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| Hiking | 12.17 Miles |
3,044 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.17 Miles | 6 Hrs 12 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 3,044 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | |  Trying to finish off the NE Bradshaw area, which put Salida #93 on my radar. Weather looked good for a July hike so up I went. Got to the Green Gulch TH around 4:30. There had been a fair amount of rain the previous night so I ended up dodging mud puddles in the pre-morning light. The muddiness had me worried about what I might encounter on the hike, but it turned out to be a non factor. I took Red Mountain (#43) up to the Prospector (#42). I really enjoy 43. A nice single track (a rarity for this area) that has an unexpected semi shaded area to start with. If I’m hiking in this area I’m going to try and include 43. Started on the Prospector Trail around 2.75 miles going CCW. Your typical ATV rocky roller coaster, though it wasn’t too bad because it was mainly downhill. Reached the Salida (#93) around 4 miles. Trail started off (surprisingly) relatively flat, passes by a couple of enclosed pastures and then at 4.57 turns off the nice, “flat” road and starts its own version of a roller coaster. Unfortunately, with this coaster was almost all up. Around 5.4 the trail passes by one numerous tanks (all of which were dry). The two carsonite markers were down in this area, but the road was self evident. At 6.17 I hit the other end of the Prospector Trail. The Salida Trail (93) is marked at this juncture, but this is the last time I see a trail marker for this trail. Shortly after this juncture, this road actually starts to develop periodic semblance of a trail. Nice! Not sure what kind of motorized vehicle could use that trail, but I did see tire tracks. Started to get some shaded sections, some flat sections and unfortunately more climbing sections. Around 7.04 felt like I reached the high point. Looked like it would be very easy to summit, but I’m not sure what peak it would have been. At 8.40, I reached the Charcoal Gulch Trail. I’ve hiked this area before, so this juncture was as I envisioned, but neither trail was signed. From here it was (almost) all down hill. This is not necessarily a good thing with the steep rocky slopes, but I made it back safely.
This is certainly not a fun hike, but there are a few spots to enjoy along the way. There was a chance of rain, but it held off. I just got the humidity and some clouds. Had the trails to myself. Didn’t see a soul the entire day. Wildlife was also near nonexistent. Saw a Red Tail Hawk and a couple of horny toads. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
I looked at a map of the Phoenix canals and they have the Grand Canal extending all the way to the Agua Fria, so I decided to start my hike there. I actually parked at the American Furniture Store (99th Ave and Cardinal Way) and hiked west about 1.25 miles to reach the Agua Fria. The water flowed for about .5 miles past 99th Ave and was then diverted along smaller canals going north/south. There was a dry canal that continued to the Agua Fria that is probably utilized if it floods. The canal had dirt roads on either side and then surprisingly the last .7 miles had a paved path with signage for the ubiquitous Sun Circle Loop Trail. (The Sun Circle Loop continued north along the Agua Fria). I saw the same signage about 40 miles east near the Salt River Dam. That trail seems to be almost as extensive as the Maricopa Trail. 
Discovery Park turns out to be a real nice TH for this Maricopa segment. The Maricopa Trail follows the (east side) sidewalk along Pecos. There are trail signs, usually utilizing light poles, about every 1/4 mile. Just confirming that the trail hasn’t turned off the sidewalk. Went to Pecos and Cooper before turning around. This was about 8.5 miles round trip, but with my inadvertent starting point from Power, I ended up a little over 10.5. 
I feel like I would say the same for this section. It’s always nice to move trails along, but there are so many better options out there. I did see a few walkers, bikers and runners out there taking advantage of the quiet holiday weekend traffic. No wildlife.
) and 1 trail runner. Not much wildlife; a rabbit and a roadrunner.
