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Telephone Ridge Trail #103 - Chevelon

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area

Telephone Ridge Trail #103 - Chevelon

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jun 23 2023
		ljcygnet • Triplogs 6

Hiking	2.50 Miles	714 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles
	714 ft AEG

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Telephone Ridge Trail #103 - Chevelon

Willow Springs Canyon - Mogollon Rim

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Photoset here: [ photoset ]

Did Upper Chevelon Canyon from Telephone Ridge to Willow Springs Canyon, then Willow Springs Canyon to the lake. Took 11 days, starting June 9th -- I stayed over multiple days in a few places.

Starting down Telephone Ridge trail, my pack was in the neighborhood of 60ish pounds. I was actually planning on being out 14 days, so that was quite a bit of food, consumables, and so forth.

Telephone Ridge does not get any less steep or rocky as the years go by, and the part that switchbacks into the canyon to the north of the trailhead seemed more eroded than before. There was also a new dump-truck sized boulder that had rolled down the hillside and was sitting at the end of the last switchback, but it was easy enough to circumvent,

(Side note: There is a steep, dangerous descent down a ridge that is a "shortcut" off the actual trail. For Telephone Ridge, it's important to stay on the actual trail, which does a couple of switchbacks then winds north into a canyon and descends down to the meadows below. If you find yourself slipping and sliding down a deeply eroded "trail" that goes down a loose talus slope, you've lost the actual trail. The trail is a bit safer, though still sketchy in spots, with a few areas where you wouldn't want to trip, if you know what I mean.)

I stayed two nights at the end of Telephone Ridge, hanging out and fishing, and working on finishing a novel. (Hauled a midget laptop and an extra solar panel along for that. Yes, I'm crazy.) There were a surprising number of people camped or dayhiking in the area. I think this spot is getting better known and more popular.

The second night, the pair camped just south of me reported a bear in camp -- it sounds like it snuffled around their firepit, but didn't actually get into anything. There were tracks for proof. I've never heard of a bold bear in Chevelon, they always run, so that was a bit sobering. (I had zero bear issues myself.)

I headed on down the canyon on Sunday, wanting to put some distance between myself and a bear habituated enough to enter a campsite with people in it!

A couple miles down the canyon, there is what I refer to as the "Bear Grylls Fort." (I am not a fan of Bear Grylls. I am a fan of leave no trace.) Somebody built a large structure, with two walls, a lean-to, a large and elaborate fire pit, coffee table made of rocks, flat rocks for a floor, and bench. See photos. It's impressive and comfortable, but a bit ... eh, out of place in a wilderness like Chevelon.

First time I saw the fort, somebody appeared to be living in it. There was quite a bit of gear, though nobody there when I hiked through at that time. Since then, they seemed to have moved on and removed most of their stuff, and it now looks like it's being maintained by backpackers and fishermen. There was some gear -- tongs, a fireplace grill, a fishnet, fishing lures stuck to logs -- left behind, but no sign of habitation. First time I saw it, the leanto had a rolled-up bedroll in it. This time, it just had firewood tucked back in it.

I stayed there two days, got skunked fishing, and hung out. (There was a huge trout in the pool of water by the fort, but he was not interested.) The fishing wasn't great the entire trip, and I only got one solid bite that I didn't manage to land. The fish existed, but the water was absolutely glass clear and they were extremely spooky.

There was a very noisy Mexican spotted owl at this campsite that serenaded me the whole night.

I also whacked my shin on the coffee table by the firepit, and my leg was black and blue fro the knee to the ankle for the rest of the trip -- kept bumping it and reinjuring it. Just a bruise and it certainly looks worse than it is, but yow. Never fails, if I'm going to get a gnarly injury, it'll be something stupid and it'll happen in camp. Knock on wood.

Weather was cold enough, and windy, that I found myself wearing my down jacket during the day in Arizona in June on Tuesday. WTF? LOL. I almost left it home. It's June! Cold weather was a theme for the whole trip. The days were generally pleasant, but the nights were downright chilly the whole time, and I'm from Northern AZ. I can say with certainty that this weather was not typical. (Not complaining, though. I'd rather be chilly at night and have nice weather during the day!)

Moved a couple more miles down the canyon to my favorite campsite after that, and stayed two days there. There's a spot I know with a huge fishing hole, and a nice spot for a tent, but very little use even by Chevelon standards. I'd stayed there last August, and because reasons, left quite a bit of firewood by the firepit, with some bark slabs on top to keep it dry. Nobody had used the firewood I left. It was exactly as it was last summer.

