Club Cabin • Backpacking Trip • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

[ checklist ] Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad Red Rock Spring

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This trip could be done as an enjoyable overnight or as a terrible dayhike. I chose the latter.

pre-trail
Driving down FR 25 from 201 was bad enough for my little minivan. Parked at the fork of 25/25A and walked up the rest of the way to Mormon Grove. New moon meant great sky views.

Saddle Mountain #91
Still in fantastic shape. Was a piece of cake to walk in the dark, even when a few overgrown branches cast scary shadows over the last mile or so. Potato Patch saddle was delightfully spooky, with those two big mountains towering above, blocking out the stars. Paused at MacFarland to pull a fresh liter and to gawk at the 'food cache'.

Sheep Creek #88
Getting to Squaw Flat Spring was easy with predawn light, though I still haven't found a track I like from there to the Copper Camp junction. Oh well. The final climb was quick and easy and I made it to the 'drop-off' just before the sunrise for some ridiculously good views. Drop was easier this time around, though the trail was a bit hard to track along the creek with the fall leaves. Which I was totally willing to deal with. Few pools along the way that dried up before the seep proper. Reached the cabin area to find a dry Round Spring and creek - which I needed. Hauled up to Sears Junction and the saddle above but couldn't pick up a path until I started dropping down the other side.

Sheep Creek Trail from Sears to Davenport is a bit easier to track than the eastern part of Sears Trail, with small cairns and faint tread to track, but it was easy to lose near the washes. Oh, and that last drop down the ridge after the Sears Junction is terrible, all rolling rocks that really know how to tweak knees. I did find it interesting how small most of the cairns are, as if someone recently did some revival work, there's just not enough traffic out this way to sustain it. Once I reached Davenport Wash I was struck at how different these two trails were - Davenport Wash is like 90% packed footpath with a few cairns and Sheep Creek is 90% tiny cairn tracking and sorting through game trails.

Davenport Wash #89
Section from Sheep Creek to Club Cabin felt a bit harder to follow today, or else I was just in a rush for water. Reached the old cabin to the smell/sight of fresh horse manure but no one in sight. Drank 2 liters here, pulled another 2, figuring that would be enough to last until Deadman Creek. While I was pulling water a bear tried to sneak up on me, but I heard him crunching the leaves (about twenty feet away) and told him kindly to wait his turn.

Onto the fun part. Getting to Red Rock Spring area was simple, good trail that was being overtaken by various spiky things with well-worn alternative routes. Climbing out of Red Rock was a solid gut-punch of elevation and I accidentally ended up on a game trail about forty feet above the actual path but kept to it, unwilling to lose an inch. We met back up in time to tackle two miles of manzanita / catclaw / holly? mess that left me dripping blood from a dozen cuts. Then it was time to slip-slide descend into Upper Deadman, which was dry, and then climb back out, and I chose a bad route initially and had to do sketchy scrambling before finding the real way, and then haul up the grassy hill that never ends.

When I hit mile 21, with forty minutes of daylight left and unknown trail conditions ahead, I had to stop. Drank the last of my water, ate a disgustingly sweet bar of some sort, and watched ballooning strands sparkle over Deadman Creek in the dying day's light. It was one of those moments that I hope I never lose, feeling the concerns about getting back to a decent trail before sunset melting away in the face of silent, overpowering beauty.

Back to the hike. Hauled up the rest of the way to round the cliff by 5400' and find a lonely cairn marking the turn. Which was nice, because there hadn't been dependable cairns for much of the climb from the creek. The terrain got real rocky real fast, huge red boulders that were anything but stable, though there was a packed path hidden in the manzanita that slowly got better as I traveled east. In fact, even after the sun set, I was able to move pretty quick as obvious maintenance made the last mile painless. To whoever did this, you are awesome. Reached Chilson around six and wasted little time booking up Brody and swinging around on the Mazatzal Divide. Stopped before the saddle to don some extra clothes (temps drop fast up there) and wish for some water.

Barnhardt #43
Was far too easy to trot down, even after all those miles. One thing worth mentioning was that I was about a mile in when a large chopper slowly started flying up the canyon. It took a minute for me to register the spotlight on it and I didn't turn off my headlamp in time. They quickly zeroed in on me, swinging low circles and blinding me with their light. I waved them away but it took a while for them to acknowledge and fly away, turning towards the Sandy Saddle area. I'm unsure if someone else was in trouble and called them in or if it was a police chopper making routine rounds or what.

Yet another quiet day in the Mazzies. Didn't see anyone on the trail, only one other car parked at Barnhardt during pick-up. (Big thanks to @reynchr for assisting with the shuttle)

Mazatzal Miles: 181.5/275 (66%)
Finally got every trail southeast of Mountain Spring completed! (except Fig, but Fig only kinda counts)

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness

Dry

Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad

Quart per minute

Hawaiian Mist

Dry

	Red Rock Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Flowing right across Davenport Wash Trail crossing, most convenient.

Rock Spring

Dry

Round Spring

Dry

Sheep Creek - Upper SE Fork

Dry

Squaw Flat Spring

Dry

	Upper McFarland @ #88/95	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Two large pools with clean, clear water.

