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| Hiking | 3.50 Miles |
900 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.50 Miles | | | |
| 900 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We actually did this 2 days, Wednesday we went from the Webb Peak TH, up to the tower and attempted to find the rest of the loop, but could NOT find the trail, so came back the way we went up - KINDA! Thursday we headed out towards Ash Creek falls. The start of the trail is great!  Uh ha. Within 1/4 mile, the erosion takes over and you have to pick your way around whatever looks to be the best route - but it's obvious where you're going. I crawled under one deadfall, hoping that that wasn't the moment it would choose to shift / drop. But, eventually we came to the Webb Peak junction, or so we surmised. The sign is there, but most is broken off, so it says AK. We assumed that was the end of "peak", and the junction was in the right place, so off we went. From that point on, there is NO trail. Unless you've done this loop so many times that you can do it with your eyes closed, or unless you've downloaded the route, it would be a bugger! There are stretches, maybe 100 - 200 feet at a time, when you are not in a burn area and the trail is GREAT! But, in between those spots, it's all a guess.  Growing in what the trail app said was the trail, were 4 - 6' aspen and Mexican locust, also ferns, washouts, deadfall - you name it. Once in a while we must have been on the actual tread because as we would push through the vegetation we would see a cut log, cairn, or a waterbar. But mostly we used the app and common sense to push our way around the loop. Our route looks like path Little Billy would take, (in the comic strip Family Circus), when he was called to come home! I"m not sure why this trail isn't being maintained. Maybe the forest service wants to let everything grow in to help anchor the soil and stop the excessive erosion. I'm not sure. But, if someone had an overwhelming desire to lop off / saw off thousands of aspen and Mexican locust, AND checked FIRST with the Forest Service, this trail could keep you busy for some time!  We did see 2 turkeys and 2 deer. The unburned portions, although rarely encountered, were spectacular! The extensive burn areas are growing back slowly. Every water source we crossed was flowing nicely. It took us 5 hours to do the loop and we still don't know what we did! Ha! ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
The following day we navigated Boulder Canyon, losing the trail from time to time where we crossed the dry watershed, but since we knew we were just going down canyon, we weren't too concerned - just wanted to find the best tread possible and avoid as much boulder hopping as we could. That night we returned to the same spot we had camped on night one at the Dutchman and Peralta. Still plenty of water in the pools so we filtered and settled in. The following day we headed to Charlesbois and found an area where someone had left behind probably 20 or 30 brass cartridges from a 22. Concerning. Filtered at Charlesbois - great water - and headed to Bluff Springs. That day we saw the most burn - from LaBarge to Bluff Springs is almost totally burned, with only spots of unburned areas. When we were within a quarter mile of Bluff Springs / Crystal Springs, we were surprised to find a lot of water in the drainage! At Bluff Springs there was no water coming from the pipe, but several pools - some clearer than others, in the drainage at Crystal Springs. We learned a lot on our 7 day adventure that will change some of our gear for future trips. Interesting how much more you notice the little things when you're out for 7 days, rather than 2 - 4 days. We had such a great experience, with ideal weather and stunning views! Final note - the firefighters who battled the blaze in the Supes are AMAZING!!!! 
We did this and passage 3 as a 3 day backpack. Started at Parker Canyon TH at noon on Friday, hoping to get 4-6 miles in. We actually made 9.5 before we decided to camp at Pauline Canyon for the night. Weather was fantastic! Sun got a tad toasty so it was definitely an umbrella weekend. A few parts were brushy but nothing that impeded progress. Tread was pretty good too. There were 2 deadfalls across the trail and people were creating a new trail around them. 1 was easy to move so I dragged it over the make-shift trail to force hikers back on the main tread. The other was a tad heftier, but still I was able to tug it over top of the make-shift trail. Plenty of water - some tanks had considerable algae, but all would have been filterable. The names of the tanks I'm not sure of, but there were 2 tanks - metal and rubber - that had water south of Pauline. We had plenty and had cached at Canelo Pass TH, so didn't bother with filtering. Ran into 1 backpacker with his dog and a group of 5 thru hikers who planned to finish the trail on Saturday. A lot of the nice, flat areas to camp in were LOADED with cow droppings, so we kept tooling along until we got to Pauline Canyon where we found a nice spot to set up camp. During the night something was snuffling around my friend's tent, but other than that, we had an uneventful night. It dropped into the 30s and we could see out breath the next morning. Gave me a chance to try out my new quilt, and I'm very happy with it!! Headed out shortly after 7 and arrived at Canelo Pass TH and our water around 10. Took a nice break, filled out water containers, drank water until we sloshed and got ready to head on. Some mountain bikers arrived in their cars and were nice enough to take our empty containers for us so that we didn't have to haul them 16 miles! 
We were very pleased to find a nice camping spot by Pine, so settled in for the night. Kitty had been thoughtful enough to bring Irish whiskey to celebrate my final stretch on the trail, so we had a little nip with supper! 
Once you get to Cemetery trail it's worth taking a side trip to visit the cemetery and look at some history. Then you wind around some hills - good tread and easy to follow - except for the tight turn by the water trough - and arrive at Roosevelt Lake. Where the trail comes out is not viable access to water. If you need water, go over to the visitor center across from the cemetery if they are open. We had a little adventure on our Sunday shuttle. My Subaru couldn't get to Rogers Trough!! 
