,805 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.83 Miles | 7 Hrs 52 Mns | | 2.30 mph |
| 4,805 ft AEG | 32 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | | Completed the triplet today also, but didn't drive between three peaks, just kept walking. I thought the bushwackiness was minimal, but almost the entire hiking area I strolled through appears to have been burned fairly recently and I didn't follow the official route from the beginning. Settled into a bunch of sheep trails on many of the miles covered. Two hours to Fish Creek Peak, another hour to Black Cross Butte and four hours total to Fish Creek Mountain. From that third summit, I wasn't quite sure dropping into Fish Creek was possible, but the steep and unique ridge descent worked out. I was only cliffed out a few times and had to bypass downclimb a few times. The section of Fish Creek that I did hike has been filled with gravel and sand since I'd hiked it last September. What a beautiful canyon! Awesome Arizona Sycamores, Cottonwoods, giant Saguaros, caves and boulders. I also chose the Lost Dutch exit to Tortilla instead of Fish Creek Canyon since I plan on hiking that another time soon. |
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Lost Dutch Canyon |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | But a few quality pools above where the spring is map labeled. | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
We don’t all possess 00blackout's mad wheeler skills! It seemed like a really warm morning until dropping into Tortilla Well. Once on the JF, things were interesting for a bit because of two aggressive and snorty Javelinas. I had to literally yell and wave my arms to get them to back off. Game trails descending Lost Dutch were mostly camouflaged by all the vegetative green carpet. Fish Creek is flowing nicely, which made it somewhat of a slower split by trying to keep the feet dry. The first scramble below the buttress seemed spicier than I remembered but the final dike scramble wasn't. This time I noticed quite a few massive dead junipers near Spyro Portal and the Ram's Horn Arches. Perhaps remnants of a past cooler and wetter climate. Flushed three Coue on the ascent to Black Cross, scrambling a more direct eastern ridge which had quite a few fun bouldery sections. By chance I also scrambled the east face of Fish Creek Peak that I didn't know was possible since the previous trip's direction made it more difficult to determine if that side went. Since it's a weekday, not many vehicles on the Apache Trail, but I still bypassed the sweeping Fish Creek switchback to shorten the amount of busier afternoon road walking. I suppose it's time to write a guide for FCM, since I've done it twice now and both directions. 
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