Stayed there a couple of days, caught zero fish, then started moving up the canyon towards Willow Springs.

Chevelon was typical Chevelon the whole way. Big meadows with down trees, and brushy, rocky, knee deep creek crossings, with willow and log jam mazes to negotiate. Nothing unusual, just Chevelon being Chevelon.

Saw lots of birds of prey, including bald eagles. Also saw a muskrat, which was a first for me in Arizona, elk, and plenty of fresh bear and lion sign. At one point, I came around a bend in the trail to find a puddle of urine right in the middle of it, and two large bull-elk-sized tracks on either side of the puddle. Never saw nor heard the elk, but he was definitely not far ahead of me!

Also, LOTS of rodents, to a point where I was seeing mice scurry across the trail in front of me. Grasshoppers also seem to be exploding in population. I imagine it'll be a good year for coyotes and bobcats and other small predators.

During this trip, I had packrats get into my pack (generally hanging from a tree) several times. I had a bear bell on my pack and they'd usually jingle it and wake me up. I also had a sock, hung to dry on my tent guy line, disappear during the night. The line was chewed through. Definitely a year for rodents.

There was water until a mile(ish) below Palomino Canyon, where the creek went dry. I only saw two other people the entire time, and they advised me there was a good spring at Palomino Canyon that they'd seen the day before, but I was completely unable to find it despite about an hour of scouting around. Anyone know where it is? (It's on the topo map too, so I assume it exists.)

From there, it was dry to Willow Springs.

Willow Springs is dry at the confluence with Chevelon Canyon, but has good water a few hundred yards up it. I camped there for the first night, and intended to bail out of Willow Springs and walk to the Rim Top Trailhead at a point I've commented on previously.

There's a break in the limestone cliffs at the top of the canyon about a mile and a quarter up it, and the grade is steep but doable. I've scrambled up it with a really heavy pack before, and it was fine. There's also a spot to camp at the base, a nice fern-covered bench with easy access to the water.

The trek from the confluence to the "bail point" was bad. Willow Springs is normally a bit of a challenge, but it was pretty gnarly. The last time I was through it was five years ago. There are now a lot more trees in the creek, some fairly large log jams, the benches are a lot more choked with deadfall, and some of the spots where i could get down off a bench at the end of it are now washed out, and end in a cliff too dangerous to tackle on a solo trip with a heavy pack.

A couple of times, I got to the end of a bench and had to turn around and backtrack to find a safe way down.

A good chunk of the trip was just slogging up the creek, navigating waterfalls, deadfall, log jams, big pools of water, and loose river rocks. It took me about six hours to go a mile and a quarter, though I'll admit I wasted a lot of time leaning on my trekking poles and contemplating all the bad decisions that had led me to that point. Just, pure badness the whole way, with no reprieve. Not anything unsafe, if you were smart, just a lot of effort and rough terrain.

Camped below what I thought was the bail point, planned to climb up it in the morning.

That morning, discovered that there were more trees down than I remembered, making it more of a challenge to climb -- and worse, in a cleft of rock at the top, there was a nice sized clump of bees. I have no idea if they had a hive or were just a swarm resting, and I was not about to risk pissing off bees on a steep slope in the middle of nowhere. They were flying around me, though I didn't get stung. (I am not allergic, and am not bee phobic, but these did not seem to be happy bees, and I have a healthy respect for the damage they can do en mass!)

Retreated back down the slope, tried to find another way out, couldn't find another navigable route up that didn't cliff out at the top. About ten AM, I finally said a few rude words and decided to just slog my way on up the canyon.

Next mile or so was more badness, with lots of trees down. By the time I reached the people-trail in the flatter upper end of the canyon, I was exhausted, despite it only being a few miles. Once I reached the dam, I turned around and flipped the Willow Springs Canyon off -- that was a trek of badness.

I'll probably do Chevelon again next year. Willow Springs is not on my agenda to do again any time soon. It is rare for me to say 'never again' about a hike, but wow, that was some persistently rough country! Beautiful, though.

Wildflowers Observation None
Columbine, canyon roses, wild strawberries, raspberries all blooming.

