muskybankr's Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Elephant Mountain Trail - Spur Cross

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Elephant Mountain Trail - Spur Cross

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 21 2023
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	7.23 Miles	1,552 AEG

Hiking	7.23 Miles	3 Hrs 16 Mns		2.38 mph
	1,552 ft AEG	14 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

no routes

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Phil and I took this loop counter-clockwise which is our preferred direction for the Elephant Mtn loop. Cave Creek was filled with several inches of water but the two planked bridge was well above the flow. I felt like we were back in Sherwood Forest as dozens of other hikers were trying to cross from both directions. The main purpose of this triplog is to comment on the some 200 hikers we met on this loop. Both parking lots were full. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere near that number on any hike I’ve ever done, even the 19 mile down and back through the Grand Canyon. Bicyclists, yes, but not hikers. Guessing median age of 25 years, not one of them carrying sticks. Mostly in groups of ten to twenty but many singles and doubles scattered among them. One woman was hiking with what may have been her grandchildren who were in their 20’s so she was of a certain age, could have been my daughter. Nice to see people using the park.

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Dec 27 2022

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Spur Cross Loop with Mariposa Hill #247 CC#4, AZ

Hiking		Dec 27 2022
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	6.75 Miles	1,239 AEG

Hiking	6.75 Miles	3 Hrs 4 Mns		2.53 mph
	1,239 ft AEG	24 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Spur Cross Trail

Mariposa Hill

Cottonwood Trail #247

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This is one of our favorite loops in the Spur Cross Mountains, utilizing some well-worn trails that don’t appear on my map but are obviously well known to the horses in the area. Start down Spur Cross about one mile to Mariposa Hill, following that as it joins the Tonto National Forest trails. At about the 2 mile mark you will arrive at a cairned intersection; the trail to the right leads to the old concrete water trough on Cottonwood but we turn left and go up the hill, less than a mile, on what we call the Shortcut trail which intersects Cottonwood trail at the 2.65 mile mark, just below Skull Mesa, where we turn left, reaching the Skull Mesa TH on the CaveCreek #4 trail, at near the 4.3 mile mark and from there it’s about 2.5 miles back to the parking lot. This shortcut cuts about 3 miles off the alternate route and about 1000 feet of AEG, both very helpful attributes of this trail, yet not side-stepping any of the scenic views in the Spur Cross Mountains. All photos by Phil

Autumn Foliage Observation None
Cottonwoods in Dragon Fly are golden

Wildflowers Observation None
Some sort of pink ratany ground cover, if there is such a plant. Other than that, nothing I saw.

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Mar 25 2022

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Highline - AZT #26

Payson, AZ

Highline - AZT #26

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 25 2022
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	10.60 Miles	1,820 AEG

Hiking	10.60 Miles	6 Hrs 45 Mns		2.12 mph
	1,820 ft AEG	1 Hour 45 Mns Break	11 LBS Pack

Linked

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no linked trail guides

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This triplog is only for the portion of Highline from Webber Creek(Geronimo) to Washington Park. 10.5 miles

When we retired and moved down to Arizona for the winters we discovered that our new subdivision had a modest hiking club, which, while not something we had ever done, the price was reasonable and over time, we met up with Phil and Brian, two much younger retirees, and began stretching our legs a bit more. Then, having hiked many of the local trails, in the Fall of 2019, we decided to branch out to the Arizona Trail, and I, in particular, looked for day-hiking segments of under 10 miles and 2000 feet of AEG. But many of the trail heads proved almost inaccessible for the family car. No problem for Phil and Brian. I had no room in my garage but they each bought red jeeps and loaded up on crampons, ice axes, and camping equipment. Phil became a summit-bagger, Brian an orienteer, and I kept looking for those easy segments. We soon ran out of eligible segments within easy driving distance, but by incorporating Airbnb, we were able to carve up passages 4-6 down around Patagonia and turned our attention towards Pine. Phil and Brian, in the meantime, with no length or elevation limitations, knocked off passages 1-3 and three nearby summits for over 20,000 feet of AEG and have now surpassed 200 miles on the AZT, about double my own efforts.

