Bear Valley Trail • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Decided to spend the holiday weekend checking out a part of the Blue Range I hadn't been yet. Planned for two nights. Stayed in Lakeside, making the morning drive only 2.5 hours...

Saturday

On the way down to the Blue River, came across a couple vehicles in the road chatting with each other for about 10 minutes - the guy facing me turned out to be a Game & Fish employee. What a jerk. A few minutes after I was moving again, the guy going the same direction waved me over and apologized because he didn't know I was back there, we chatted for a second or two - and then my window wouldn't go back up. Great.

So, things started out a bit rough. Tried to mentally put the stuck-down window out of mind as I set off up Lanphier trail.

Turned up onto Largo Trail. Little climby at first, but once into Largo Canyon, the grade was nice and gentle most of the time. Grabbed a bit of extra water at Dutch Oven. Largo was flowing a lot of the distance from Dutch Oven almost all the way to the top.

Passed on Bear Mountain since it didn't look like the coolest summit and I kinda wanted to relax in Bear Valley. Trail down into the valley was rocky but easy to follow. Easy walking once down into the drainage.

Got to the corral at around 1:30pm, set up camp, and then explored down Little Blue Creek. This stretch of creek was special. Probably went about 1.5 miles down, then turned back. Filled up at the spring on the way back up, hoping to not have to use any water at Bear Valley (cattle tromping around and whatnot). Spent the remainder of the afternoon reading; perfect place for it.

Sunday

Tolerably chilly morning, set off hiking at around 7am. Followed the lines on my maps, even though I was pretty sure the current alignment of Cow Flat Trail goes through the meadow a quarter mile west. No trail to be seen, though it wasn't too difficult going through that terrain. Popped over when I figured I was close to the current alignment, and easily found the trail. Much better. The climb out of Bear Valley was steep but not terribly long. I had considered trying WS Lake Trail over to WS Lake and then down around to Devil's Monument, but WS Lake Trail seems pretty nonexistent right now.

Easy going from Campbell Flat to Franz Spring. Originally planned on dropping my pack at the cabin and doing a day hike (maybe to Devil's Monument), but didn't especially like the campsites there (too disturbed by horses for my liking), and the idea of taking it easy on Memorial Day (plus getting a chance to try and get my window up) proved too hard to resist. So I decided to bail on the 2nd night.

The trek down Lanphier was nice, especially in the lower sections. Lots of water, and quite lush, most of the way down from Cashier Spring. I actually liked the campsite right above Cashier and probably would've worked a night there into the plan had I known. Altogether enjoyable day, although the last half mile was a bit warm. Got back to the Jeep at around 12:30, and took the scenic way back up to Alpine.

Fun little adventure, didn't see a single person out there. Most of this route was within the Cow Canyon Fire perimeter a couple years ago, but in most places it's barely noticeable - definitely the type of fire the forests need.

	Bear Valley Cabin Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Plenty of water, and cattle.

Bear Valley Spring

Gallon per minute

	Bear Valley Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Pipe below the spring box has water. This is the spot to fill up in the area.

	Cashier Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Water coming out of one of the pipes.

	Dutch Oven Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Tasty water.

Franz Spring

Quart per minute

	Indian Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Good flow at the confluence. Spring a couple hundred yards down trail is also flowing.

	Lanphier Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Good flow in most stretches below Cashier Spring.

	Largo Creek	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	A couple flowing stretches below the springs, more regular above.

_____________________

May 27 2016

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Backpack		May 27 2016
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Backpack	42.12 Miles	8,216 AEG

Backpack	42.12 Miles	2 Days 2 Hrs 1 Min
	8,216 ft AEG

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11 linked trail guides

Sawmill Trail #39

[ checklist ] Bear Mountain Bear Valley Bear Valley Cabin Spring Blue Range Wilderness Cow Flat Spring Dutch Oven Spring Franz Spring Lanphier Canyon Little Blue Creek Tige Rim

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	BiFrost	FOTG
	John9L

Lee took the lead on planning this one and it turned out to be a great introduction to the PBR. I was a little surprised to find that this area is much more like the rim country near Payson than the White Mountains as I was expecting. The Blue River valley is only 5500 feet, and while our route took us up to higher elevations, the landscape overall reminded me of the same Mogollon Rim 120 miles farther west.

