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| | | Tule Mountains Excursion with Peak 1999, AZ | | | |
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Tule Mountains Excursion with Peak 1999, AZ
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| Hiking | 9.60 Miles |
1,250 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.60 Miles | | | |
| 1,250 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I had not been to the Barry Goldwater or Cabeza Prieta in over 3 years, and had not been to Tule Well in heading towards 5 years (April 2019). I always enjoy this time of year as it is quiet on the range, and it certainly was. I saw more bighorn sheep than I did people for 36 hours.
The plan was for a group trip, but Mike and Brian turned back at the Naked Date ranch due to all of the nudity. The RWD van could not take the road, and so they turned around. I was fine in my AWD car, but clearance due to deep sand was an issue at times.
Roads south into the range from Ave 25E were excellent in the past; 2019 and 2020. With wall construction ending on January 20, 2021, road quality has deteriorated to being unrecognizable from my last visit. Gone is the level, graded, hard packed surface. According to an AZ Game and Fish LEO, the road has gotten progressively worse with each rain storm over the last few years. Boarder Patrol is the only organization that maintains the road, and they're not invested in it the way they were 3 years ago. Due to the nature of the road, the poor design with a lack of culverts or rock water crossing, and the design of the road that created a canal like structure, the road turns to a river with significant rain and run off from the Gila and Tinajas Altas Mountains, and the Christmas 2023 storm was especially bad. It was something like 44 miles of mostly deep sand to Tule Well, with limited hard packed road left over, and quite a few wash crossings, all of which had flowed heavily 1 week before. Also, further east towards Tule Well, there were several mud holes, but people had previously gone around them and they were drying out.
Camping 2 nights at Tule Well, was excellent. Nights were cold, with frost that wasn't forecast, and unusually moist. It is very quiet when alone here, and other than coyotes and birds, the only sound was the wind or occasional imperceptibly low rumbles from what was probably trucks on the highway in Mexico.
My Hike took me from Tule Well on the road, to Peak 1999, where I found a very seldom signed register, with Bob Packard being the last entry nearly 3 years before. I spotted 3 bighorns that all appeared to be ewes on the ridge while on the flats, and it turns out that this peak is a hangout for them, with their scat and tracks all over the area up top.
After the peak I visited Tule Tank, and noted no sign of wildlife tracks. I continued up canyon and crossed the range to descend to Buckhorn Tank. Tule is natural, Buckhorn was built. The dam above it is full of sand, but the tank appeared deep and it might be 11 to 12 feet deep. There was a lot of illegal alien trash in the canyon descending to Buckhorn. Mostly the typical tuna packs and black plastic bottles. I am sure the tank has trash in the bottom, but AZ Game and Fish might clean it out from time to time as they maintain the tanks for sheep. I found jeans and a hat in the drainage below 1999.
I then hiked the jeep road/trail east around the range and returned to camp on the main road. When almost back to camp I saw the only people I would after I started south the day before, until a mass ATV outing Saturday around noon. Pop-up camper towing Californians with a dog drove west. Not sure if they came from Popago Well Camp, but I think they must have. Sure is nice and quiet out here when ATVs aren't tearing everything up. |
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Buckhorn Tank |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | Measuring gauge showed a potential of nearly 11 feet deep water. |
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Tule Tank |
51-75% full |
51-75% full |
| | | No idea how deep it can get due to being in sand, but there was water here. However, over 1 week post storm and there were no tracks in that sand. |
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Tule Well |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | Water flowed from the spigot and the tank was probably full. I think water here is reliable. | | _____________________
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