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Sep 01 2017

jacobemerick

Guides 38
Routes 182
Photos 1,602
Triplogs 232

40 male

Joined Dec 09 2014
Gilbert, AZ

Horse Camp Seep - Mazatzals

Payson, AZ

Backpack		Sep 01 2017
		jacobemerick • Triplogs 232

Backpack	35.34 Miles	7,340 AEG

Backpack	35.34 Miles	4 Days
	7,340 ft AEG

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Sandy Saddle Trail #231

Willow Springs Trail #223 - Mazatzal

Deadman Trail #25

[ checklist ] Castersen Seep Deadman Creek Deadman Creek - Deadman Trail #25 Sandy Saddle Table Mountain

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The planned route was an attempt to follow @Lizard's original Club Cabin description with two key differences: I wanted to reverse it and use Sandy Saddle to go up (instead of Half Moon / Rock Creek). However, things didn't go well and I ended up bailing on the last leg.

Barnhardt #43
First time heading up this trail in daylight. Starting to get a bit overgrown in sections, all friendly green stuff that never hurt nobody. Bumped into a yuge group (12+) from Prescott Comm. who were doing a 3-week trip from here to Fossil Creek. These would be the last people I'd see in... a long time.

Sandy Saddle #231
Good grief. Even getting to Castersen Seep involved trekking-poles-above-head wading through the manzanita. There are sections of defined tread and clear track, they are just few and far between. Castersen was okay, few tanks w/ skunky water. Had a hard time tracking trail over to the next wash, and that last climb doesn't believe in switchbacks. Made it to the saddle proper with the sunset, a solid hour behind schedule. This would make a decent camp, plus there were tanks few hundred yards to the west for water. Unsure of how dependable they are.

Anyways, didn't even try to look for tread coming down the west side, just dropped in the drainage and followed it down. The wash was easy enough to navigate in the twilight / moonlight and I made it to Divide Trail, then Horse Camp Seep, without needing headlamp. Rehydrated and snoozing in hammock by ten.

Mazatzal Divide #23
As usual, big views. Was cool to look down from the ridge above the Park and try to track where Willow Spring plays on 6351'. Trail is in great shape. Thought about pushing on to Pete's Pond to camel up and didn't - stupid mistake.

Willow Spring #223
Heh. That first mile is turrible. Deadfall wasn't really a problem, more the manzanita and loose rocks underfoot. Found no cairn or tread along the way. Got a gnarly bloody nose here too thanks to a face-whacking branch, took way too long to stem the flow. Things got better on the ridge, with old tread and game trails providing an easier way forward through the shorter brush. Views across Maverick Basin were ridiculously awesome, too.

The dance along the side of 6351' was annoying, with the trail fading in and out of existence and too few cairns to connect the dots, and a pretty steep hillside to work along. Short section of good trail on the drop until it faded out again and I ended up taking a rocky drainage down to wash below. At this point I was starting to run low on water and decided to stick to the sandy wash in hopes of finding water (and maybe to avoid the manzanita/deadfall mix that waited on the southern bank). Found a decent tank (though I suspect it was only there from last night's rain) and filtered up, spooked an elk while packing up, and then hacked my way back up to trail.

Things gradually got easier along the ridge and, by the time I bumped into the Midnight Mesa Junction, the trail was straightforward to pick out. Dancing along the side of Midnight Mesa was downright fun, and the rest of the hike to Mountain Spring was enjoyable as well. Reached the spring with two hours of daylight for camp chores and treated myself to some homemade thai curry mix and a quick trough-side rinse-off.

Aside from the second night: at about ten at night that elk showed up for a drink. Darn thing was less than ten feet away before I realized he wasn't another tiny nocturnal rodent. Seeing a giant rack upside down, looking down on you as you cowboy-camp, is a hell of a way to wake up. Spooked him off and then fell back asleep to his annoyed bugles. Elk sound silly when they're angry.

Deadman #25
Getting to the junction is easy to follow, and there is a good path w/ cairns that lead down to Horse Creek. And then it disappears. Tried going up and down the banks a few time to find where it climbs and eventually just hacked up the hill. It's frustrating, because there are two old barbed fences to cross, and one would think that there'd be a gate or cairn or something to mark where you're supposed to pass through them - nothing. Got to practice my Zeta-Jones skills squeezing underneath the wires, at least. Tread shows up at the next drainage crossing and is easy to follow for the next mile, then gets faint on the long drop to Deadman Creek.

Deadman Creek seems to be dependable here, with lots of friendly trees and some reeds growing around the trickling waters. Trail was hard to track on the other side - I crossed, got to the corral, and then followed the fence east, and then lost it. Think I should have gone further east. Anyways, hacked my own way up some turrible brush and then picked a route up the hill. Found a few cairns but the tread wasn't trackable for too long. Felt like it took forever to climb up to the saddle. Once I reached the top, feeling a bit light-headed from the growing heat, I was immediately stung several times by a wasp. Made it down to the junction w/ Davenport Trail before the reaction started getting serious.

This is when things get a bit blurry. I reached out to wife (@klemerick) via inReach and let her know what had happened. I decided to head up to Club Cabin and rest for a while, took every ounce of energy to make it up that hillside - something was definitely off, either from heat or sting or both. Once I got there I remember wandering around, uncertain of what to do next, taking almost an hour before realizing that I should be drinking water given the 100+ temps. @klemerick was in constant contact and she decided that I needed to get out of there the fastest way possible, down Davenport, and that she and @reynchr would help me out along the way. Spent the rest of the day futzing around the cabin, not doing much of anything, mostly trying to get a grip on things. It was terrifying.

