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| Hiking | 9.91 Miles |
826 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.91 Miles | 5 Hrs 51 Mns | | 2.29 mph |
| 826 ft AEG | 1 Hour 31 Mns Break | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | -*-*-*  3rd Annual "Jack's Back" Hike -*-*-*
This was the third year that Tibber, myself and other randomly selected HAZ hikers get together and have a welcome back to Arizona hike shortly after my return to the valley. Angela selects the best day for the event and I select the hike location.
This year we were honored to have Kelly (trekkin gecko), Kathy (slowandsteady) and Karl (BiFrost) accompany us on a short tour of the Goldfield Mountains just off the Apache Trail. The area was quite new to all and I have been out here a few times and enjoyed the scenery and challenges presented. We met at the parking lot of the Weavers Needle Overlook on mile marker 204 along the Apache Trail at 0800.
The day was overcast with large clouds floating in the Arizona blue sky and the possibility of rain was in the forecast but the temps were perfect for a desert hike. Once geared up we crossed the highway and descended into Willow Spring Wash at the point where Government Well once provided a plentiful supply of water for travelers along the Apache Trail.
The winding wash is easy walking although loose sand persists and the tread marks of ATV's and Jeeps are embedded in the wash. A brilliantly collored red rock lines the bottom and both sides of the wash as we proceeded down towards higher cliffs and a narrow canyon. Once into the narrows the tire marks disappear, indicating that the Jeeps & ATV's cannot proceed further so now we have the creek bed all to ourselves.
As we round a bend, the cliffs on the South side present us with a view of several alcoves high above the floor of the canyon. The caves are well known to the locals and sometimes they are used as a temporary home by transients passing through. Today the caves were unoccupied and we were able to climb up and explore the several openings. Some of the caves are interconnected so it's possible to check most of them out once entering the most accessible one.
Now we continue through the narrow slots following an old steel pipe that has been attached to the stone cliffs alongside the wash. The pipe was part of a gravity feed system that kept concrete tanks further down the wash full of water for the livestock that were raised in the lush green canyons. Briefly the canyon widens out and we're able to locate dozens of Matate's along the base of hollowed out cliffs alongside the wash, an indication that this was once a popular area for Arizona's early inhabitants.
Beyond the Metate's, the color of the rock changes dramatically from bright red to white, a softer stone that has been carved into very narrow slots and deep enough to still hold water. It was along this stretch that we had to do some down-climbing on the slippery face of the rocks, trying not to slip and fall into one of those deep cold water pools. Kelly and Karl enjoyed the brief challenge  while the rest of us looked for alternative routes past the hazard.
As the wash widens, the Jeep tracks again appear in the sandy creek bed but all remains quiet and we continue on down to a turnoff that should take us to Bagley Tank. OOPS, my bad, I left the wash too early  and the jeep trail we followed took us up to a dead end below an unnamed peak (Altitude 2348) so we took a short break while we studied the GPS to find out where I went wrong. During this break, Karl took the opportunity to summit the peak and presented us with the traditional "Wendy". So from now on, this is known as Karl's Peak
Back down in the wash, we continued on until we came upon the next Jeep trail leading out of the creek bed, a marker indicated that this was trail #12 and the GPS showed that we were on the right trail this time. It was a little more than a mile hike until we came upon the Bagley Tank. The last time I was here, there was only a token amount of muddy water in the tank, but today it was full up to the grass line and the water sparkled in the late morning sunlight.
We found ample amounts of green grass and shade to sit in while we had a casual lunch break and talked about the sights and scenery all around us. The trip back to the parking lot was uneventful with the exception of spotting a Gila Monster that quickly (yes quickly) scurried under a nearby Prickly Pear Cactus before any of us could take it's picture. Once back at our vehicles we quickly removed our packs, shed our hot shoes and broke out some cool refreshments to salute the interesting hike through the Goldfield Mountains
Thanks Angela for putting this one together, it was a pleasure to meet and hike with Kathy and Karl for the first time and it's always a pleasure to hit the trails with Kelly. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Very little signs of Autumn. |
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Bagley Tank |
51-75% full |
51-75% full |
| | | Looks beautiful, lots of water. | | _____________________
| On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
I did see a javelina and a tortoise and no other hikers or vehicles. I stayed out of the sun for most of the hike and the humidity was moderate.
hike with the hopes of getting out in the Goldfields. And then we bugged Kathy to come join us and even Karl came. kingsnake couldn't make it; hopefully he'll make the last "Jack's Back" hike next fall.
. BUT it turned out to be quite the nice adventure as once we started going UP the road the views were terrific BUT then it started getting a lot steeper and pretty soon we were at what you might call a cul de sac. So as long as were up here, Karl climbed up Peak 2348 or Karl's Peak 
as it has now been designated. We got cool pics of him on top.
including views to the NW of Dome Mountain. Once Karl locked his GPS onto Bagley Tank, he would update us as to our progress while HAZTrks would let us know how far we had come along with other statistics (you can hear her in the video even... by the way, I would prefer a male voice; can I get that changed or have it as an option? ;))
or whatever that was. And as the HP drove by we hid our beer not knowing the rules of drinking in the parking lot. 