The Pine through Webber Creek and Washington Park on passage 26 looked segmentable, omitting the short trek over Mogollon Rim since access road 300 up there was still closed. I should have added another variable to my search, that being temperatures below 70 degrees, as the trail from Geronimo Springs to Washington Park, despite claiming to be less than nine miles and 1700 feet of AEG, actually turned out to be 11.03 miles and 2200 feet of AEG on my gps which takes readings every 5 seconds, not twelve and we finished with mid-70’s on the thermometer. While there are a sufficient number of dead falls blocking the trail, the new portion of that passage was quite beautiful and the trail in excellent shape. Even the fire damaged sections from the Dude fire of 1990 have regrown with the many fire–blackened trees standing as ghostly reminders. In at least one place, new contour hugging trail has been built replacing the older, shorter, eroded portion. We learned that the copper–colored alligator juniper trees were pollen–laden males and the green females had berries about the size of small tomatoes. There was more running water and springs on this trail than any other passage we’ve hiked, probably something to do with its proximity to the Mogollon Rim. I took advantage of some of this in the hot afternoon by dunking my floppy hat in the streams before replacing it. With water temps in the very low 40’s, it was quite refreshing. As usual, Phil took most of the Photos.

We met only two pairs of fellow hikers, a father/son duo that promised to meet us at That Brewery after the hike and a female pair, one trailnamed “Hobbit,” who told us, I think, that she had done both the PCT and the AZT, which would be over 3450 miles. In apparent deference to our age, she asked if we had any kids. Not with us, we said

Wildflowers Observation None
Some wildflowers but nothing to compare with those around Phoenix.

Bray Creek @ Highline

Medium flow

Geronimo Spring

Gallon + per minute

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2 archives

Mar 02 2022

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Payson, AZ

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 02 2022
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	5.90 Miles	2,055 AEG

Hiking	5.90 Miles	5 Hrs 13 Mns		1.49 mph
	2,055 ft AEG	1 Hour 16 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

no routes

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Another of our annual attempts to catch Big Kahuna doing something loud, and today was pretty much what we were hoping for. Hiked with Phil, Virginia and Jimmy and am using Phil's pictures since he's a real photographer with a real camera. 41 degrees to start at 7:45 and 73 at the finish. The only problem was maybe 500 feet of snow and ice pack on the trail around the 4900 elevation mark so we spend some time banging on the ice with our trekking poles to not much avail but it amused us to think we were making progress. A trickle at the Mist and decent flow at Big Kahuna, not world class but decent. (see photos) We did see a wily coyote on the way in trying to deke us out by bobbing and weaving back and forth across the road and then on the way out there was a jack rabbit which I swear seemed to be flying over the juniper. There were a couple of poppies blooming in the sun. Spectacular day all the way around. If they don’t get more snow, there won’t be many better days this season for Big Kahuna so I’d recommend trying it soon. There was one other hiker in shorts and sneaks headed up hill during our lunch break just uphill from Kahuna. He had been told there were nice pools and vistas at the six–mile mark which I suppose is somewhere around the Barnhardt East Trail and Sandy Saddle. The regular trail is getting close to being overgrown.

Wildflowers Observation None
One small outbreak of poppies

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1 archive

Apr 09 2021

Pass Mountain Loop Trail #282

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Pass Mountain Loop Trail #282

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Apr 09 2021
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	7.40 Miles	1,194 AEG

Hiking	7.40 Miles	3 Hrs 58 Mns		2.18 mph
	1,194 ft AEG	34 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

no routes

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Trying to squeeze in another hike before Father Time and the Rising Sun catch up with me. The trick is to bring lots of water and electrolytes and be done with your hike before 11 a.m. The problem is to remember to drink the water, drink it early and often before you think you really need it. Struck out on all these requirements on top of which there were only a few straggly ocotillo flowers, and a couple hedgehog cactus in bloom. Not even one brittlebush, no lupine, no poppies on the Pass Mtn. loop from the Meridian parking lot. Wonderful breezes, however; nice to see they’ve added all those rest benches, but the last two miles downhill even, at 88 degrees, proved to be extremely taxing on the older folks. There were plenty of hikers out today, even several starting out counter clockwise at 11 am. Hard to fathom. It’s an Edward Abbey desert out there; It endures our suffering with implacable indifference. The Meridian TH adds about .6 miles to the loop. As usual, Phil took the photos, even without a filter.