Davenport #89
Woke up the next morning feeling slightly better, still off. Those little climbs, especially near Rock Spring, kept knocking the wind out of me. At least the path was easy to track after the last few days - think I only lost it twice, and was able to quickly backtrack and get back on it. Don't know how I had such a hard time following it last year lol. Made it about halfway down that last mesa, outside the wilderness boundary, when a USFS truck showed up to give me a ride the rest of the way.

My rescuers, @klemerick and @reynchr, had spent the night at Sears Trailhead and left a water cache for me there while they went back and tried to find a way to get their vehicle across the Verde. By sheer luck they bumped into a ranger at the camp and explained the situation. He had access to the dam gates and drove over to save me the last four miles of hiking, which was definitely appreciated. Made it out of there in relatively good shape, though I was still shaky and weird from the day before. I have no idea how I would have gotten out of there without their help, though - trying to cross back over to Barnhardt would have been far outside my capabilities in my shape. Am very grateful for them.

Mazatzal Miles: 164.6/275 (60%)

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Elk Tarantula Hawk

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Hike HAZard

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness

Pools to trickle

	Castersen Seep	Dripping	Dripping
	Well, the seep proper was dry, but there were tanks downstream that held water.

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Main hole was full, pools/trickles went almost halfway to cabin.

Dog Spring

Dry

Hawaiian Mist

Dry

	Horse Camp Seep	Dripping	Dripping
	Tanks were lowest I've seen them.

	Mountain Spring - Mazatzal	Dripping	Dripping
	Some trickle along creek, cement trough was full (and quite green).

Rock Spring

Dry

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1 archive

Feb 11 2017

FOTG

Guides 37
Routes 556
Photos 10,872
Triplogs 1,052

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Payson, AZ

Backpack		Feb 11 2017
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Backpack	30.05 Miles	4,799 AEG

Backpack	30.05 Miles	2 Days
	4,799 ft AEG

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I was finally able to get to the Club this weekend. I had been wanting to visit the old cabin's ruins for a long time, so it was nice to finally get there this weekend. Last year I came up a little short due to an ill advised looping attempt with Sears Trail and I cancelled another trip due to weather.

I started from the dam where there is a ton of water being released right now. Davenport Wash Trail went pretty fast at first and then dragged a bit, as it got more primitive. There was no water along the entire trail until Rock Spring just over 13 miles in. However, after that there is running water. The acacia is a bit of a nuisance the final mile or so to the cabin and I had to break several prickly pair along the way to get Blanco and his big pack through, but we got to the Club rather unscathed, just tired and a little cooked from the beating sun. The cabin site is pretty on par for most dilapidated cabin sites, nothing overly spectacular, but a pleasant area to camp none the less. Club Spring's flow was robust and after the usual camp chores and some dinner, I was in bed pretty early.

The overnight conditions were closer to balmy rather than cold and I enjoyed the big moon. Similarly, it was not overly chilly in the morning and rather pleasant. I broke camp to some light rain, but it was sporadic and ended after a few short intervals of sprinkles. The hike out went quicker and was much cooler than the day before my spirits were raised along the way by a petroglyph find. Davenport Trail is not in horrible shape, but its lack of shade and somewhat rugged tread at times will wear on you. It took just under 8 hours to get to Club Cabin on the way in and just over seven hours to hike out.

Great overnight conditions for backpacking, but it did get a little warm on the way in. I am not sure if the current state of Davenport Trail makes this an enjoyable hike for everyone, but I appreciated its rugged demeanor and enjoyed the out and back overnighter.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gila Monster

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Horseshoe Dam

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Strong robust flow

	Rock Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Robust right now, feeding a small drainage.

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2 archives

Mar 05 2016

jacobemerick

Guides 38
Routes 182
Photos 1,602
Triplogs 232

40 male

Joined Dec 09 2014
Gilbert, AZ

Payson, AZ

Backpack		Mar 05 2016
		jacobemerick • Triplogs 232

Backpack	29.90 Miles	4,670 AEG

Backpack	29.90 Miles	2 Days
	4,670 ft AEG

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[ checklist ] Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad Horseshoe Dam Horseshoe Reservoir

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* Back-posting for the memories *

I was starting to get a bit weary of the Supes in early 2016 so the Mazzies seemed like an interesting option. Armed with exactly 0 miles hiked in this wilderness and a random assortment of gear I headed out to Horseshoe Dam to check out some trails. The plan was to do Davenport-Sears Loop as an overnight, with a short hop up to Club Cabin for water if I had time, but that turned out to be a bit ambitious.

The Hike Out
Getting to this trail is a small adventure. Parked near the overlook and crossed under the dam, which was way more awesome than I expected. Then it was mundane dirt road walking to the trailhead. I wasn't sure if the (KA/Johnson) ranch was active before heading out, but from tire tracks, crowing roosters, and random farm animals in the pastures it looks to be fully operational. Three miles later and I found Sears Trailhead, where a horse trailer was already parked in the wash. They must have driven over the dam's walkway (which is locked, btw).

First few miles beyond the wash is a winding two-track that goes through palo verde/saguaro flats, climbs up a little ridge, and then follows the open grassy ridge while providing awesome views of a chalky canyon to the north and epic ridges eastwards. Things get a little rocky again near the wilderness boundary and pauses at an old horse corral. This is where the two-track ends and it took a while for me to pick up where the footpath continues on the far side. From here on out I had to depend more on the fresh horse tracks and occasional cairn than defined trail. Climb up to a saddle, enjoy the views, drop a short bit down, and then climb to the next saddle. Got thoroughly separated from the trail twice and had some fun hacking through brush. But at least I bumped into my first Gila monster on the way!

