H.L. Canyon Trail #11 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Apr 30 2024

kingsnake

Guides 116
Routes 337
Photos 11,399
Triplogs 894

63 male

Joined Dec 20 2010
Sunnyslope, PHX

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Apr 30 2024
		kingsnake • Triplogs 894

Hiking	4.22 Miles	1,085 AEG

Hiking	4.22 Miles	2 Hrs 11 Mns	1.93 mph
	1,085 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

linked

Black Hills Back Country Byway

Partners

none

no partners

Planned to hike east end of Aravaipa. Only the night before I realized I had failed to secure a BLM wilderness permit.

I didn’t want to lose our hotel reservation, so I quickly cast about for something else to do down there. Then I remembered this loop around Mitchell Peak. And it’s a part of Arizona I’ve never been to.

I figured it would take me four hours to hike the loop. I planned to hike counter-clockwise, so I would be on Mitchell Peak’s sun-facing slope in cool morning temps, and on it’s sun-blocking northern slope in the warmer afternoon. I was expecting shade. I did not find it.

I started hiking at 10:25 a.m. I climbed up the jeep trail across the highway from HL Saddle, then turned south, paralleling US-191. My nose immediately began generating epic amounts of allergy-induced boogers. I had to blow my nose at least every minute. That did not bode well for a four hour hike. Thankfully, the faucet turned off when I arrived at Sardine Saddle.

From Sardine Saddle, I descended 800 ft. in just under a mile. Though I never fell, I slipped a bunch of times. It was rocky. And not nearly as shady as I had hoped.

I arrived at the trail's low point just before noon. It had taken me 90 minutes to hike the 2½ miles to the Walnut Spring Cutoff. Considering how warm it was getting, and how far I had to go, I decided to bail.

It took me 1h 15m — including three five minute breaks — to hike 1½ miles back up to Sardine Saddle. Thankfully, I was able to text ahead, so my wife could meet me there. Maybe the northern half of the loop is better: I did not care much for the part I did.

Driving south on US-191 I saw a sign for Black Hills Back Country Byway, which I was warned is a “primitive road” that one should “use at your own risk”. So, I decided to at least take a look at it. Particularly down to Old Safford Bridge, it couldn’t have been nicer dirt.

The road gets very twisty, but on a Tuesday afternoon, we saw no one. The only slightly rocky part was heading back down to US-191, roughly MP 7-4. Today, the was car-drivable; no high clearance necessary. I enjoyed it so much, it made up for the hike!

Rumble Video: https://rumble.com/v4tcdnr-hiking-hl-sa ... il-11.html
Vimeo Video: https://vimeo.com/942932651

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fleabane Golden Corydalis Indian Paintbrush Manzanita

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Informational/Interpretive Sign Memorial Mining Equipment

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Coronado Mountain - Morenci Markeen Mountain Morenci Open Pit Mount Graham Old Safford Bridge Walker Butte

Wildflowers Observation None
Low in species and quantity. Disappointing, considering the weather.

_____________________

http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored.

1 archive

Oct 19 2023

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,484
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,374

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Mitchell Peak

Alpine, AZ

Mitchell Peak

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Oct 19 2023
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374

Hiking	3.49 Miles	1,106 AEG

Hiking	3.49 Miles	2 Hrs 54 Mns	1.51 mph
	1,106 ft AEG	35 Mns Break

Linked

linked

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Partners

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no partners

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

I decided to head to eastern Arizona in search of some cooler weather, and figured that a hike to Mitchell Peak (elevation of 7,951 feet and prominence of 1,831 feet) would fit the bill.

I drove north of Morenci on Highway 191, aka the Coronado Trail. The road is windy, hilly, narrow and is pretty slow going. The copper mining complex in Clifton and Morenci is HUGE.

I started the hike at the HL Saddle Picnic Area. I crossed Highway 191 and hiked about 3/4 mile on the HL Canyon Trail, which is basically a road bed in the section that I was on. Then I went off-trail for about 1/4 mile and picked up a use trail which went all the way to the summit.

The off-trail portion was fairly easy -- I had to go up a slope, but it was open and not very brushy.

The use trail was in good shape most of the way, but close to the summit there were some gambel oaks that were encroaching on the trail. There was some decent fall foliage on the use trail, and it was nice to see the color. Actually some of the gambel oaks had some nice color also, especially in the sunshine.

There were some nice views at the summit, and I took a break in the shade of a juniper tree. I was the first person to sign the summit register in 2023, and there was only one entry in 2022. Given that, I think that it is safe to say that this peak is not hiked very often!

I returned the same way that I came.

Synopsis
This is not a bad little hike, but given that it is a long way from anywhere and is a fairly short hike, most people would not want to venture out there for such a short hike. However, it you are travelling on the Coronado Trail anyway and have a couple of hours to kill, you might want to check this hike out.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gambel Oak

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Mitchell Peak

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
There were several big tooth maples putting on a good show, and believe it or not some gambel oaks looked pretty good also.

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Oct 25 2016

SkyIslander18

Guides 4
Photos 4,732
Triplogs 2,605

55 male

Joined Sep 29 2004
Small Town USA

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Oct 25 2016
		SkyIslander18 • Triplogs 2,605

Hiking	13.25 Miles	2,300 AEG

Hiking	13.25 Miles	26 Hrs	0.51 mph
	2,300 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

linked

Coronado Trail - GET #15

Partners

partners

AddSanz

Chasing autumn colors up the Coronado Trail.
HL Canyon Loop starting from Sardine Saddle was the choice.
Nice 8 mile day trip was the plan .....