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2 archives

Sep 06 2020

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Sep 06 2020
		ljcygnet • Triplogs 6

Hiking	9.13 Miles	1,196 AEG

Hiking	9.13 Miles
	1,196 ft AEG

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I left Sunday 09/04. My original planned hike was at higher elevation (involving Woods Canyon and Willow Springs before dropping down to the Highline) and the first two days were forecast to be very hot, followed by a cold front with possible rain. Having no desire to be that high up in cold, wet, potentially 30-40 degree weather, while solo, I noped on that and decided to do one of my bucket list trips.

I love Chevelon, but between the dam and Durfee Crossing there was about a mile I'd never done (the horseshoe bend part a couple miles north of the dam). The weather seemed decent for a Chevelon trip, given Chevelon never has an easy setting, and so at the last minute I changed plans. Dropped my car off at the Durfee Crossing trailhead, and had my dad shuttle me to the Chevelon Dam trailhead.

The trail down to Chevelon is a steep access road to the dam, gated to only allow ATVs access. There were a handful of other people on it, but for the most part I had it to myself. This is my least favorite way to access the canyon -- it's long, boring, and in the direct sun. There is minimal shade.

I started out about 830 on Sunday and it was already hot. I am the world's slowest hiker. By the time I hit the bottom of the dam access road it was about 930. I did stop to munch a few wild grapes that were ripe beside the road -- they were deliciously tart, but they make your tongue hurt if you eat too many!

A few people were fishing or swimming in the lake. I stopped and watched for a minute, then headed on down into the canyon -- the trail here is a jeep path, wide and easy going, with a bit more shade. It was hot and steamy, however.

The road crosses the creek when it reaches the bottom of the canyon, and the creek was flowing well. This was a relief; with the dry weather we've been having, I was concerned that the water might be limited to murky pools, but it was flowing calf deep and cool. It felt good to wade through it, and stop and splash some on my face, and get my hat wet.

A short distance further down the canyon, I came across a bunch of people camped along the Jeep trail -- you can access the canyon here from the east with a 4X4. There were a LOT of Jeeps and a few other rugged 4X4s camped beside the creek, all jammed in tightly together.

Past the Jeeps, there is a small spring that was running very sluggishly. It was not a viable water source on this trip as the area around it was littered with toilet paper.

By this point, the heat was getting to me. I had several days, and decided this was a pretty area to camp. I collapsed into a puddle of sweat and sat there for a bit. The campers were quiet and 100 yards away ... figured it'd be fine. I started to pitch my tent and people down by the creek started arguing with each other. There was also a yappy little dog and a crying baby. I picked my entire tent up and marched a couple hundred yards further down the creek and ended up camping just before the first hard bend to the left. It wasn't entirely out of earshot of the barky dog, but at least I didn't have to listen to people bicker.

The next day, I got up at first light and headed out into the isolated and people-free wilderness that is Chevelon. For the next several days I didn't see another person, and saw very little trash or sign of any other people.

I had to cross the creek several times, and it was running well. Crossings ranged from ankle to knee deep, and the cool water felt good enough that I usually stopped and stood in it for a few minutes. It was HOT.

Just before the big horseshoe bend a couple miles north of the dam, I saw sign of multiple beaver burrows that had been dug into or collapsed (bears? trappers?) and some gnawed willows -- beaver have been scarce in Chevelon, unlike when I was a kid, so it was good to see. At one point, when I was walking along the shore, the ground collapsed underneath me and I put a leg down into a burrow. I was unhurt, just startled.

I'd hoped to camp in this area and explore, but there really wasn't anywhere decent to camp -- there's a couple of nice campsites within a mile of the jeep road, but after that, until you're past the horseshoe bend, there are limited options. Some slightly sloped spots would work in a pinch, but nothing really stood out as a great camp.

The heat finally got to be too much and I camped for the second day about noon, about three-ish miles north of the dam. I jumped in the water, cooled off, cleaned up, and noted ample sign of beaver in a very large pool.

That night, I heard rustling noises and branches snapping close to my tent (always a thrilling experience when you're alone) and snapped my flashlight on to see a large animal scrambling off through the bushes. There was a large splash, then by the sound of a tail slapping the water every 30-40 feet for a couple hundred yards. He was not, apparently, happy to have me as a neighbor. Beavers are also bigger than most people expect, if you've never seen them on land. This one was small labrador dog size.