When I finally got to Table Mountain and the Sheep Creek junction I was running behind schedule, low on water, and felt pretty drained from the exposure. Plus I had seen no water along the way, so it seemed safest to continue to Club Cabin and water up instead of saving time by cutting down towards uncertain sources on Sheep Creek. A bit over eight hours since leaving the dam I reached Club Cabin to find the pen locked tight and horses running loose inside. Finally found the group I had been following all day. We chatted, shared stories, and then I watered up at the spring, which was barely trickling. Tried using a new Sawyer mini, failed because I didn't know what I was doing, so just defaulted to an old MSR Miniworks. After an hour's rest I backtracked to Rock Spring, near the Sheep Creek junction, and set up camp near the circular water trough.

Camp
Mentioned that my gear was a random assortment. Half of it was leftover from my Midwest backpacking days and half was new fancy ultralight stuff. Dinner was a simple thing over a pocket rocket & gas, shelter a tarp-poncho with line & trekking poles to hold it up, and sleeping system a 20°F Kelty w/ Klymit X-Lite. Thanks to the huge bag I was using my 65L Scheels backpack, which was not designed to carry such a light load and had been sitting poorly all day. Plus my boots (Vasque Breeze) literally had holes in them from 5+ years of use. My back hurt and my feet bruised and, thanks to a warm and cloudy evening with some spitting rain, the sleeping bag was far too warm and bugs were out in force. Bug spray only does so much. Without a net I was reduced to huddling inside the cinched bag and sauna'd through the night. It was not a great campsite experience.

The Return
After a handful of catnaps I got up early and booked out, skipping coffee and oatmeal for a quick return. There was no way I was going to tempt Sheep Creek/Sears on the way down, not with unreliable GPS routes and a foul mood. Made one brief stop looking for water near an unnamed spring E of Dog Spring and found a little pool too small/muddy for the MSR to handle. Could have made it worked, decided to tough it out. Rolled downhill, only losing the trail once this time (progress!), and made it back in about five hours. Ran out of water at the trailhead and had a hot & dry road walk to finish things. Returned to the van after my first Mazzie experience slightly humbled and very thirsty.

Mazatzal Miles: 10.9/274 (4%)

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Banana Yucca

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gila Monster

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Dripping	Dripping
	One full pool, dripping below. Some water was being diverted into horse trough at cabins.

Rock Spring

Dry

_____________________

Mar 14 2015

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,762

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Trans Mazzy - East to West, AZ

Hiking		Mar 14 2015
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,762

Hiking	23.85 Miles	4,188 AEG

Hiking	23.85 Miles	14 Hrs 27 Mns		2.05 mph
	4,188 ft AEG	2 Hrs 50 Mns Break	16 LBS Pack

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Brody Seep Trail #264

[ checklist ] Blackfoot Daisy Canna lily Common Periwinkle Miners Lettuce

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	BiFrost	fan3992
	joebartels	JuanJaimeiii
	topohiker

This one's been in the thought / planning stage for more than a year.
Once the logistics of
:next:

covering aprox 24 miles,
:next:

on a day that Horseshoe Dam was closed (ie Verde cross-able w/ vehicle),
:next:

decent weather,
:next:

with a group of 6 to 10 hikers,
:next:

in an area few have ventured recently,
:next:

on a trail that is non-existent in places
was determined, it all fell into place.

We were thwarted 2 weeks ago by weather and our group dropped from 10 to 6. This was a key swap, since I figured it would take about 8 hours to set up and rip down a shuttle. JJ, Joe, Karl started on the Davenport Wash Trail, from the west at the Wilderness border, Ken, Fan and myself from the East at the Barnhart TH.

Temps were mostly nice on the day. Starting at 55, hitting mid 80's and ending, for us, at 72. Scattered clouds and a breeze help immensely during the day.

Hawaiian Mist and the Big Kahuna Falls were flowing decently on the way up the Barnhart Trail.

Passing the campsite just west of the intersection with the Mazatzal Divide Trail, some idiot backpackers neglected to put out their campfire and left cans from their meal in the fire. We covered it the best we could with rocks to keep it contained, not knowing when we'd get to our next water source for replenishment.

On our way through Chilson Camp we stopped and chatted with the guys camping there. A few were forest service workers out enjoying the weekend.

The views West of Chilson Camp, were pretty big. Table Mountain was the prominent peak, with numerous canyons around the South Fork of Deadmans Creek and Davenport Creek, supplying interesting views.

Now the fun begins. To this point we were on established trails. The Davenport Wash Trail from Chilson Camp to Club Cabin, has some issues. With a GPS track (Highly Recommended), you can navigate your way.

Climbing out of the South Fork of Deadmans Creek, we met the easterly traveling speedsters. We chatted for a brief moment, but I could tell that JJ's motor was running. Cue smoke, speedsters gone into a cloud dust.

From East to West, the worst section for us was betwen miles 11.5 - 13.25 (5000' to 4400'). Where we hiked, was in spots, through extremely thick brush.

At Club Cabin we topped off our water and had some lunch. Only 12 miles to go and it was 4:45pm.

At dusk we saw 2 rattlers about 5 minutes apart from each other and then spied a fox. We had a bit of trail finding issues in the dark, but made it back to Ken's Jeep, thankfully parked at the Wilderness boundary. A long, fun, challenging day.