Wildflowers Observation None
Some ocotillo, a few hedgehog cactus in bloom, nothing else.

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Feb 26 2021

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Payson, AZ

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Feb 26 2021
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	5.90 Miles	2,055 AEG

Hiking	5.90 Miles	4 Hrs 11 Mns		1.71 mph
	2,055 ft AEG	44 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

no routes

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Our hiking crew has been waiting for this day now for many years to find the Mazatzals full of melting snow and Big Kahuna shooting cascades of ice water ten feet or more out in space and then thundering down to the Barnhardt Trail in a spectacular display. Alas, it was not to be. Yes, there was snow which may melt one of these days, just not today. We arrived early as we are wont to do and when we got to Big Kahuna, the little ponds were frozen solid and nothing seemed to be running, let alone thundering. However, the gorgeous canyon walls were still there and still worth the trip so we took the trail up past Kahuna to the saddle at 5800 feet, ate half our miserable little oat n honey bar, took a few pictures and headed back. By this time the sun had had a chance to do its work and the falls were drizzling water, not thundering, not enough to even be evident in the trail below but you could hear the difference were you not as deaf as I am. Nonetheless, I bet by late afternoon, they might have been semi-thundering. We met Paul from Phoenix with his trusty husky, who thoroughly enjoyed the falls except, being from cold country, was not enamored with some open running water between the ice ponds. Met three other day trippers and a young couple with backpacks and tents planning on a weekend up on the great divide. Oh, to be young again, and enjoy sleeping under a tent in freezing weather and rolling down YBar with its billion rocks!

We thought that the road in from #87 was sufficiently rocky, maybe more than before.

Wildflowers Observation None
nada

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Jan 08 2021

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 08 2021
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	12.40 Miles	1,303 AEG

Hiking	12.40 Miles	5 Hrs 7 Mns		2.68 mph
	1,303 ft AEG	29 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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As many times as we have hiked down and back Indian Spring Wash to the slot canyon cave we’ve never hiked from one end to the other until today when we actually did it twice, up and back. At just about 6 miles, it’s nowhere near as long as we thought it was. For the purists in us, a few days before we also hiked the northern portion of the wash up to Indian Butte, from where it begins and then bushwhacked back, catching #1117 right at the Bartlett Dam Highway. That portion is very short, with no notable scenery, and not really worth mentioning except we did it. Since the highlight on Indian Spring Wash is the bootleg slot canyon, and some may only want to do that, I have laid out the various distances in this table. (Table format does not make its way from the draft to the finished product???)

FROM TO DISTANCE(approx.)
Rio Verde Parking lot to Indian Spring wash 1.0 miles
Indian Spring Wash(south end) to Slot Cyn Cave junction 2.3 miles
Slot cyn cave In and Out 0.3 miles
Slot Cyn Cave Jct to Culvert on Bartlett Dam Rd. 2.75 miles

So, for a 5.8 mile round trip you can access the cave from the culvert(north end), with scenic rock formations much of the way. The wash below the cave is also very nice, at least for a couple of miles down to the home of the Phallus Immanemque cliff dwellers. (see the picture) From there on down to the Verde, the wash becomes more of a delta, flat and wide. We left the wash more than ½ mile before the river to respect the Bald Eagle Breeding Area, which, though it is not marked in the wash, is known to be about ½ mile on either side of the river. There are several parking areas below the dam and we picked one with plenty of extra room about 1 mile from the wash. Taking note of @Eagle’s triplog, we didn’t bother exploring any other canyons and so ran up a GPS total of 12.4 miles.(The GPS itself says 11.99 miles but that's because it samples on an average of 12 seconds vs. my trip computer which averages 5 seconds) Saw no eagles or any other humans on the trail. Our friend, the dead owl, which we have seen on other visits, was still looking fairly chipper and holding court, but this time a little north of the cave junction, rather than south. He must have other friends that take him for a ride. We spooked a small herd of javelinas on the dirt road coming in below the dam just before 9 am. Heading south from the culvert you get one shot of Weaver’s Needle on a sightline right down the middle of the wash. As always, most of the pictures are from Phil, who has a real camera and knows how to use it. I have encouraged him to sign up on HIkeAZ but he's having trouble coming up with a suitable trail name, which I told him was a requirement.

