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| Hiking | 4.20 Miles |
1,400 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.20 Miles | 8 Hrs | | 1.63 mph |
| 1,400 ft AEG | 5 Hrs 25 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The Road
The approach road is very picturesque. The little hamlet of Cleator has a very cute bar, including a Hobie Cat out front with a sign saying "Cleator Yacht Club". I planned on stopping here on the way back and getting a coke. However, as I approached on the return trip, there were trucks and ORVs everywhere. The place must have been packed. Really strange for a bar out in the middle of nowhere.
The Trail
I arrived at the trailhead about 7:45. It is indeed straight down at the very beginning. I took my tools with me in case a little brushing was in order. Looking forward to an adventure. It was about 42 degrees as I headed out. Wearing long sleeves for the first time, I think.
Very quickly, there was a nice trail register, which looked like it is dedicated to HAZ. The trail register is quite informal, compared to other wilderness registers. I encountered the remains of snow along the trail. Hard to believe, but there is quite a bit in this area.
Arriving at the wilderness boundary, the trail flattens out a bit. You do need to pay attention to the trail that you don't get distracted by the water bars or other paths.
Once in the wilderness, I ran into more and more catclaw, which slowed me down. I brushed for the next 2 hours. At about 10:00 I stopped to take a break. By that point, I had only traveled 0.8 miles in almost 2.5 hours. But the trail is much cleaner up to that point. There was a particularly robust infestation of catclaw at 0.8 miles, which I cleaned up. I had to leave a 2" stump, because I did not have a saw.
I worked until almost 1 pm, then had enough. I was about 1.2 miles in, where I quit working. I headed down into the canyon for lunch, and to hunt for water.
I walked some distance on the trail after crossing the canyon. From there, looking down into the canyon, I could see some pools down in the bottom. and then came to the conclusion if I were going to go down the wash to the Big Dipper, the best way to get there was to go back to where the trail crosses the wash and head down the canyon. I came back to the low point, where the trail crosses the canyon, and could see pools everywhere!
I stopped at the head of the canyon to eat lunch.
Clearly walking down the streambed is the preferred way to travel here. At the confluence of the two canyons, there is a lot of water in pools. This is the area referred to as the Horsethief Canyon water location in HAZ. One could climb down at that point from the trail, but it is kind of brushy. Walking in the streambed was much more pleasant today.
The canyon just keeps getting more and more beautiful as one continues down. Today, there has been no danger of getting my feet wet. A little scrambling has been needed, but not bad. Staying to the south east side of the canyon when going over the little dry waterfalls seems usually to be the best plan.
At 2:13 PM, I arrived at what has to be the Big Dipper. If there were water flowing in this stream, there would be a huge waterfall at this point, pouring into the pool at the bottom of the Big Dipper. It is probably 50 feet or more to the bottom, and it looks like a Class 4 climb down for me. This is as far as I go.
At 2:15, half my water is gone, and it is time to start hustling back to the car. There is a campsite in the canyon. I missed it on the way in. It is about .3 miles back up the canyon from the Big Dipper.
There is quite a bit of trash to pick up: The remains of a shoe, a hat, a belt buckle were in the streambed. Additionally, I picked up a tank top and a plastic bottle, about 1/2 mile from the trailhead. More trash than I have seen lately on the trails.
At the end of the trip, just past the wilderness boundary, I was walking straight into the sun and diverted off on to the old trail. This misses the parking lot by a couple hundred yards. Pay attention! |
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Big Dipper - Crown King Quad |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Plenty of water in the pool, if you can get down to it. There are many pools in the canyon above, including one at the head of the waterfall into the Big Dipper. |
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Horsethief Canyon |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Many pools along the canyon, including at the marked spot. | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
It felt warm to me and I think I was sweating out more than I was taking in. I may of needed a few extra breaks. Enjoyed this one. Thanks to Bruce for driving and helping me check this one off! Like HAZ, he rocks!
Route 
I'm still blown away how easy it to access such a nice place so close to the I-17. Along the switchbacks I could see snow at the top of the mountain which was a nice sight to see since I wanted a strong flowing waterfall, and the recent scaring of the Gladiator fire gave the whole area such a unique look. Anyway the only part I was somewhat not excited about was the "the wall to wall narrows" that everyone put in their hike descriptions. Well when it came to that portion I almost didn't even notice because I just simply walked right down the middle of it in soft mushy sand, the creek still running strong pitched to the right of the narrow instead of filling it like a pool. The Big Dipper itself was flowing like a champ and I took photos from a scenic rock vista and proceed to down scramble around to get some photos from the base which turned into nap on a perfect rock throne I found. The bottom pool was bigger than I've seen in most photos but what confused me is why the narrows section upstream was not completely filled with water. 
I got in the water intentionally to test it out and although the hit temps outside the water was still almost too cold to even comfortable have your feet in. Before I left I proceeded to take final photos along the edge of the pool and then got to comfortable because the edge of the muddy brim gave way and I plunged waist deep into the pool. 
Luckily managed to knee my arms above my head with my phone clenched in hand, the dip in the pool was actually a good thing because the hike out was a hot one due to the lack of shade and beaming setting sun. All in all a fantastic day and can't wait to come back during the summer! 
Good day for seeing wildlife!