The upper portion of Sawmill along Telephone Ridge was the highlight of day 1, with big views and a pleasant climb after the steep connector that climbs up from Largo. Bear Mountain is obscured by trees, and the old lookout tower isn't tall enough to see over them. Maybe that's why it's been decommissioned!

Bear Valley is a great spot. I could set up a base camp here and explore. The trip down Little Blue was a great suprise with running water and amazing geology. Huge spires loom above the canyon. I climbed up the ridge adjacent to the canyon to get a better view, but the afternoon sun made it tough to capture any photos. I tried to find trail 341 on the way back to Bear Valley, but I couldn't find even the slightest sign of old tread amongst the fire deadfall and new growth.

Saturday we made the quick trip over to Franz spring and set up camp near the old cabin before heading off to check out the Tige Rim. I had been excited to see this area, but found the reward not to be worth the rest of the hike. It's just a long, hot, dry slog to get to a couple of great view points. In retrospect, I'd skip the loop and just hike the south part of the loop to the views and head back from there.

We returned to camp to find a huge group of people camped right next to us. I'm guessing it was a meetup kind of thing. Apparently they don't backpack into the wilderness looking for peaceful solitude because it didn't occur to them to find a spot to camp that might be just out of view or earshot of others. I've encountered this before, and it is something I will never understand. Might as well have headed for Woods Canyon Lake! :-({|=

In the morning we headed down Lanphier back toward the trailhead. We passed numerous groups along the way. It was actually quite surprising even on a holiday weekend in the Blue. We figured that articles last year in Backpacker (Nov 15) and possibly AZH (July 15) contributed to the 21 cars

in the parking lot. (We were the only car when we started).

While Lanphier is a pleasant canyon with shade and a stream, I'm not sure I'd like to use it for the ascent. It is steep in places and I could see it really taking it's toll on somebody carrying a heavy pack.

Thanks to Lee for the intro to the PBR. Sorry we didn't make it down to Ladrone. Next time!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Rocky Mountain Iris

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	Bear Valley Cabin Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Seeps provide light trickle into good pools downstream of corral.

	Bear Valley Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Visible seep, muddy water. Irrelevant due to good flow in adjacent creek.

	Cashier Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Lots of seeps with ample opportunities to filter from many different pools

	Cow Flat Spring	Dry	Dry
	Just some wet mud. Would be nearly impossible to get anything from this, and not worth the effort.

	Dutch Oven Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Full springbox

	Franz Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Full springbox. Plenty to filter.

Indian Canyon

Light flow

Lanphier Canyon

Light flow

	Uee Spring	Dry	Dry
	Couldn't find spring source. A couple of nasty muddy pools in the canyon.

	Yam Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Canyon is sandy and bouldery from flash flood damage presumably due to upstream fire.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

May 27 2016

BiFrost

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

55 male

Joined Nov 20 2012
Phoenix, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Backpack		May 27 2016
		BiFrost • Triplogs 1,257

Backpack	42.49 Miles	7,974 AEG

Backpack	42.49 Miles	3 Days
	7,974 ft AEG

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12 linked trail guides

Sawmill Trail #39

Hinkle Spring Trail

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	chumley	FOTG
	John9L

FOTG offered up 3 day backpacking in the Primitive Blue Range for Memorial Day Weekend so naturally I was ready to see the Blue again. I've been to this area before but always up for more as this area has always been one of my favorites.

Day 1 was the most difficult with the majority of elevation in the first 6 miles with heavy packs. We started from Lanphier TH, then up Largo Canyon to Telephone Ridge and dropped our packs 1/4 mile from Bear Mountain and then hit the summit. The summit is scenic with cabin and tower however the tower does not have great views which is blocked by trees. Guessing the trees have just grown over time and blocked the view. We enjoyed the summit and then headed back down to our packs and eventually into Bear Valley where we found a cool camp spot. Arriving camp fairly early we had time to day hike about 2.5 miles down Little Blue Creek. As mentioned in the others triplogs it's lush, with intermittent flowing creek and cool rocky spires. It was out and back so we had time to really check out the canyon before returning to camp.