Wildflowers Observation None
Fair amount of chuparosa near north end. No other wildflowers

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5 archives

Dec 28 2020

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 28 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	5.80 Miles	673 AEG

Hiking	5.80 Miles	3 Hrs 51 Mns		1.83 mph
	673 ft AEG	41 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Revisiting the Bootleg slot canyon down Indian Springs Wash and environs. We went to the cave and explored down below that for another .7 miles. No javelina today but a dead owl and hawk?? Met “Mike, the Fireman” down below the cave who has hiked and camped all around this area for sixty years, so far as we could deduce, and told us that the wash down to a road taking you to the dam was easy hiking and not that far so we’ll try and do the entire wash pretty soon from what we are calling Bartlett Lake Rd down to Rio Verde, or close. Unfortunately, the Arizona Topo map calls most of the roads in this area Horseshoe Dam roads which leads to some confusion among those relying on the map. We did discover one better way to access the wash. Historically, we park ¼ mile or so uphill past the culvert and accessing a wash at right angles to Indian Springs, make our way down to the real wash and head south. This involves a great deal of duking it out with the catclaw. Much better to park fairly close to the culvert, and access it from the north side coming in just past the fencing. Otherwise, there was really no catclaw to deal with in the wash. The bamboo forest has extended its reach and is now a couple of forests but they can be bypassed carefully by staying up on the rocks. Since this wash has become more popular, you will discover several auxiliary trails that have been established bypassing insurmountable obstacles in the middle of the wash which were not there when we did this six years ago(the obstacles were there but not the walkarounds). Most of these trails are on the western side of the wash and are not necessarily cairned, which adds to the adventure.

Autumn Foliage Observation None
Fremont Cottonwoods a beautiful gold

Wildflowers Observation None
a few chuparosa

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Dec 18 2020

Cave Creek / Skunk Tank Loop

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Cave Creek / Skunk Tank Loop

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 18 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	9.90 Miles	1,120 AEG

Hiking	9.90 Miles	4 Hrs 45 Mns		2.34 mph
	1,120 ft AEG	31 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

Linked

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37 degrees in Scottsdale, heading to Seven Springs at 8:00 am, where the frog ponds alongside the road were frozen over and it was 34 degrees to start. We like the clockwise direction as it spaces out the 1950 feet of AEG. Likewise we like the parking spots at FR24b(don’t block the road) as those cut off a round trip of about .75 miles. There are apparently several different ways to get to the Skunk Tank trail but we like walking down 24b to the stile across the fence, and then several hundred more feet where you can see a well-cairned trail head off across Cave Creek, and proceed up hill on the other side. This is the Skunk Tank. As we got to the Cottonwood junction with Skunk Tank(0.75 miles) we could feel our frozen fingers again and were surprised to see a new fire trail up to 12 feet wide we could stroll on, we thought, all the way to Trail #4, less than five miles away. We were, of course, wrong. These trails, in the Spur Cross/New River Mesa area offer many big sky views and this one also has the old Quien Sabe mine, that was once rumored to contain some copper. We saw no evidence of that, but then, we’re not mining engineers. One has to be somewhat in awe of these old sourdoughs that walked miles up hill with heavy tools to dig holes in hard ground, literally in the middle of nowhere. After 4.5 miles, the road slid by a gate which ushered us into a cliff-hanging single track providing some awesome views assuming you dared look up from your shoes, since the views started out straight down for 500 feet or more, but the trail did keep going downhill which was good and, at the 6.2 mile mark, we came to the Trail #4 junction, alongside Cave Creek which we followed back uphill 3.8 miles to our parking lot on FR24B. We saw a few cattle and plenty of evidence of horses but no other hikers, bikers or animals. Since this area is said to contain mountain lions, most of us made up some horror stories to encourage our slowest hikers(me) not to lag back too far. The GPS readings come from my trip computer which samples every 5 seconds vs. the triplog which samples about every 12 seconds and totaled 9.6 miles for this trip vs. the trip computer at 10.0 miles. The difference in distance comes mostly from the single track. The photos were all taken by Phil who has an actual camera vs. my toy camera. I didn't realize I even had that setting and why I have it remains a mystery or what buttons I pushed to activate it likewise.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro - Crested

Autumn Foliage Observation None
Pretty nice a week ago coming back down seven springs road, today not quite so brilliant.