Have hiked this loop before ..... nice good trail to follow .....
Started down the first canyon and within a half mile was into great autumn colors. Climbed up and out to the scenic expansive views of the area and continued down to the Fry Trail connector with no problems. Then the trail became a little difficult to follow. No long story here now just the short - I made a bad direction decision that got us way off the trail. We climbed up to a high mountain peak to realize that I had us hours away from reconnecting to the trail back out. Now well into the afternoon hours, I felt we didn't have enough daylight time left to get back out safely. We were gonna have to spend the night and hit it in the morning ](*,)

We constructed an overnight camp on the mountain side under a juniper tree, collected a big pile of firewood, broke out our emergency ponchos & blankets and hunkered down for the long 12 hour night.

Morning could not come soon enough! At first light we broke camp, off-trailed across 2 canyons to reconnect with the trail, lost the trail out 2 more times before finally climbing back up & out to Sardine Saddle tired, sore & hungry.

My big mistake on this trip was not bringing a topo map of the area. I felt after 2 previous hikes on this trail it was not needed ..... I know better, rookie move, lesson learned.

My awesome adventure partner who has always trusted me was not very happy about the situation I got us in,
but handled it very well! My apologies again to her.
:yr:

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial

_____________________

https://www.instagram.com/skyislander22/

3 archives

Oct 20 2013

SkyIslander18

Guides 4
Photos 4,732
Triplogs 2,605

55 male

Joined Sep 29 2004
Small Town USA

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Oct 20 2013
		SkyIslander18 • Triplogs 2,605

Hiking	8.40 Miles	1,940 AEG

Hiking	8.40 Miles
	1,940 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

linked

Coronado Trail - GET #15

Partners

partners

weavejd

Last hike of the week with my friend before he heads back home to New Mexico tomorrow. I hiked just a little of this trail over a year ago and have been saving the entire loop for an autumn revisit. It was also a good time to show my buddy some of the very scenic Coronado Trail up to H L Saddle. We started from Sardine Saddle and completed this outstanding loop counter clockwise. A rainbow of autumn colors filled the unnamed canyon down and again in H L Canyon on the way back up & out! Great scenic views were had everywhere else in-between and the entire trail was in great shape, I really enjoyed this one!

It was a good end to a fantastic week of hiking, Thanks Dave! See you next year :y:

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Horse Lubber Grasshopper

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Mitchell Spring Morenci Open Pit

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

Mitchell Spring

Quart per minute

Mud Spring

Dripping

Well Spring

Dry

_____________________

https://www.instagram.com/skyislander22/

Aug 16 2012

SkyIslander18

Guides 4
Photos 4,732
Triplogs 2,605

55 male

Joined Sep 29 2004
Small Town USA

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Aug 16 2012
		SkyIslander18 • Triplogs 2,605

Hiking	3.73 Miles	1,212 AEG

Hiking	3.73 Miles	3 Hrs 5 Mns	2.03 mph
	1,212 ft AEG	1 Hour 15 Mns Break

no routes

Linked

linked

Big Tree Trail - Apache-Sitgreaves

Partners

none

no partners

After spending half the day in Morenci taking care of some business, I had a few afternoon hours left for a short hike. Drove through the mine and up the Coronado Trail stopping at Sardine Saddle and first hiked the very short out-n-back Big Tree trail. Cool little trail that took me down to the enormious AZ Cypress tree that in 1988 was recognized as the largest reported of it's species growing in the US! I then crossed the highway and got on the H L Canyon trail with just enough time to take it down to the Frye trail junction before returning back. What a scenic trail just the first mile of this one is and I will be back in autumn (should look awesome) to complete the entire loop! Headed back home to Safford as big storm clouds developed all over the county and after returning home and unloading the truck of hiking gear, I packed it back up with storm chasing gear and headed out .....

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Arizona Cypress

Wildflowers Observation Light

_____________________

https://www.instagram.com/skyislander22/

Nov 01 2009

PrestonSands

Guides 170
Routes 148
Photos 5,914
Triplogs 2,097

48 male

Joined Apr 12 2004
Tucson, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

H.L. Canyon Trail #11

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Nov 01 2009
		PrestonSands • Triplogs 2,097

Hiking	8.00 Miles	1,937 AEG

Hiking	8.00 Miles	4 Hrs	2.00 mph
	1,937 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

I told you I'd be back, H.L, it just took me awhile: http://www.hikearizona.com/x.php?I=4&ZTN=1027&UID=0

The day was getting late, but I went anyway, not knowing what to expect, but knowing I'd finish after dark. I tore into the woods below Sardine Saddle at 2:50 pm. Maples? Hadn't expected that! Then it was chaparral and sunny slopes for a good while, working east across ridges. The trail was in good shape, with recent work evident, and all of the trail junctions were signed. At one point a massive white bird silently watched me from a nearby tree. Shawshank Redemption! Chicago! No...Shikaka! And there was a huge splatter of white crap on the trail to back that up.

I made great time until I hit H.L. Canyon: Oooh! Lots of maples! The light faded all too quickly, and dusk set in when I arrived at the interesting old Well Spring cabin. Trying not to remember scenes from Wrong Turn, I shot a few photos of the cabin as the moon rose, then continued on to H.L. Saddle in the blackness. Should I follow the connector trail back, or take the moonlit highway? Just then my flashlight died. Guess I'll take the highway. The moon was indeed bright, and I took my time walking that last mile, enjoying evey second. I took quite a few more night shots on the way back to Morenci. What a great adventure! I'm glad I went.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bigtooth Maple

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Coronado Quartzite

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Wooden Dwelling

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial

_____________________

"…you never know when a hike might break out" -Jim Gaffigan

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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