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525 triplogs
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Jul 22 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Arrowhead Sink Loop, AZ 
Arrowhead Sink Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 22 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking6.05 Miles 552 AEG
Hiking6.05 Miles   4 Hrs   34 Mns   1.45 mph
552 ft AEG      24 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I enjoyed walking in this area a few years ago. With a new interest in LIDAR maps I scouted the area and found a bunch of "humps" and "bumps" and "somethings" that I figured would be new places to look for ruins on the volcanic cinders near Wupatki. I was a bit surprised that most of the suspects really were small ruins, all surrounded by the interesting ancient pottery of the area. Probably the highlight was a ballcourt site (one of the northern most) that showed up easily on the LIDAR though less obviously in person.

Nice to get out on a relatively cool day at about 5600 feet. Video [ youtube video ]
_____________________
  2 archives
Jun 13 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Petroglyphs near Woodruff, AZ 
Petroglyphs near Woodruff, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jun 13 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking3.80 Miles
Hiking3.80 Miles
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I went up north to look for a particular petroglyph that I had a good guess for. I eventually found it along the LCR though I had to hunt a bit. It's a really nice panel. Found a few others along the way.

I had some extra time so I drove to some other LCR access points but they had more trash than petroglyphs (the downside of better public access). And eventually I dipped into PFNP to look for some roadside petroglyphs I recently learned about. Not a bad day, cooler than Phoenix but still a little warm.
_____________________
 
May 20 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
PEFO petroglyph loop, AZ 
PEFO petroglyph loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 20 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking5.59 Miles 706 AEG
Hiking5.59 Miles   4 Hrs   6 Mns   1.46 mph
706 ft AEG      16 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
After a night in Holbrook I went to a favorite area to look at (and for) petroglyphs. I found pretty much everything I was looking for! (a rarity) Good day, in nice weather. Much calmer than the windy day before.
_____________________
 
May 19 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
East of PEFO 9, AZ 
East of PEFO 9, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 19 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking8.61 Miles 761 AEG
Hiking8.61 Miles   6 Hrs   4 Mns   1.49 mph
761 ft AEG      18 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Went north for two days of walking with a night in Holbrook. First day I went to an area I've been interested in East of the Petrified Forest to try to find some petroglyphs.

The dirt road in got bad a little early so I started by passing a petroglyph area I found a few weeks ago, before continuing to new ground. I was happy to find some "new" rock art making it a good day.
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Apr 27 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Three Perry Mesa walks on the flats, AZ 
Three Perry Mesa walks on the flats, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Apr 27 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking20.15 Miles 1,404 AEG
Hiking20.15 Miles22 Days   13 Hrs   40 Mns   
1,404 ft AEG
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Including three different walks on the flats of Perry Mesa done over the three weeks between Mar23 and Apr14. I can't figure out how to delete the 22 days from my total time, but the total walking time of 13:40 is right.

Most of the interesting cultural stuff on Perry Mesa is along the edge, where water is available down the hill. I did a lengthy "central mesa" walk about 10 years ago, wondering if I'd find anything interesting - but there wasn't much. The grass was high.

Since then I've occasionally happened across a "surprise" petroglyph or two but what encouraged the present walks is 1) some HAZ buddies told me there were glyphs to be found scattered about the center of the mesa, and 2) I know first hand that post-burn conditions up there are very favorable for this sort of thing: not much grass and the small/medium size boulders are easy to see and walk to. All three of these walks were loops starting near the New Windmill.

The first walk was sort of disappointing. I only saw a few minor petroglyphs on the rocks I passed.

The second walk was better. I covered more ground and was happy to find several scattered petroglyphs which were bordering on decent. It reminded me that the fun is just the surprise of seeing something unexpected in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway that encouraged me to go back the following week, walk a different loop and see some more stuff.

The three walks combined into one photoset.
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Apr 22 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
E of PEFO 8, AZ 
E of PEFO 8, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Apr 22 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking4.33 Miles 427 AEG
Hiking4.33 Miles   3 Hrs   48 Mns   1.24 mph
427 ft AEG      18 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
After a night at the Holbrook Motel6 I returned to the area where I found some petroglyphs the day before with a plan to look around. I did find some more and confirmed that the two odd "crooked legged" glyphs I saw the day before were intentional since I found a 3rd. That's unusual.