Wildflowers Observation None
none

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Dec 11 2020

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Bronco Trail #245

Bronco Trail #245

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 11 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	7.40 Miles	1,292 AEG

Hiking	7.40 Miles	3 Hrs 20 Mns		2.47 mph
	1,292 ft AEG	20 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

Linked

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I noticed that HikeAZ gives me no credit for hiking any of the six trails around Seven Springs although we have hiked most of them for years and years, just never posted them. I guess they're not mindreaders. Since we’ve been somewhat shut out of the AZ Trail, which we were approaching in a day tripping, piecemeal fashion, by Mother Nature, wild fires, closures and deadfalls, we opted to rehike the trails up around Seven Springs. We’ve done most of these with the exception of the Quien Sabe trail which is a bit too much like the AZ Trail to be hiked by seniors. So today, we rehiked the old Bronco Trail out to Cottonwood and back. We got about .5” of rain yesterday which was needed except when your boots are full of mud and you’re slipping and sliding along slogging uphill carrying mud, you don’t think about the beneficial aspects of rain. The vistas from the trail are all wonderful and the weather was perfect (37 degrees to start, about 57 to finish). Someone said that a pound of mud on your boots was equal to five pounds on your back, but why someone would be carrying five pounds of mud on their back escapes me. While three cars were parked at the TH, we saw no other hikers today. All photos taken by Phil for reasons explained on our 12/18 post of Skunk Tank.

Autumn Foliage Observation None
Nothing on trail but Seven Springs road just below TH had very pretty cottonwoods.

Wildflowers Observation None
none, but the grasses were pretty

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Feb 25 2020

Little Saddle Mountain Trail #244

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Little Saddle Mountain Trail #244

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 25 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	8.40 Miles	1,900 AEG

Hiking	8.40 Miles	2 Hrs 42 Mns		3.27 mph
	1,900 ft AEG	8 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

no routes

Linked

linked

Saddle Mountain - AZT #22

Arizona Trail

Partners

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Cross F to Mormon Grove, Passage 22, AZ Trail

The trail today was one for Tibber; muddy, slippery, rocky, eroded. The portions that slithered along what I’m calling the West Fork of Sycamore Creek under the junipers and sycamores and alongside some cool rock formations, otherwise known as the Little Saddle Mountain Trail, were pleasant, nonetheless.
There are several little problems with attempting to day hike sections of the AZ Trail. We fell so far in love with Passage 22, which officially measures 18.1 miles, that we hiked exactly twice its length, 36.2 miles, by converting a couple of the intermediate TH’s into out and back excursions as we were down to just one car and had to go hiking. We’ve become pretty familiar with the Cross F and Mormon Grove trailheads and have even taken a liking to Bushnell Tanks and Mt. Peeley. Thanks to Ranger Doug and his gang for clearing out the deadfalls south of Mormon Grove. We saw the slippy sliddy tracks of a couple hikers that must have tried this in the last two days but no other hikers today. There were some ATV’rs that accessed the service road(393) but no dirt bike tracks. Also no flowers except some filaree on the extreme southern tip of the trail.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
filaree on the southern tip

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1 archive

Feb 18 2020

Saddle Mountain - AZT #22

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

AZ Trail passage 22B, AZ

Hiking		Feb 18 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	9.50 Miles	2,337 AEG

Hiking	9.50 Miles	5 Hrs 10 Mns		2.04 mph
	2,337 ft AEG	30 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

Linked

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Arizona Trail

Partners

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We parked vehicles at both TH’s and swapped keys at the junction of the Thicket Springs/Cornucopia loop. I will note that the signage at this junction moves the AZ Trail over to the longer Cornucopia trail(see photo) while the official GPS route takes the shorter Thicket Springs Loop trail up to Cornucopia, a difference of 0.9 miles on my GPS although the official route had about 50 more feet of AEG in this section. We met a through hiker with the delightful trail name of “Miles Kilo” on this longer section. He had hiked up from Mexico in the last month and was just about to the half-way point. This is the second through hiker we’ve met in our desultory attack on the AZ Trail in the last two months.
The routes into the trailheads will keep your attention. While the Mormon Grove road crossed Sycamore Creek two or three times, at least there was no snow and ice on it and the foundation of both roads were very firm, no erosion (unlike the road to Roger’s Trough which has some severe erosion.) Probably passable with a two wheel drive car(at least to Mormon Grove, maybe not so much on the Mt. Peeley road which had a half dozen sections of snow and ice. (see photos)

