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| Hiking | 13.00 Miles |
2,115 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,115 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| partners | | Got recruited for this trip and couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet a few HAZ'ers in person, especially Joe (who for some reason requested being called Pappa Bartels from here on out). It turned out only being three instead of around 15 but that's cool since I generally just don't like people.
The trip fell on a friend's birthday weekend so I had been out the night before at the Saguaro coves with my Jeep guys. At about 1:30am I drove out and headed over to the 4 Peaks turn off and towards Cottonwood Camp. I parked above and sleeping bagged it under the stars until the meeting time of 4:30.
When PB and Steve got there we rolled on down into the wash and began the tedious 401 4wd trek. The air down helped, as did the early morning darkness that blanketed the view of the fall if tires should find themselves misplaced. After an hour plus of what can be only described as riding a roller coaster equipped with square wheels while dragging an anchor though the dead of night, we arrived at the trailhead.
Headlamps and backpacks went on and we began hiking the well visible trail. Ironically, by the time the sun came up, the trail had disappeared. Cleaning up the language a bit, PB said, "Only pansies hike in a straight line," so we played find the 60yr old cairn until I lost over a hundred bucks to Steve and we finally made it into Long Canyon.
The rock hopping was fun in the canyon and the wall structures and hollows were cool. Being the avid holeophile (for lack of a worse word) that I am, I tried s'ploring the extracurricular canyon areas along the way. None of the little "caves" offered much, but one ridge climb actually produced a small ruin area. A couple deteriorated walls and some names carved in plaster was all to be found.
Shortly after the discovery, we hiked out and over to Adam's Camp. It looked like the guy did have a nice little set up. Whoever his visitors had been in the past, it seemed the custom was to remove their shoes (possible after being hatcheted to death) and leave Peach Schnapps and Vodka. I won't say that Joe's not funny when he's drunk, but you get the picture.
After that it was more "route finding" until Alder Canyon. We did find some interesting smoothed over rock structures rising from the ground but Steve and PB couldn't agree on whether the spot should be called Petite Tetons, or Nippalopolis and I didn't want to play tie breaker.
Alder Canyon was actually quite pretty. After lunch at Brown's Let's-blow-it-up-because-it's-way-too-accessible-and-easy-to-find-and-thus-dangerous-Cave, we rock hopped under a few still changing leaves down the still flowing stream. We came upon a neat 25ish foot water fall and hiked down below it. While there was a pretty large hollow beneath it, wading over and under didn't yield anything other than a nice up close look at the cascade and hypothermia. We reached the lake a short time later, touched the water, explored the cove, then turned it around for the trip out.
Route finding was easier and faster on the way out but I still ended up feeding the thorns just as much with my short sleeves. Yes I could've unrolled my sleeves but screw-em right? Plus PB said there'd be a manhood showing back at the vehicle and I was really hoping I had interpreted that right.
Everything was cool until we got to the 700ft incline out of LC and my flatland knees did what they always do. I could usually still see Steve but of course "you know who" just had to make it a race.
Finally catching up to Steve, we made it back to the vehicle and met Hank and Randall who had most likely been by my calculations (and by the beautiful handmade sweater PB was now wearing), chatting with PB for somewhere in excess of an hour. After we got introduced and caught up, we piled back in the Xterra and drove out. Judging by the rock shelves, the now visible road/sky boundaries, and the bobblehead in the backseat, the road was tougher going up and out, but we made ok time to the pavement. Wendy's at Fountain Hills was celebrated by all.
Sincerely thanks again Joe and Steve, I had a good time and my arms, truck paint, and your pictures prove it to those who merely watch instead of doing. |
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May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
Armchair Crisis Design |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
Of the recent hikes I have done since June'08 owning a GPS, this is the only one that I actually needed to "hand-hold" the unit for navigation for almost the entire hike both going in and coming back out. With some roaming off trail, some great pic opportunities, and a nice buck(Randal has the pics!), by 12:30pm we reached the exit point in Long Canyon where the Adler TR takes off to the Adams Camp. We were concerned about the few daylight hours left and our known need to navigate back to the TH. We knew that we did not want to be caught out here after dark, so we decided to give ourselves a couple extra safety hours of hiking and postpone our intended plan to hike to the old Adams Camp. We departed our Long Canyon stopping point at 1pm and arrive back at the Cane Springs TH at 3:10pm with enough time to explore the old Cane Springs ranch site with a large tin-wood floor shed, and numerous cattle corrals. We looked for signs of a windmill, but only found an in-ground water pipe leading into the dense brushy areas with not enough time to explore more. Joe and group arrived back safely around 3:45pm after having hiked all the way down and back Adler Creek/Canyon to Apache Lake. We all discussed the days' adventures and then headed-out for our rough-slow 4x4 drive back.. Another fun and amAZing day! 
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