There's more edge to check so I'll likely be back.
_____________________
  1 archive
Apr 21 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
East of PEFO 7, AZ 
East of PEFO 7, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Apr 21 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking9.15 Miles 852 AEG
Hiking9.15 Miles   7 Hrs   1 Min   1.38 mph
852 ft AEG      24 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
It's been a while since I made it out to a favorite area east of the Petrified Forest. I did about half-a-dozen trips there in the last two years and really enjoyed the open desert walking and many petroglyphs.

I've had in my back pocket an idea that I could drive in a different way and access some country that had been too hard to get to. My plan was to overlap a couple previous walks (and revisit some nice stuff) while exploring some new ground.

It worked out well. The dirt roads in were legal and not too rough till the very end. I walked some new "edge" (where the tumbled down boulders are suitable for petroglyphs) up to a cool ruin that had been at the turn around point of a previous walk. I also visited a nice nearby petroglyph site before turning back walking the opposite (also new) edge and continuing across open country to some more new territory. I was lucky enough to find some more petroglyphs along the way.

The pictures tell the story.
_____________________
  2 archives
Mar 04 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Not interesting enough for HAZ, AZ 
Not interesting enough for HAZ, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Mar 04 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking16.00 Miles
Hiking16.00 Miles
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I've been getting out a bit lately doing some walks that are almost repeats of ones I've posted before. Since the point is to find petroglyphs, ruins, etc, and I've already posted pictures, why do it again? Indeed, why even do the walk again?

Well, for one thing I get my butt out of the house and get some exercise. Also I usually try to make the walks (or approaches) different enough I might see something new. Plus it indulges my later-developed hobby of making YT videos which is sort of fun.

Anyway here is a brief amalgamated summary of three recent ones (late Dec-late Feb).

1. Agua Fria Ruin. I took a different approach in but saw almost all the same stuff I posted before. [ triplog ] For unknown reasons YT promoted this one big-time.
2. Palo Verde Hills. I combined what I'd learned from previous visits with a guess for a new glyph area to cobble together a decent outing.
3. Horseshoe Lake. I stitched together a route in a dense petroglyph area I'd been to many times before. The hills definitely bigger and steeper than they were 10 years ago. I was also surprised how easy it is to not be able to find stuff I'd found before.
_____________________
  1 archive
Feb 02 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Loop, AZ 
Perry Mesa Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Feb 02 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking6.26 Miles 513 AEG
Hiking6.26 Miles   4 Hrs   43 Mns   1.44 mph
513 ft AEG      23 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Headed back to a favorite area with the intention of passing some familiar petroglyphs and maybe seeing some new ones.

First, the road past New Windmill is the worst I've ever seen it. Big rolls and big rocks working together - Subaru was challenged big time!

I had a tip from a HAZ buddy to look in an area I'd been near many times. I searched it pretty hard, gave up, then bumped into the nice rock art. There were a couple miles of open grassland walking which took me by some manmade rockpiles, scattered pottery, and a few other nice petroglyphs. Seemed like no one was on the mesa that Sunday but me.
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Jan 13 2025
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Oatman Gila loop, AZ 
Oatman Gila loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jan 13 2025
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking8.65 Miles
Hiking8.65 Miles   6 Hrs   30 Mns   1.41 mph
      22 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I wanted to go back and walk around the Oatman area. As I started to get near on the freeway (I-8) it suddenly occurred to me I could take an early exit and approach from the north. It'd be less driving, more walking, but address a long-standing question I've had whether S.Oatman Road actually is passable.
Anyway I took that early exit to make the trip more interesting.

Turned out the dirt road petered out a few hundred yards after branching south from Rocky Point Rd. So I started walking there, 2 miles short of my planned starting point. I walked mainly in the dry Gila River bed until crossing a well maintained ranch road which is gated off further down. S. Oatman Rd is not a public through road.

Still it was interesting walking and I made it to the expected ancient stuff I'd mainly seen before. But the most interesting things was the eggs! On the way back, walking in the river bed I passed 3 or 4 areas where large broken egg shells were strewn about. I noticed 6 to 10 in each group spread over 10-20 yards. At least twice the size of chicken eggs. I hadn't seen anything like this before and was stumped.