The trail itself had a half-mile or so of 3” deep mud and water on the southern portion with no real way to avoid it, along with the usual complement of deadfall trees of impressive magnitude closer to the West Fork of the Sycamore Creek attempting to block the trail. We went under, over, and around them. There were also more rolling rocks in this section although not in the class of the trail up to Black Mesa in Spur Cross, which consists of nothing but grapefruit sized rolling rocks. McFarland Canyon, with its tall trees inviting campers, and two mine shafts inviting four–legged squatters, is a favorite camping spot but you may need to put up with the neighbors at night which Kilo told us were big and noisy.

We actually saw a few flowers above 5500 feet but they were all huddled together and we saw no others on the lower climes. Trail angels were active in this passage as we saw several jugs of water. The maintenance crew had recently passed through this section with one of their wheeled trail machines.(Thanks to info from Ranger Doug we now believe those tracks we're made by a dirt bike) One of our guys surmised that the machine’s on board computer had a new cairn app which sorted rocks to fit the algorithmic cad/cam cairn designs, as we saw several spiffy cairns. This is what happens when you’ve been out in the sun too long and you’re hiking with an old guy who’s so slow your mind starts wandering off.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Trail Signs and Markings

Wildflowers Observation None
Isolated

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3 archives

Jan 27 2020

Saddle Mountain - AZT #22

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

AZ Trail-22A1-Saddle Mountain, AZ

Hiking		Jan 27 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	10.59 Miles	1,005 AEG

Hiking	10.59 Miles	4 Hrs 18 Mns		2.74 mph
	1,005 ft AEG	26 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

Linked

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Partners

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Most of the passages on the Arizona Trail have been split into roughly 10 mile sections so they can be day hiked. But we’re finding our biggest challenge is getting our cars to the trail heads, many of which require high clearance, 4WD vehicles, of which our crew has one and a half although the Subaru does pretty well. Waiting for our Subaru hiker to return from Ecuador where he’s climbing a bunch of their snow peak volcanoes, we decided to drive a 2WD up to Bushnell Tanks and hike up and back to the Cross F TH, about half way to Mormon Grove, the end of 22A. Like much of the AZ Trail, this is a mixture of 1 and 2 track trails. Although the official GPS route measures only 4.4 miles from Sunflower(SR 87) to the intersection leading to Cross F, my GPS had us at 5.5 miles, in part because the AZ Trail is .8 miles from the recommended Bushnell Tanks parking lot and my trip computer records readings every 5 seconds and the official GPS was taking shots every 13.6 seconds. We saw plenty of cow tracks but no cows or other hikers. Stopping for a snack at the 393 service road intersection, a caravan of jeeps came by followed by a young lady walking a couple of dogs on her regular loop route and said we were the only hikers she’s ever seen on that trail. There are many springs alongside this trail and even some farm ponds. Coming back, we decided to bushwhack a shortcut to SR87, and while it saved us .26 miles, it’s not overly worthwhile as the little access route from the Bushnell Tanks parking lot area to the AZ Trail crosses Sycamore Creek a couple of times and is very pleasant.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Shoe Tree

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Jan 13 2020

Superstition Wilderness - AZT #19

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

AZ Trail Superstion Wilderness 19C, AZ

Hiking		Jan 13 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	6.60 Miles	522 AEG

Hiking	6.60 Miles	2 Hrs 55 Mns		2.68 mph
	522 ft AEG	27 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

Linked

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Arizona Trail

Partners

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After getting through Passage 18 on the Arizona Trail(Picketpost to Roger’s Trough), Passage 19, the Superstition Wilderness, looked like an even tougher challenge, particularly 19A and B, Roger’s Trough to Two Bar Ridge, so we thought we’d do 19C instead, which can be finessed by going from Cottonwood TH to Cemetery TH, which is what some of us did; the others came back after lunch(a very pleasant one at the Marina) and hiked the final leg from Roosevelt Bridge back to Cemetery. In this way, if FR83 into Cottonwood was passable we could use it with Campaign to finish off 19A and B, since Roger’s Trough, while the road in is not a great pleasure, is at least passable with Brian’s jeep. FR83 into Cottonwood TH, when dry, can probably be done with the family 4WD sedan, according to Phil, who has one. The condition of the road into Campaign TH remains a mystery for the moment, and with it our possible attack on 19 A and B.