Day 2 we decided to hike over to Franz Spring/Cabin and setup camp. We got to Franz early hoping to be the first and we were. Setup camp near the cabin and then packed up for a 15 mile day hike. The day hike was lasso loop over to Hinkle Spring, then Tigre Rim and loop back to Bonanza Bill trail to Franz Cabin. The loop was a bit hot and dry with only water at Hinkle Spring in 15 miles. Blanco was definitely glad for the day hike to be over. Back at camp we settled in but had to share the camp with a somewhat noisy group of 10+ that had rolled in while we were on our day hike.

Day 3 we just had a short mostly downhill 6 miles out to the TH at Lanphier so light work for this group. Very surprised to see several large groups either camping or on their way into the Blue. FOTG did some research and found that backpacker magazine had published a recent article for this exact area and also Arizona Highways had one around the same time. Having been to the Blue many times in the past 15 years I've never seen so many people at such a remote TH as Lanphier so I can only assume this was the reason. Regardless we had a great 3 days in the Blue!!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Dutch Oven Spring

	Bear Valley Cabin Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	water in the creek near the corral

	Bear Valley Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	pipe dripping clear water

	Cashier Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	lots of seeps with filter options

	Dutch Oven Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	full tub of clear water

	Franz Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	clear tub to filter from

	Indian Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	good spring flow into Lanphier Canyon confluence

	Lanphier Canyon	Medium flow	Medium flow
	good flow for about 3 miles in the creek

Uee Spring

Dry

	Yam Canyon	Dry	Dry
	mostly dry but did see one small pool if needed water

_____________________

4 archives

May 27 2016

FOTG

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

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Alpine, AZ

Backpack		May 27 2016
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Backpack	40.65 Miles	7,778 AEG

Backpack	40.65 Miles	3 Days
	7,778 ft AEG

Linked

10 linked trail guides

WS Lake Trail #54

Cow Flat Trail #55

Bear Valley Trail

Franz Spring Trail

Partners

partners

	BiFrost	chumley
	John9L

I headed back to the Blue Range for Memorial Weekend and for the first time, I brought company. We had a loose plan to cover some pretty good ground with a relatively ambitious loop that involved some must-see side trips in my opinion. The plan was enough for myself and Karl, but Chumley and John were not at ease without having everything perfectly laid out. But I assured them it was a little flexible and we had a few plan Bs and Cs worked in there and they were pretty cool with the rough plan I laid out to them.

We drove up Thursday night and despite being pulled over twice on the way (both warnings), we made great time. In fact, we were there in time to enjoy a fire and relax a little. We woke up to frozen water on the rim, but our day got noticeably warmer as we made the last part of the drive down Red Hills road to the trailhead.

We made good time up Largo, but it was a tad dry and warm to appreciate. Telephone Ridge was a bit of a big boy climb with full packs, but we all had enough energy to drop our packs for a quick trip up Bear Mountain. After Bear Mountain, we decided Bear Valley was starting to look like an ideal first night's camp. This was further confirmed when we arrived at the quaint meadow, rich with prime campsites and a trickling creek. After setting up, myself, Karl, Chumley and Blanco hiked further down the Little Blue Trail. This turned out to be an excellent hike, as the trail was in great shape, there were stretches of flowing water and it took a path through some very cool narrows before opening up to a nice section dominated by giant rock spires and monuments. After seeing what seemed to be about the best 2.5 mile section of that trail, we headed back to camp.

On day two we opted for a short trip with our big packs and then a rather large loop into New Mexico via the Tige Rim Trail. We chose Franz Spring and cabin area to camp. After setting up, we all took off for a 15 mile day hike. The Tige Rim loop was hot and dry. The views from the rim were nice and there were a few cool stretches, but the warmer temps and lack of water took away from some of the loop's normal appeal. We we got back to Franz, the worst possible scenario had played out. A group of no likely less than ten people had popped a squat next to us. I knew there was a chance we might bump into some backpackers, but I could have never imagined running into that many people out there. They ended up not being the worst neighbors and our dogs got along, but they were definitely louder than our small group and they insisted on using the outhouse for some reason. To each their own, but it was probably not designed for large backcountry groups with its three feet deep hole, no maintenance and no chemicals. Nevertheless, it was business as usual at camp and we still enjoyed the great spot and did get a chance to chat with a few from the large group. No sour grapes about sharing one of the nicer areas in the Blue Range, I was just not ready to share it with ten people and it ended up not being the nice serene spot I had described. So a small damper on the backpacking trip in my eyes.