Thanks to Richard for being a sounding board on a few issues, and
a Big Thanks to Ken :app:

and Karl

for driving, and JJ for the Pizza. ](*,)

Video https://youtu.be/_U ... uu74

** Of Note ** HAZTracks ran for 14+ Hours (Android - Galaxy S5) before the cell phone died 1/2 mile before we finished.
Cell was also on for the two hour trip to the TH. (16+ hours total)

I think that one is out of my system now....
.....do I dare start planning the next long distance Mazzy adventure that's been bugging me the last couple of years to do? It too will probably need to be a key swap.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

	Big Kahuna Falls - Mazatzal Wilderness	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Plenty to filter

	Chilson Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Water was across the Trail, but did not climb up to check the source.

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Plenty to filter Also Davenport Wash had plenty of water to both the North and West of here

	Hawaiian Mist	Light flow	Light flow
	Plenty to filter

	Red Rock Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Did not check out spring, but area downstream at Davenport Wash Trail was flowing and appears to be perennial.

	South Fork Deadman Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	Where we crossed at the Davenport Wash Trail, there was plenty to filter.

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

Mar 14 2015

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,797
Photos 14,494
Triplogs 5,894

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Trans Mazatzal West to East, AZ

Hiking		Mar 14 2015
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	22.00 Miles	6,000 AEG

Hiking	22.00 Miles	10 Hrs 33 Mns		2.44 mph
	6,000 ft AEG	1 Hour 32 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

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Mazatzal Divide - AZT #23

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BiFrost

JuanJaimeiii

Big thanks to Bruce for getting this organized. Building on jj's triplog...

We had a little over 5.5 miles of rarely traveled country to knock out on the eastern Davenport Wash Trail #89. While this segment demands your attention it was not the ferocious beast feared. Water was available in many areas. No camera but 5932 was my favorite view of the day. South Fork of Deadmans Creek was the yeah baby this rocks area. Eclipsed by 6248, Mazzy Peak stood like a king.

jj hooked us up at Redendo's Pizzeria. The pizza hit the spot! Salad was average at best. Perplexing service. In all fairness it was hands down the best run business by a 12 year old.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Dichelostemma capitatum dominated west of the divide. Brittlebush was impressive too. A few scattered varieties throughout, most west of the divide.

_____________________

- joe

Jan 20 2014

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

Club Cabin from Davenport West, AZ

Hiking		Jan 20 2014
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	24.84 Miles	4,507 AEG

Hiking	24.84 Miles	11 Hrs	2.82 mph
	4,507 ft AEG	2 Hrs 12 Mns Break

no routes

no photosets

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BiFrost

joebartels

Joe, Karl and I went to the Club cabin. The fording point was bone dry! We made the cabin and went a little further down the Davenport trail.

I got home at a decent time for once!

I did learn that raw Cacao nibs make a great gift idea for Joe!

Great hike and great company for my 500th triplog!

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Jan 18 2014

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,797
Photos 14,494
Triplogs 5,894

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Club Cabin from Davenport West, AZ

Hiking		Jan 18 2014
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	24.35 Miles	4,645 AEG

Hiking	24.35 Miles	10 Hrs 57 Mns		2.39 mph
	4,645 ft AEG	45 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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[ checklist ] Club Cabin Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad Table Mountain

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BiFrost

topohiker

Club Cabin has been on my must do list since Lizard posted it up 12 years ago. It's remote location makes it a tough day hike under normal circumstances. Ken mentioned we could cut off some mileage sneaking over the currently dry Verde River.

Riding in I found out Ken had three trips under his belt and Karl had a couple too. The Verde was bone dry just south of Horseshoe. Everything was looking on the up and up that today would be the day I'd finally enter da'club!

Miles melted away quick under great conversation and fabulous weather. Well until I mentioned a common technology interest. That turned out to be the dagger pinning a shut-up sticky note on my back. You would have thought something exciting was being conversed like restaurants, databases, scripting or hiking. No such luck. The network geniuses were playing geek phrase ping pong. TWO HOURS later my presence was re-acknowledged.

Davenport is good trail heading east to the Sheep junction. Wear pants, shorts would be a tad painful. After that the trail condition drops a grade to the old cabin site. Nothing bad, just pay attention.

My expectations for the burned down ranch site were bottom of the barrel. Pillow fluffy golden grass fields had me at hello. The towering mountain backdrop wowed me with gnarly geology bands hugging in the old Club Ranch. Club Spring rounds out the full package deal.

Ken wanted to checkout more of Davenport since time permitted. SW provided some unknown trail that deteriorated quickly. North was the ticket according to gps and map but there wasn't much evidence to back up those theories. We latched on to a trail for a few paces into Red Rock Spring ravine. One shallow pool and another stellar towering backdrop. No signs of a trail leaving the ravine but we found cairns a few minutes up. On the near ridge above thoughts of turning this into a shuttle died out. Just no cell signal to query a ride.

This one turned out better than anticipated. I'm getting a feel for the area. My interest is growing on the now understood options. Table Mountain ( CLUB 5408 ) needs some love. Deadman, Willow, Dutchman, LF, Fig, Midnight... Mtn Spring, I know where you're at buddy
Western Mazzie madness is on!

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Inscriptions

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	approx 3.8 quarts per minute... rounding up to a gallon

Davenport Wash

Pools to trickle

	Red Rock Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Didn't go to the spring. There was a pool large enough to filter down beside the trail ( if you could call it a trail ). Club Spring is a better nearby source.