We utilized our normal routine of misdirection and aimless wandering but finally discovered that the intersection of FR83 and Trail #120 at Cottonwood TH was obscured since the sign had fallen down. Our three musketeers fixed that(see photo) and the hike, while chilly(see photo) was short and pleasant enough. Kudos to the crew that moved this trail out of Cottonwood Creek and marked all the crossings with well built cairns(see photo). We saw no other hikers on 19C that wanted to pass the time of day with us. (The one we did see veered totally off the trail into the underbrush??) Likewise, lots of deer sign but no deer. FR341, which the AZ Trail uses to negotiate the final three miles or so of 19C to Cemetery TH, was recently bull dozed and seemed passable with the family sedan, not that there would be any point in doing so.

One final point of confusion. My Az topo map for my Garmin shows FR83 stopping about ½ mile from the actual Cottonwood TH. In fact, they actually intersect, although while not shown on the map, FR83 seems to have been rebuilt around a small rock slide that blocked the old road which may explain this confusion.

Wildflowers Observation None
One small macarantha hiding under a rock.

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Jan 10 2020

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

AZ Trail 18B-Reavis Canyon, AZ

Hiking		Jan 10 2020
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	11.50 Miles	3,199 AEG

Hiking	11.50 Miles	6 Hrs		2.23 mph
	3,199 ft AEG	50 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

no routes

Linked

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Starting off in early morning ‘ere the sun comes over the mountain, under suspicious eyes of grazing cattle, strangers look at rims and ridges of Montana Mt. 2000 feet above them and take their first step toward the top, nine miles away. There is something about this that cannot be captured with words or photos; it must be experienced. The sun finally appears, lighting up the peaks across the valley, and a windmill far below us creaks into action. We spook a lonely steer hiding behind a palo verde and the mountains come alive with early morning shades and shadows. We are hiking the Arizona Trail through the Tonto National Forest toward Rogers Trough and the start of the Superstition Wilderness, moving from one wilderness to another. Today's hike completes our first Passage, #18

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2 archives

Nov 25 2019

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

AZTrail 18A-Whitford Canyon, AZ

Hiking		Nov 25 2019
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	7.11 Miles	870 AEG

Hiking	7.11 Miles	3 Hrs 14 Mns		2.36 mph
	870 ft AEG	13 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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no linked trail guides

Partners

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no partners

AZ 18A-Whitford Canyon

After what seemed like months of planning, access road weather scares, and innumerable delays searching for hikers with 4WD vehicles, we finally started our assault on day hiking some parts of the AZ Trail from Passage 18 [Picketpost(mile 300) to somewhere around Passage 32 Flagstaff(mile 600)] with the most modest excursion from Picketpost to the first crossing of FR650, which on my GPS was 7.33 miles but is officially about 6.9 miles. Since my orienteering expert and his jeep can only be pried out of Alaska for short visits, this effort will take several years at our present rate of completion but perhaps they’ll haul an ounce of my ashes with them towards the end for a spiritual(?)-conquest. We owe the motivation for this project to “Snowshoe” who hiked the AZ Trail in April and previously did the Ice Age trail in WI forwards and backwards, which is where I think we met her.
We decided to do a key swap, which may be a tricky plan going forward when phones don’t work well deep in the Supes, but today it all worked well. Saw some better hikers out there, including Silver, who told us about all the water caches upstream as he was trying to make his way to that beer joint in Superior. Good luck, Silver. The trail was dry and in good shape throughout as was the access road. Some very cool rocks in Whitford Canyon of which I include one picture. We think this is a good idea whether or not we get to complete it.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated

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Nov 08 2019

Granite Mountain Trail #261

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Prescott, AZ

Granite Mountain Trail #261

Prescott, AZ

Hiking		Nov 08 2019
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	8.25 Miles	1,721 AEG