A lot of hikers on the trail on the way out, but a quick hike with pretty good trail and very scenic along the flowing sections of Lamphier. A small disappointment on day two, but I enjoyed my three days in the the Blue. I would have liked to cover some more new ground, but it was nice to revisit some spots that I had been intrigued by before and the section of Little Blue we covered on the first day will instantly go on my list of favorites for the area. But overall great times as usual with these guys and I hope the newbies to the area were happy with the change of scenery.

.

	Cashier Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Filterable water in area of spring, seeps in area trickling out of ground

	Dutch Oven Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Full clean trough, overflowing, strong flow from source

	Franz Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Full trough, and overflow.

Indian Canyon

Light flow

	Lanphier Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Light to moderate flow from Indian Springs to Blue/TH

_____________________

2 archives

May 27 2016

John9L

Guides 6
Routes 183
Photos 5,612
Triplogs 1,647

male

Joined Mar 12 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Backpack		May 27 2016
		John9L • Triplogs 1,647

Backpack	35.50 Miles	7,100 AEG

Backpack	35.50 Miles	3 Days
	7,100 ft AEG

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9 linked trail guides

WS Lake Trail #54

Cow Flat Trail #55

Franz Spring Trail

Bear Valley Trail

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	BiFrost	chumley
	FOTG

FOTG has spoken glowingly about the Primitive Blue Range and pics of the area looked intriguing. I jumped at the chance to go when he mentioned it a couple weeks ago and said he would drive. Chumley & Karl joined us and we made a loose hiking itinerary and headed out.

Our group of four, plus Blanco, left Phoenix on Thursday after work and made the long drive to the Primitive Blue Range. We car camped off Red Hill Rd at roughly 8,000ft elevation. I had a hard time sleeping that night. We woke early on Friday and drove to our trailhead and started the hike in. I wasn’t feeling too well from the lack of sleep and was partially dehydrated. Plus I was carrying a heavy pack so that didn’t make things easy.

We started off with the Largo Canyon trail and hiked in several miles and took a break by Dutch Oven Spring. From there we connected onto the Telephone Ridge Trail and headed for Bear Mountain at 8,550 elevation. The climb to the summit took its toll on me and I was glad to finally reach it. We took a break there and then headed southeast for Bear Valley where we set up camp. The others then went for a short hike while I stayed in camp to filter water, prep the fire ring & relax. I was finally feeling better when the others returned and we settled in for dinner and a nice campfire.

We woke on day two and packed up camp and headed northeast for Franz Spring & the cabin. We wanted to get there early hoping to beat other groups to the prime camping spot next to the cabin. We made good time as we climbed the trail to Campbell Flat and then continued on to Franz Spring where we arrived to a vacant camp around 9:30am. We spent the next hour setting up camp and filtering water and then headed northeast for the Tige Rim for a hardy day hike.

The lasso loop around Tige Rim was long, dry & relatively slow going. Most of this section was okay and there were some nice views on a ridge around the halfway point. The heat took its toll on us and Blanco seemed to be having a hard time as he rested in shade every chance he got. Chumley, Karl & I shared our water with him while FOTG looked on with indifference saying he’s been through worse. We continued our lass loop and finally topped out on the high point and it was relatively easy going back to camp as we headed downhill.

We arrived back to Franz Spring to find a large meetup group camped close by. They had a fire going and were very noisy and generally crappy neighbors. One of them walked through our campsite several times to use the outhouse rather than going in the woods. It was annoying but didn’t ruin the weekend for us.

All of us were up early on our third day and packed up camp and hit the trail. We headed down Lanphier Canyon and passed several groups making their way in. The Blue was busy this weekend! We arrived back to the trailhead late morning and packed up our gear. Our backpacking portion of the trip was over and we had plans to day hike & car camp that night.

The Bear Mountain loop is fantastic with great views and the trails are in good condition. I expected more solitude but wasn’t totally surprised considering it was a holiday weekend. I would definitely like to explore more of this area another time.

_____________________

1 archive

Jul 17 2015

FOTG

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

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jul 17 2015
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Hiking	22.47 Miles	4,573 AEG

Hiking	22.47 Miles	12 Hrs 3 Mns	2.13 mph
	4,573 ft AEG	1 Hour 30 Mns Break

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6 linked trail guides