That HAZ polymath @LosDosSloFolks bets these are gopher snake egg shells and it is plausible. I've never seen a gopher snake in many walks along the Gila but there must be plenty of "gophers" (or equivalent) judging by the copious burrows and tunnels I stepped through in the river bed. Whatever hatched out of those eggs, there are a bunch of them.
 Flora
 Flora [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Salt Cedar
_____________________
  1 archive
Nov 20 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Petroglyphs near the LCR, AZ 
Petroglyphs near the LCR, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Nov 20 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking3.81 Miles 336 AEG
Hiking3.81 Miles   3 Hrs   10 Mns   1.41 mph
336 ft AEG      28 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A few years ago I saw a named feature on a map and concluded "well there's gotta be petroglyphs there". Small complication is that it's on the Reservation and to do it right, I needed a permit to visit. There's only a little bit about this place on the internet, and I don't want to add to it, so I won't name it here.

Covid-time, forget it. The Reservation was closed. After that, their Parks and Rec people didn't know anything about the location but said things like "the people who live out there might not want you there". Recently I stumbled on to a different department (Heritage and Historic Preservation) to approach and much to my surprise the permitting process was straight forward.

I parked about a mile short of the location and found some pottery and lithics right away. I continued along to the point of rocks nearest the river and found many nice petroglyph panels. The decorated area is fairly compact but I looked over a wider range and except for one nice flaked stone artifact (no pic due to camera glitch) I didn't see anything more. But, I'm glad my permit-pursuit worked out!
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  San Francisco Mountains - Kachina Peaks Wilderness
_____________________
 
Oct 21 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Finally Fall, AZ 
Finally Fall, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Oct 21 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking10.00 Miles
Hiking10.00 Miles
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
It finally got cool enough to enjoy some desert strolls. I went out three times in the last two weeks to places I'd been before to 1) check out the burn area on Perry Mesa and see a few favorite petroglyphs 2) revisit a big wash that crosses I-8 and has some nice cultural artifacts, and 3) return to a glyph-rich portion of the Gila River to see a couple memorable things.

It was fun to get out and I enjoyed making videos (my new hobby it seems). Some pictures attached.
_____________________
  1 archive
Sep 17 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Two days north, AZ 
Two days north, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Sep 17 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking19.83 Miles 2,339 AEG
Hiking19.83 Miles   12 Hrs      1.76 mph
2,339 ft AEG      45 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Once this summer from the future finally gave me a break (PHX highs less than 100deg), I headed north to get outside. Little did I know this would be such a brief temperature dip. Anyway I first headed to Holbrook with two vague plans: 1) walk around some near-town buttes and look for petroglyphs, and 2) move over a few miles and look for meteorites!

This didn't work out very well. Only things of interest I saw on the speculative petroglyph hunt were a few old (and new) inscriptions and then a pretty nice concentration of "highly preserved" petrified wood. I looked it up - that's what you call petrified wood that looks just like wood.

I was excited to do a meteorite hunt. I even bought an $8 magnet-on-a-stick. But it proved to be way harder than I expected. Expectations set by a YT video I watched with experts doing a very recent successful hunt on the 1912 Holbrook strewnfield. But reality was weedy ground all chewed up by cattle tracks.

Disappointed by my day in Holbrook, I spent the night in Flagstaff and next morning hit the cinders south of Wupatki. I hoped to find all sorts of stuff as I walked to a ruin visible on old maps and satellite, at a spring north of Roden Crater. This was better: I passed pottery and a couple small collapsed ruins along the way and I made it to the target ruin which is an impressive sandstone structure. But it's a weird one. The construction was much more haphazard than the norm around here (the sandstone bricks seemed deliberately "crooked") and at least parts of it looked like modern build or rebuild. It's possible the whole thing was built in the last 150yrs. No pottery there. I dunno.

I'd have preferred a more authentic-looking ruin but was glad to get out and if it ever drops below 100deg again I'm going out again.
_____________________
 
Aug 26 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Perry Mesa Loop, AZ 
Perry Mesa Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Aug 26 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking5.20 Miles 632 AEG
Hiking5.20 Miles   5 Hrs   19 Mns   1.11 mph
632 ft AEG      37 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
After a couple months of "too hot" and a few weeks of some annoying virus I was determined to get out and do something. Waiting for a coolish day to go up to Perry Mesa I eventually gave up (110deg in PHX it would have to be) and made it an early start. 62deg when leaving the car at 6AM. Felt great.

I walked a bit of canyon edge I hadn't visited before - I think my HAZ petro buddy had casually mentioned to me there was stuff to find there. Indeed I found some "new" (for me) petroglyphs then continued up some more familiar canyons and ending at a nice petroglyph site I'd been to several times before.