_____________________

- joe

Jan 18 2014

BiFrost

Guides 4
Routes 491
Photos 10,890
Triplogs 1,257

55 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Club Cabin from Davenport West, AZ

Hiking		Jan 18 2014
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,257

Hiking	24.50 Miles	4,682 AEG

Hiking	24.50 Miles	10 Hrs 57 Mns	2.57 mph
	4,682 ft AEG	1 Hour 26 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Club Cabin Club Ranch Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad Red Rock Spring

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joebartels

topohiker

We had the rare opportunity to drive across the dry Verde River and cutoff some extra miles of hiking for an already long day. Joe and Ken invited me to come along with Club Cabin as the objective for the day. Out and back hike to Club Cabin but really decent trail most of the way for the Mazzies. We followed the Davenport Trail all the way passing Sheep Junction and then the last section up to the Club Cabin.

We looked around the cabin site for a few minutes checking out the really nice spring area just above the Cabin. Lush greenery abounds and water flows into several small pools perfect to quench your thirst if short on water. Ken suggested we check things out above the Cabin which we did trying to find the almost non-existent trail. We went another 3/4 mile above the Club passing small pools of water in Red Rock Spring before turning back and was able to follow the old trail back. Much of the trail in this section is overgrown or washed out so definitely helps to have a GPS route above Club Cabin.

After messing around looking for trail we headed back to Club Cabin and had lunch. Took our time on the lunch break, enjoyed a brew, and spent some more time relaxing before the long hike out.

We kept a quick pace on the hike out...even a little warm for January. Made it to the vehicle little after dark. Great day...I'm sure will be back. So much to see in this area

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Corral

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Nice flow and some good small pools.

	Davenport Wash	Light flow	Light flow
	Light flow with some small pools near Club Cabin.

	Red Rock Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Small pools.

_____________________

Feb 16 2013

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Feb 16 2013
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	30.53 Miles	4,547 AEG

Hiking	30.53 Miles	12 Hrs 45 Mns	2.71 mph
	4,547 ft AEG	1 Hour 30 Mns Break

no routes

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[ checklist ] Club Cabin Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad

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I parked at the Horseshow dam and it was super windy. The dam is getting pretty full. Water was coming over the spillway. I got a little wet walking under the spill way. It looked like they were releasing at full capacity.
Hiking to the Davenport TH and the wilderness boundary was uneventful.

There was recent activity on the trail. I saw recent foot prints and 2~3 spots where trail maintenance was done. I saw about 7 to 8 horseshoes on the trail. I guess that's fitting for this area! The trail seemed to be more washed out from the last time I was on it and the ground was softer.

I didn't have any route finding issues this time because I took my time at the sketchy parts. By the time I got to the Club Cabin it was pretty warm out. I enjoyed lunch in the tree shade. I noticed that the Club Cabin spring was dry. The Davenport wash by the cabin/corral had some water running through it.

I headed back and made it to the wilderness boundary / forest road by nightfall.

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Named place [ checklist ]

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Mar 17 2012

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 17 2012
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	25.75 Miles	5,910 AEG

Hiking	25.75 Miles	11 Hrs 18 Mns	3.04 mph
	5,910 ft AEG	2 Hrs 50 Mns Break

no routes

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fan3992

The plan was to see how close we could get to the Club Cabin. The day started out by me oversleeping by 50 minutes! Something I never do! :zzz:

We got to the Barnhard TH a little before 8. The parking lot was full of Search & Rescue crews. One of the crew members told me that they received a help message from a PLB on Friday. A helicopter flew to the location, but it is in a narrow canyon and couldn't get close. They did see a tent in the canyon. The crews came in Saturday to hike into the canyon and find out what was going on.

We started hiking at 8. We made it to the Chilson camp by 11:30. The Davenport trail is a rugged, route finding special! Even though I had my track from last year, we spent a lot of time finding the trail. The lack of use and the tall grass obscures the trail. We started the decent into the South fork of Deadman creek and Fan was tired so she took an extended break as I went to cross the creek.

I accidently followed a spur trail to a lookout above the creek. Then I found a scree drainage that dropped into a tributary of the Deadman creek. The drainage wasn't that steep or long, so I slid down on my butt. At the bottom I noticed that my Gatorade bottle was missing. I had to climb half way back up the scree to get my Gatorade back!

I explored a little down the almost dry creek before heading up the other side. The trail was very well defined on the other side. I climbed about half way up the other side before losing the trail. I searched around and found some game trails that lead nowhere. I could see fan on the other side of the creek. The radios came in handy!

I decided to head back. I was tired of route finding for the day. Ever if I did find the trail, I would not have much time before I needed to turn around. You don't want to be out in this area in the dark. The route finding is hard enough in the day.

I headed back to where Fan was and took lunch. The trail is very easy to follow up hill (it's obscured going downhill). We headed back to the Maz Divide. We had some extra time, so I went to north and Fan started back.

As I hit the Sandy Saddle, I saw some backpackers. Low and behold one of the backpackers was Richard (Mazatzal)!

He was starting a multiday backpack along the Mazatzal divide trail. I hope the guys didn't get too much rain or snow!

I headed back out. Fan beat me to the Jeep by five minutes.

I've finally accepted the fact that the Davenport / Club Cabin (from the Barnhard TH) is not a day hike. You need to backpack it. It's just too rugged and hard to follow to make it out to the Club Cabin and back in a day.

