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| Hiking | 12.80 Miles |
1,989 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.80 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.33 mph |
| 1,989 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Having hiked out to a point roughly in the center of Peter's Mesa from the First Water TH last month (a 21.5 mile trek) I figured I'd hike to the same point from the other end this time.
Unfortunately I don't yet have a true 4x4 to drive in to the Tortilla TH. While my CR-V has the tallest oversize off-road tires that can fit in the wheel well providing decent ground clearance (albeit with intermittent inner fender contact) and it has All-Wheel-Drive, in reality it's front-wheel drive until losing traction when the rears kick in, but only until the moment traction returns and it's back to fronts only. So in iffy situations it ends up with a bucking effect, tearing up the tread on the front tires along the way. Yes, I know, it's time to get serious and get a true 4x4.
Anyway, after a quick recon of the "road" I realized there was no way I was going to tear up my tires and likely the undercarriage to avoid an extra 6 miles of hiking, especially since I was solo and thus had no "spotter" to help. So I set off on foot for the trail head. What I thought was going to be a great day for photos turned out to be very hazy from lots of dust, likely coming from the Apache Trail road repair going on just a few miles up the way. But no matter, I didn't let that stop me from snapping some washed out shots. (No, I don't believe in using software to improve my shots, they are what they are.)
When I arrived at Tortilla TH all I found was an shot-up old water tower, old windmill shot up even worse (and thus destroyed), the expected empty case of Bud Light (I think Budweiser should kick in trail clean-up funds to offset the damage their customers do, but that's another subject) and all the brush around the trail head burned off. By the looks of it I believe the Forest Service did a small controlled burn.
Ok, time to really hit the trail. First it's into Tortilla Creek with all the expected rock hopping for more than I cared to deal with today, then up through dense brush with plenty of thorny growth to grab you every step of the way. But having read the previous triplogs I was prepared with my trimming shears, and proceeded to trim the worst of the growth to allow easy passage. As much as there was it did put a crimp on my normal hiking pace but it sure paid off dividends by cutting the return trip time in half.
On the way I welcomed the variety and amount of beautiful scenery, to the point I will be back more than a few times for off-trail exploring in a number of areas that caught my eye. Once to the pass I realized if I continued on to reach the farthest east point of last month's hike it would likely add another 2-3 hours and 700-1,000' more AEG so I decided I'd take a break and grab some sustenance, take a few off-trail excursions from the saddle and then begin the trek back out to the car. At the saddle next to a rudimentary rock wall I came across more trash from inconsiderate folks... seems nowadays there is more and more of this than every before. Sad!
Setting out on the trip out now that I had a relatively cat's-claw-free trail I kept a very brisk pace, catching views from a different standpoint along the way. I didn't mind hiking the road out other than it would have been nice to have the extra two hours for hiking on the trail itself.
I've been more curious than anything on my 4x4 hunting up 'til now so maybe it's time to get serious. But I'm particular... I'm not buying anything new or late model... too much weight with all the bells and whistles, power windows, sunroofs, etc. and I'm not a fan of the later Jeeps (reliability ain't like it used to be) so an old 4 cyl Toyota 4Runner or pickup has risen to the top of my list. I used to have 200,000+ mile, well-worn 2WD Tacoma pickup that held up like a tank that I only sold to get something that could hold more than two people but that's no longer a priority. But wanting to get into more of the less-accessible trails it's time to get the right equipment. Just like Teva Terra-Fi's for hiking, ya just gotta have the right stuff.
Hike photos are here:
http://www.changephoenix.com/10/2010-11-18PetersMesa.html |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. I hadn’t figured out where to hike yet when Andy told me he and Jason were going to Peter’s Mesa and that Jason would drive. Easy choice to make. I hiked this trail one time before 18 years ago and it was my first official HAZ hike in that I hiked with and met 3 HAZ members and also made my first triplog. A lot my memories of it were hazy, but they came back as I did the hike. 
Even as a passenger it’s not an easy ride. Two gates have been installed on the road now, which seems to be a pretty recent development. 
I drank 4 quarts and probably could have used another for the drive home. The traffic in and out of Tortilla flat was light so weekday hikes are good out this wayif you have a day off.