One odd thing: I was prepared (and hoping) to hit burned countryside as shown on the Inciweb map for the Skeleton Fire https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-i ... leton-fire, but I didn't see any burn! Maybe I read the map wrong or maybe the map just shows the boundary they were defending.

Didn't really matter as the grass was low and it was pretty easy to find pottery and a small ruin anyway. I also found a broken metate fragment so it was a nice open mesa walk.

Back to the car at 11:15, 101deg, but nice to get out.
[ youtube video ]
_____________________
 
Jul 30 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Buckhead Mesa wander, AZ 
Buckhead Mesa wander, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 30 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking6.07 Miles 773 AEG
Hiking6.07 Miles   4 Hrs   39 Mns   1.41 mph
773 ft AEG      20 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I found out that there is some ancient stuff on Buckhead Mesa, north of Payson. I subsequently noticed an old Mountain Matt triplog where he found some, and the HAZ petroglyph dude (Petrophile) confirmed he'd been there and also found things of interest.

It's a big mesa and I had no idea where to look. So I just looked around and did find some petroglyphs though none of it looked similar to what those other guys showed. I guess there's more up there!

Anyway, nice going to a new place. Vidlog: [ youtube video ]
_____________________
  2 archives
Jul 15 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
West Black Mesa Loop, AZ 
West Black Mesa Loop, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jul 15 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking5.65 Miles 524 AEG
Hiking5.65 Miles   4 Hrs   30 Mns   1.32 mph
524 ft AEG      14 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Tired of being housebound by the heat, I came up with a plan to get out. Early start, fairly short drive, early finish and a little higher location (~4000'). Inciweb says there was a recent fire there, so though I'd been there once before I figured maybe I could find some new stuff.

On the west side of Black Mesa, at the Sunset Point exit, I started walking at about 6:15AM. I expected to see burnt ground, but it was tall grass (yuk). I was surprised and happy to hit the burn boundary an hour later and things were looking up.

Perfect conditions for spotting pottery, rock alignments, etc. on the bare ground and there were plenty of places to look. But I found very little until I got to places where I'd found petroglyphs on my previous walk here. Except for one stand-out, those glyphs were minor.

Eventually I got to another area where I'd seen glyphs before. This time I noticed more pottery, some grinding slicks and mortars, and eventually about 10 ruin rooms made obvious by the fire. This is a pretty significant habitation site that I'd missed last time. About 95deg when I got back to the car. So I call this a success.

Post mortem on the burn info: more careful look at the Inciweb map shows I shouldn't have been surprised to start in grass. Though I can't find the info on when that burn occurred, it seemed pretty fresh. Interestingly if you look at the HAZ satellite (also latest GE) map you see burned ground but it's different than the Inciweb map and what I saw. (GE says that image from 10/21/23, so no surprise.) It burns up there all the time I guess.

Youtube video of the walk: [ youtube video ]
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Rock Slick
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Jun 07 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Hopi afternoon, AZ 
Hopi afternoon, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jun 07 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking1.50 Miles
Hiking1.50 Miles
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
My friend invited me along on a guided trip he booked. His main target was Blue Canyon but we tacked on the big Taawaki(Dawa Park) petroglyph site to fill the 4-hour slot. The Hopi rules are that these places are open to visitors if acompanied by a tribal member.

Blue Canyon is certainly scenic with unique red and white sandstone boulders and hoodoos. It's also the site of the first Navajo Boarding School established ca. 1900 and we visited it's ruins. https://www.voanews.com/a/the-original- ... 77884.html
https://tucson.com/news/local/western-w ... 13dc0.html. We then walked (and drove) around the unusual rocks.

Our guide was excellent with knowledge of history, botany and geology.

I had been to the petroglyph site before but it's an amazing place and I hurried around taking video and pictures. I looked back now at the pictures I posted 8 years ago and was surprised to see I overlapped ~75% with that previous visit. But I really only remembered a couple of them...a benefit of getting older!

I posted a video of the petroglyphs (17min). [ youtube video ]
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  1 archive
May 21 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
South of Painted Rocks, AZ 
South of Painted Rocks, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 21 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking7.99 Miles 691 AEG
Hiking7.99 Miles   5 Hrs      1.68 mph
691 ft AEG      15 Mns Break
 
no photosets
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I had a tip there might be a petroglyph in the hills south of Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.

I've made many trips out that way, mainly west of "the park" but had always thought the cultural signs died out as you got toward the park's longitude. But on the plus side, it was relatively accessible and would be a new area to look around. I should mention that the friend who told me about the "purported glyph" said he'd been out there and couldn't find anything.