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Dec 11 2011

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Andrea Spring loop, AZ

Hiking		Dec 11 2011
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Hiking	20.60 Miles	2,980 AEG

Hiking	20.60 Miles	7 Hrs 25 Mns	3.13 mph
	2,980 ft AEG	50 Mns Break

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Sears Trail #90

Davenport / Sears Loop - Horseshoe Dam

Davenport / Sears Loop - Horseshoe Dam

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Horseshoe Dam to Davenport tr, down old route to Andrea Spr, up a narrow icy canyon and over to Sears tr. Went out beyond the springs for about a half mile and back on Sears. Some patches of snow above 3K. First and last 3.5 miles on mtn bike.

_____________________

1 archive

Nov 24 2011

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Horseshoe Dam to Davenport trail, AZ

Hiking		Nov 24 2011
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Hiking	12.30 Miles	990 AEG

Hiking	12.30 Miles	5 Hrs 30 Mns	2.73 mph
	990 ft AEG	1 Hour Break

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Dam to a bit beyond the "old"? TH. Great hike - a few rain sprinkles - but great weather overall.

_____________________

Sep 18 2011

Outlander

Routes 68
Photos 807
Triplogs 64

male

Joined Aug 03 2007
Tolleson, AZ

[ checklist ] Bear Spring - Fisher Club Ranch Fisher Spring Red Rock Spring South Fork Deadman Creek

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Sep 18 2011
		Outlander • Triplogs 64

Hiking	26.00 Miles	6,000 AEG

Hiking	26.00 Miles	42 Hrs	0.87 mph
	6,000 ft AEG	12 Hrs Break

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The mission was to check out a couple of springs near the Mazatzal Divide, and then see the area around Club Cabin.

This trip was rather uneventful, but that is how things sometimes go. I had not fully recovered from my last hike and it showed, taking lots of breaks and generally dragging tail the whole trip. Even so, the rest breaks allowed for time to hear the birds and take in the moment, seeing things that I might not have otherwise.

I took the Y-Bar Basin Trail up to the Mazatzal Divide Trail, taking it south to Bear Spring. Bear Spring is a popular spot to camp and has reliable water. My interest was in the springs below it, namely Fisher Spring, to see if the deer and elk were in the area. It turns out they were, though Fisher Spring was nearly dry despite the summer rains.
The upper reaches of the mountains are a sea of green, the secondary growth species now mature and established among the charred remnants of the pines that once dominated the area. Blackberries are abundant, growing across the hillsides and ravines. The blackberries are no longer in season, but there is ample evidence that the bears spent a good deal of time eating them, along with the usual Manzanita berries.

The upper South Fork is dry for the most part, aside from a couple of seeps that seem to run through the hot summer months. Most of the trees had been burned out, as per usual. I took the creek for a mile and then went up a side wash that appeared to have running water and trees, but upon further inspection, it turned out not so interesting. Sometimes the satellite images can give false signals on a place, though most of the time they are quite helpful. The 2000' hump up the hill burned the last of my mojo, from which time rubber legs and knocky knees would have to carry me the next 13 miles.

The next day I went to Red Rock Spring and Club Cabin. Red Rock Spring has a good flow rate and supports a riparian area for about 1/4 mile. There are lots of wild grapes, blackberries, and ferns in there, along with a resident bear or two. Above the spring are some big oak trees and grassy meadows, home to a small herd of deer. The deer numbers are low, but the ones that I did see appeared to be robust and healthy. Mountain lions have wiped out many of the deer in there, as the average lion will kill one deer each week. Their numbers are higher in areas where the lions are hunted, closer to the roads, with numbers declining further back in the wilderness.

Club Cabin has been burned down, but it was nice to finally see the place that my friends in the Mazatzal horse riding club have talked so much about. The old wood burning stoves are really cool, along with the fig trees and flower garden. This is the kind of place I would like to have someday, a little piece of land with flowing water and some livestock.

The Davenport Trail is very overgrown and in disrepair. It is a good idea to wear pants and long sleeves, as it gets pretty rough in places. Also, bring a map and GPS. I ended up wasting an hour after I took a wrong turn. It was not a big deal, but since it was already 8 PM, that extra hour could have been better spent. In the end, I took the Barnhardt Trail back, arriving at the truck at midnight under a headlamp.

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Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Hike HAZard

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

	Bear Spring - Fisher	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	A good source for water and popular camp area.

	Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	There is plenty of water out here all summer.

	Fisher Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	The spring flows at a better rate about 30 yards up the wash.

	Red Rock Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	This spring is very reliable and never drys out, regardless of the season.

	Windsor Spring	Dry	Dry
	Not a drop flows, even after the summer rains.

_____________________

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Apr 30 2011

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

[ checklist ] Club Cabin Club Ranch Club Spring - Table Mountain Quad

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Apr 30 2011
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	31.32 Miles	5,113 AEG

Hiking	31.32 Miles	12 Hrs 10 Mns	2.76 mph
	5,113 ft AEG	50 Mns Break

no routes

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If at first you don't succeed, try from the other side.
About two weeks ago I tried to get to the Club Cabin from the Barnhard TH and was not able to make it due to rough terrain and a lack of time.