Hiking	8.25 Miles	5 Hrs 30 Mns		1.87 mph
	1,721 ft AEG	1 Hour 5 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

no routes

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Granite Mountain, Prescott NF, #261

Saw this hill on our trip to the Memorial Juniper Tree and decided to give it a try but go to the actual summit and not just the overlook. The trail up was in really good condition so when we reached the junction we turned left to the summit(we thought) and aimlessly wandered from cairn to cairn for an hour until it was obvious that we had missed the scramble route to the top and being short of time, retraced our steps, checked in at the overlook, and came back to the bottom, having added 2 miles of wandering, lost among the cairns. Later, reading the triplogs, I have decided that that was a pretty good miss since the actual scramble trail to the top might feature some class 5 rocks, well above my paygrade. We did count five tarantulas out on the trail today, along with ten other hikers, and one small dog.

You can’t hike this mountain without the memories of the Doce fire that came through here in June, 2013 and the Yarnell Hill fire two weeks later. Some charcoaled trees still stand.

The one improvement we added to the trip coming from the Valley was to circle around much of Prescott and Prescott Valley and all those red lights by taking 89A south, accessed from Fain Rd, which leads to N. Williamson Valley Rd. and then Iron Springs to FR374 and the Metate Trailhead. This adds a few extra miles at 65 mph but takes several minutes off the route shown on the triplog. There is a $5 fee at the trailhead for which you can use your Golden Age Passport.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

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Mar 29 2019

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Miners Needle Loop

Miners Needle Loop

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 29 2019
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	9.00 Miles	1,750 AEG

Hiking	9.00 Miles	4 Hrs 49 Mns		2.28 mph
	1,750 ft AEG	52 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Dutchman Trail #104

Bluff Springs Trail #235

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Yet another magnificent day in the Supes and a couple of 80–year olds in our hiking group of six thought they might be able to make it around Miner’s Needle one more time. With apologies to Tennyson, “We are not now the strength which in the old days” sped around Miner’s Needle but we can still creep around it, and creep we did, interrupted at Whiskey Bottle by another Diamondback lying in the bushes, pretty hard to see them camouflaged like that. We took the opportunity, thanks to Tibber and others, to shoot 200 feet up Whiskey Bottle and get a preview of Weaver’s Needle and what I’m guessing was Bluff Springs Mountain. A couple of backpackers we bumped into there sprinted over and ran up Miner’s Summit. Impressive, but that was not on the octogenarian’s agenda today. I had intended to retighten my laces before leaving that pass and the trip down Bluff Springs reminded me that I had forgotten to do that. Black toes tomorrow. Plenty of hikers, plenty of flowers today, although not quite the diversity I was hoping for. We met some youngsters coming off Cave Trail. Very nice to see people making it down that trail on their own power and to see so many others taking advantage of one of the great treasures of our state.

Wildflowers Observation None
Plentiful, not a lot of diversity, however.

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1 archive

Mar 20 2018

Lookout Mountain Summit Trail #150

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Lookout Mountain Summit Trail #150

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Mar 20 2018
		muskybankr • Triplogs 40

Hiking	0.98 Miles	498 AEG

Hiking	0.98 Miles	1 Hour 20 Mns		0.74 mph
	498 ft AEG		10 LBS Pack

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Lookout Mtn Circumference Trail #308

Partners

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Hadn’t climbed Lookout Mountain for over 20 years but it came up on our hike organizer’s roulette wheel so I consulted Teva Joe’s website to see if they’d moved it or anything and discovered it’s apparently Tibber’s favorite hike which was good because Tibber writes nicely detailed triplogs.

I think that the high circumference trail which leads off just below the summit to make a counter-clockwise connection to the summit trail again is new; at least I didn’t remember it and it does not appear to be marked with any number. (See GPS log) It had some interesting ups and downs and I’d like to see it circumnavigate the entire mountain at that elevation. Instead, when we got back to the summit trail we shot up to the saddle again and took 308 down, around, and back to the car, which was unfortunately parked halfway down 16th street. This trail is too popular.

I have a new camera now that adjusts for the fact that I’m way too slow to get into that 10 second window so it waited for me to wander into the view finder with my hiking buddies today.

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Feb 24 2018

Routes 32
Photos 298
Triplogs 40

84 male

Joined Dec 11 2005
Phoenix, AZ