Well I enjoyed walking in the flat open desert but found zero cultural signs. I did enjoy the present Ironwood bloom, and the loud bees in every tree enjoyed it more than I did. It surprised me what a large fraction of the trees (mainly near the washes) are Ironwoods.

On the way out I stopped at the little hill near PRPS and saw a few marks but more grafitti than authentic petroglyphs.

I made a video anyway. [ youtube video ]
_____________________
  1 archive
May 13 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Marana desert walk, AZ 
Marana desert walk, AZ
 
Hiking avatar May 13 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking4.89 Miles 324 AEG
Hiking4.89 Miles   3 Hrs   43 Mns   1.40 mph
324 ft AEG      13 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I felt like getting out for a walk and convinced myself that going back to an area where we'd found a lot of Hohokam painted pottery a few years ago would be a good choice. A reasonably early start and short walk made the forecast 100deg high temperature no real concern.

It worked out fine. I ran across plenty of pottery, a lot of it painted, though the finds were a little less impressive than when I first went there with a sharp-eyed partner.

The highlight of the day though was suddenly noticing I was standing on a platform mound. Background: Platform Mounds were a late development of the Hohokam and about 100 are known in the rough triangle including Phoenix, Tucson, and Lake Roosevelt. In the past I'd searched for several and eventually I found two. They're pretty indistinct...just sort of high spots (man made) in the flat desert. This stretch of desert near Marana where I was walking today has a platform mound (according to many publications and theses) but I thought maybe it had been bulldozed. That's because I thought I knew where it was - but there was nothing there (in two previous trips).

Anyway, when I accidentally found myself standing on a mound with pottery scattered in the vicinity, it occurred to me "this is it". Probably.

[ youtube video ]
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  2 archives
Apr 30 2024
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 Guides 4
 Routes 205
 Photos 9,282
 Triplogs 526

72 male
 Joined Apr 06 2005
 Phoenix, AZ
Coal Mine CanyonNortheast, AZ
Coal Mine Canyon
Northeast, AZ
Hiking avatar Apr 30 2024
Hansenaz • Triplogs 526
Hiking1.53 Miles 473 AEG
Hiking1.53 Miles   2 Hrs   26 Mns   0.81 mph
473 ft AEG      32 Mns Break
 
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
A friend who likes to take pictures asked if I wanted to come along on a daytrip to Coal Mine Canyon. It's a long way to go but he sweetened it a bit by saying we could walk a ways down into the canyon.

I've been there twice before. First time we just happened to catch it near dusk and got a good intro to it's beauty. [ triplog ] Second time made a quick stop with some friends (including the one who invited me today). [ triplog ] That one was useful because we learned the Navajos were opening it up to visitors. On both of these trips all I did was walk around the top edge and take pictures.

Anyway today, as we drove through Cameron at about 9AM I wanted to stop at the tribal office where they give permits to ask about another site I have in mind (and re-confirm CMC is open). But it was closed - no surprise to me as I often find it's hard to get answers, but I also read there'd been trouble in Cameron the night before (a murder) so that might explain it.

When we got to the unmarked CMC turn-off there was a gate across the road, but it wasn't locked so we went in. No people there today. Last time there it looked like some development might be underway, but we couldn't see any progress. There are some concrete picnic tables and some simple hand railings marking the trail into the canyon, so we went down.

It's steep. Poles and/or handrails are barely sufficient to make a safe descent on the initial part of the dusty trail. We were not looking for (or capable of) a jameslcox44-type septugenarian daredevil adventure but we did plan to check the trail out. It continues down with some nice close-up views of the towers and from a vantage point near the bottom I could see a trail ~75' below going to the left. But when we got down, that trail left looked less used than just staying in the narrow wash bottom and going forward-right. I scouted ahead (staying in the wash) and sure enough hit a big pour-off. I tried a very steep faint trail to the right but decided that wouldn't work for us. So back we went with some worry about uphill struggles on the steep bits. But reality was easier than the anticipation.

If I overlay our (tiny) track on the couple existing ones I see on HAZ I see Chumley branched left just before the pour-off. The 2009 track is likely aspirational rather than actually walked because it has a low point density and flies right over the big cliff where we turned back.

Anyway, my advice for the next guy is to go left when you hit the bottom of the narrow wash: it's bound to take you further.
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 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Coal Mine Canyon
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average hiking speed 1.38 mph
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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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