With the unseasonably cools temps, I decided to try again from the Horseshoe dam.
It was almost cold when I started at 7:30am. After three miles I made it to the Sears TH. Then another 3 miles until I hit the Davenport TH/wilderness boundary.
The first 6 miles were on jeep roads. Now the fun begins. The trail gives away to a single-track trail.
After a while the grass covers the trail and route finding becomes more important. The trail gets faint in spots and occasionally disappears. After a bit, the Davenport wash will be to your lower right and the trail will follow the contour. It seems like at every wash and saddle the trail changes directions and you're spending a couple moments looking for it. At the ~13.5 mile mark, you reach the intersection with the Sheep Creek trail. Now your less than two miles from the Club Cabin.
Now you climb a saddle and drop down into a creek bed with a fence line. The trail goes into a cat's claw field and disappears. I found a path that lead to a gate in the fence.
I didn't see any cairns or trail. My map showed that the trail followed the fence line, so I did. I figured out that the trail was on the other side of the fence, so I hopped over it. Then I ran into the Deadman's trail intersection. The sign for the Deadman's trail was on the ground and so weather faded, that it couldn't be read anymore.
The cabin is really close now. Just follow the fence line, cross the creek and go by a correl. I could see the base of the mountains coming into view and there was a very green canyon with big trees coming up. This is where the Club Cabin / Club springs are.

I made it the cabin at 1:10, which was 10 minutes past my turn around point. I spent a lot of time route finding to get to this point.
There a shack that's intact, but the cabin is burnt down. The cabin has burnt down. There's still a cement foundation, foot high stone wall, stove, bed springs and a make shift hammock. See my pictures. I headed up to the spring which was a nice shady spot with lots of flowing water. This would be a perfect camping spot.
The views are just wonderful. I could see why the cabin was built here.

Getting to this spot is hard and challenging hike. This pushed my limits on energy expended on a hike. You need to have route finding skills, know how to read a map and your GPS.
I have two different GPSs with the Davenport trail loaded on them and I still had issues staying on the trail (both directions!). Both of the GPSs were only about 80% accurate with regards to Davenport trail.
The dam is at 2,000 feet and the cabin is at 4,000, but there a lot of rolling climbs in between. You gain 100 feet, lose 80; repeat numerous time. There are a lot of sections where
The trail is baseball rocks, solid rock, loose dirt, grassland and good old solid trail. It has a little of everything. With that being said, this is still one great hike.
The cabin is literally in the middle of the Mazatzal's (and in the middle of no man's land)
I got back to the Jeep by 7:40pm.

Animal sights:
-bald eagle by the dam
-deer about 10 miles in
-heard, but not seen a rattler in the bushes on the way back

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Named place [ checklist ]

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Apr 16 2011

Guides 14
Routes 115
Photos 4,830
Triplogs 3,536

male

Joined Oct 29 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Apr 16 2011
		topohiker • Triplogs 3,536

Hiking	25.11 Miles	5,704 AEG

Hiking	25.11 Miles	11 Hrs 25 Mns	2.47 mph
	5,704 ft AEG	1 Hour 15 Mns Break

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Mazatzal Peak Loop

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My goal for this hike was to see the burned down club cabin off of the Davenport trail. The plan was to hike Barnhardt to the Mazatzal divide, to the Davenport, then cabin and return the same way. I made it to the Chilson camp in good time. I found the Fisher trail first, then the Davenport. The Davenport is a route finder special. The grass covers the trail and it makes it tough to follow.

The first two miles was OK. I used my Spidy sense to stay on the trail. Then the trail drops down into the South Fork of the Deadman creek. The trail drops 800 feet in .6 of a mile. The trail is very hard to follow is this area. My Spidy sense didn't cut it for this section. I had to use both of my GPS's to stay on this so-called trail. I accidently found a cairned spur trail to a scenic overlook of the creek ](*,)

. I almost gave up until I saw the real trail about 100 feet above to the west. I bushwhacked up and over. I managed to follow the trail down to the creek. I took a small break and studied my maps and the terrain. I was at 4,200 feet and had to climb over a nasty ridgeline that topped out at 5,000 in about a half mile. The terrain looks nasty with the trail disappear into tall grass. It was 12:30 and my turn around time was 1:30. I knew it would take me at least an hour to get over this ridgeline and I had another creek / ridge to cross BEFORE hitting the cabin. I may do crazy hikes, but I do know my limits. I was not going to be hiking on the Davenport trail in the dark. I turned around. I'll have to hit the cabin from the gently western side of the Davenport trail next fall/winter.

I headed up the nasty 800 foot climb and returned to the Chilson camp. I then decided to go check out the Fisher trail. The Fisher trail started out like an old jeep road, very wide and rocky. The Fisher trail drop about a 1,000 feet and has some nice shade. There's a little bit of overgrowth and catsclaw. I got really close to the Mazatzal divide trail and then the trail disappeared into a big drainage with a sea of fallen trees. Both my GPS's confirmed that the trail went across the drainage, through the deadfall. I also noticed that if I hiked up for ~500 feet, I was only about a third of a mile from a camp site on the Mazatzal divide trail. I picked my poison and headed towards the camp site. The climb was steep, but at least it was free of fallen trees and I avoided the catsclaw. The Mazatzal Divide trail felt like a two lane freeway once I hit it.

I then did the Mazatzal peak loop counter-clockwise. I meet a big group of teenagers setting up camp at the Y-Bar / Mazatzal intersection. I also came across a couple of backpackers with their dogs near the Y-Bar saddle. The Y-Bar trail was free of fallen trail back in 11/2009, but now there's a bunch of new fallen trees. The trail seems like it's grown since then as well :sl:

. I got back to my Jeep right at night fall.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] South Fork Deadman Creek

_____________________

"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright

Mar 09 2003

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Payson, AZ

Backpack		Mar 09 2003
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Backpack	28.00 Miles	4,160 AEG

Backpack	28.00 Miles	3 Days
	4,160 ft AEG

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