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| Hiking | 15.00 Miles |
3,920 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 3,920 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The trip began at the Hannagan Trailhead, across the street from the Hannagan Lodge. We didn't arrive at the trailhead until 4:30 pm on Saturday. The first night we only made it about 4 miles, camping just shy of P-bar lake off of trail 76. That night we heard loud, frantic howling sounding from close-by. Coyotes? Mexican Gray Wolves? Day two we turned south at P-bar lake, traversing Paradise trail 75 down the steep drainage to Grant Creek. Grant Creek was definitely the most beautiful portion of the trip. The narrow trail skirted the edge of the precipitous canyon, where the rocks slipping from beneath my feet and tumbling down the steep canyon walls to the creek made the hike all the more interesting. We eventually made our way up the canyon walls and passed through Moonshine park, which has some perfect campsites. After passing through Moonshine park, the trail makes a sharp 180 degree turn and proceeds to drop down to Steeple creek.
After the 180, however, the trail begins to degrade at some spots.
Unfortunately, we fell victim to the degrading trail. We lost the trail somewhere near where it drops to steeple creek, and ended up hiking cross country down the side of a canyon to reach the trail. Happy to finally hit the trail, we went on our merry way- that is, until Dennis noticed a plant he had recognized from quite a bit earlier. "Dude, we need to turn around, we're going the wrong way," he informed me, with confidence. "What?" I exclaimed. What followed was a long string of expletives that perfectly defined my mood and state of frustration and confusion. Finally, because my Walmart compass constantly told us we were going northwest, even though we had clearly changed directions numerous times, and because the landscape surrounding us did not seem to line up with the contours on the map where I thought we were supposed to be, I had to resort to relying on Dennis' instincts and noted broken reed to get us back on track. Luckily, he was right. About a mile or two later (of trail we had already covered), we figured out exactly where we had lost the trail, and discovered a large cairn about 10 feet past that spot. Why is it that cairns are always a few feet out of my vision? Anyway, we continued down to Steeple creek, and found a very, very nice campsite on the north side of the creek near Mud Springs. Although this should have been the most fun and recreational portion of my trip, a combination of no sleep the previous night and horrible allergies (which I'm very prone to) drove me right into the tent. As I lie there and closed my eyes, all I could think about was my constantly running nose, itchy throat, incessant pile of phlegm behind my tongue, and the fits of 8 or 9 sneezes that hit me every couple minutes and left me feeling worse every time. The original plan was to camp the next night at KP Creek and then hike the north fork up to the 191 and then back to the Hannagan trailhead, but the option of trekking straight up the Steeple trail and back to the car the next day was becoming more and more appealing as I sat there sneezing and blowing snot rockets. Finally I proposed the idea to Dennis, who readily agreed.
The next morning we broke camp and started up trail 73. Whew!!!!!!! This trail was a damn huffer! In the 2 miles following Mud Springs, the trail rises in elevation from 6900 feet to 9200 feet, is literally carpeted with poison ivy much of the time, requires almost constant bushwacking and sometimes no real path at all, and has an abundance of fallen trees that occasionally required legitimate climbs to surpass. We finally reached the top though... And it was one of the happiest moments of both of our lives. Actually, near the junction of 73 and 315, with 6 or 7 more miles of trail and numerous canyons between us and the car, we sat on rocks and had an intensely relaxing conversation about the undeniable beauty of the area and how we had both been humbled by the previous few hours of hiking. Apparently something that grew near the creeks was triggering my allergies, because at the top of the mountain, with nothing to worry about but bear crap, bear tracks (SOOOOOOOOOO many of them) charred pines and expansive, awe inspiring views, my head was suddenly clear of phlegm, stress, and everything negative. Now THIS was why we went on this trip.
We finally got our lazy butts up and continued on our way. It wasn't long before Dennis saved the day. I was sure we had passed the turnoff and suggested that we turn around and retrace our steps to see if we could find the fork. Dennis insisted that we go a little farther first- 20 feet later, a sign for the Steeple trail and the Rim trail stared right at me. Thanks, Dennis. At this point, the most difficult aspect of the trail was all of the deep footprints and bear crap we had to dodge until we reached Grant Creek, where there it seems to be more frequently hiked and maintained. From there it was about a 600 foot climb and 2 more miles back to the car.
At the gas station in Alpine (pump before you pay, by the way, if anybody needs to steal gas), the very nice lady that worked inside informed us that
A. It had reached the 20's the past couple nights
B. Turkey hunters had been complaining that there haven't been any turkeys around, although we had seen and heard plenty near where we camped at Steeple Creek
C. The Blue doesn't see many backpackers, or at least she doesn't.
We also learned that those 4 dollar turkey sandwiches that you always snicker at in the freezer at gas stations are freaking amazing after 3 days of canned fruit cocktail, energy bars and iodine-filtered creek water.
All in all, in spite of the lack of photos and dreadful experience in Steeple Creek canyon, it was an adventure and experience to remember. |
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"Arizona is the land of contrast... You can go from Minnesota to California in a matter of minutes, then have Mexican food that night." -Jack Dykinga
http://www.joelhazelton.com |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
I drove up late Friday night, ready to start the hike bright and early. The critters in the area aren't used to many cars passing by at night. I saw 3 grey foxes (yes, definitely foxes, not coyotes), a skunk, a couple of rabbits, several small rodents, and a herd of deer. Unfortunately it was pitch black and they were all pretty much skittering for cover from my headlights- would have loved to get some pics. The hike itself is very secluded, but a bit lackluster. I did a loop including P-Bar trail, Foote, Grant Creek, Paradise, and Grant Shortcut trails, and a little side trip to Moonshine Park- an open meadow area just off the trail. A bit exposed in many places, this was a warm one, especially on the return leg of the loop, which is a steady climb. The first 1.5 miles is the best- just a quiet walk through the pines ending at P-Bar lake- pretty much just a stock pond- but surrounded by some nice aspens.
! It turned-out that I was correct...the scenic views and old forest growth on this trail section were great! This Paradise Tr is 4.2mls long, but on this planned loop, I was only able to include the upper 1.9mls of it for this trip, but I will be back one day to do the 2.3ml balance of the South/SW trail portion. Also, this loop included a most pleasant surprise with my inclusion of the 4 mile Upper Grant Creek Tr#65 which is "not" passable during the rainy seasons(usually not a problem in June). This trail desends a beautiful steep & deep, narrow canyon with huge old growth forest, beautiful & unusual dense (almost "rain forest like"..) vegetation along a very active, running creek. This primitive trail is somewhat difficult to follow at times, crossing over the creek numerous time, and would be almost impossible to follow when the creek water is HIGH. A lucky seven of us encounted much Bear scat and Elk signs while hiking this beautiful 4 mile trail to its end at the Paradise Trail#74 intersection.