The following day, Tuesday, started out pleasant, but was forecast to turn very nasty by noon. I am pretty familiar with this stretch of canyon, and knew there was a really nice campsite a few hundred yards north of the power lines, which cross the canyon around a mile and a half south of Durfee, plus/minus a few tenths of a mile. There are also very nice campsites closer to the power lines, but I didn't want to camp under the power lines (ruins the illusion of wilderness) -- and the lines also interfere with the Garmin Inreach I carry for communications with the outside world, including, importantly, weather reports!

With the heat over the last few days, and an approaching strong cold front, I was concerned about the possibility for severe storms. The campsite I picked to weather any bad weather was well above the creek, flat, had some big trees with no obvious lightning scars (I figured if they'd grown to that size, they were not in an area with frequent lightning strikes) and was generally a pleasant place to be.

I left at first light again, and got to the camp by about 830 AM. I set up with a storm in mind -- extra guy lines on my tent and rocks in the corners, filled all my water bottles up so I wouldn't have to get water in the rain, made sure everything vulnerable to water was dry bagged in case the tent leaked, and so forth.

The storm hit and the temperature immediately dropped by 30 degrees, going from a pleasant, sunny day to a thunderstorm in what felt like minutes. It was not as bad as I'd feared, but I got some 30mph winds (the Kelty Salida 1 person I had with me handled that easily) and a few tenths of an inch of rain and some small hail. There were a few close lightning strikes but nothing alarming, and the tent stayed completely dry.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, and when the rain quit, poking around the surrounding hills. Chevelon is a fascinating place -- lots of little ruins, rock art, etc., plus tons of wildlife. I saw some bull elk and muleys and a heron that day.

That night was unpleasantly chilly (I was glad I'd brought a warm down bag) -- particularly in contrast with the previous night, which I'd spent sleeping on top of my bag in shorts! In the middle of the night, my air mattress also suddenly completely deflated, and I'm blaming gremlins on that one, because when I reinflated it (while shivering and swearing) it stayed inflated, so it doesn't seem to have a leak.

The next day was pleasant, once the sun came up and dried everything out. I'm really familiar with this stretch of canyon, so leaving was a pleasant stroll. I dawdled, taking pictures, watching wildlife (saw turkeys, elk, lots of songbirds, and a gopher snake sunning himself on a rock, and a heron fishing in the shallows) and I didn't want to leave -- but I also wanted time to go hiking somewhere else, as I have the whole week off.

This remains one of my favorite places in Arizona. It's never an easy place to hike, but there's so much wildlife and so many things to see. I can sit on a rock for hours, just enjoying it here.

As a side note, I exited out at Durfee, however, it's another couple miles on to Chevelon Crossing if you want to do the whole length. This stretch has a reputation for being one of the most unpleasant in the canyon, but I honestly enjoy it. The secret to navigating between Durfee to Chevelon Crossing is to start out on the west side of the canyon at Durfee Crossing. (There's a CCC era picnic table that you will probably see; cross the creek just past it.) There is a very long -- and deep -- pool that stretches about half a mile, and a game trail runs along the west side. It's a little sketchy in spots, but passable.

Once you're past the long pool, you want to cross the creek and immediately get up onto the benches on the east side. After you pass the third drainage (Durfee Draw, Elk Rub, and one more), look for a route back down to the water. It's easy to miss Durfee Draw on the east side depending on where exactly you cross over.
The way I usually end up crossing back over to the west has a large and obvious metate pounded into the bedrock right down by the water and unless somebody's kicked them over, I cairned the best route across the creek in 2018.

After several hundred yards you'll need to cross the canyon back to the east side -- this spot is sometimes dry, and sometimes has water in it, and if it's got water, it's usually a knee deep crossing of about 20-30 feet. I've also seen this stretch flood without water coming in from side canyons; it was dry when I hiked in one day, and knee deep with crystal clear and ice cold water when I was leaving a few days later. It had stormed off to the east, but the washes didn't run. It must be fed by an underground source.

Past this point, the route out to Chevelon is fairly obvious and easy going.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Wood's Rose

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1 archive

Aug 02 2016

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Aug 02 2016
		ljcygnet • Triplogs 6

Hiking	9.13 Miles	1,196 AEG

Hiking	9.13 Miles
	1,196 ft AEG

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There used to be beaver down in here.

I've been hiking Chevelon since the late 80 when I was a young teenager. I remember it having many meadows, sand bars, clearings, and tons of beaver. It was one of the easier hikes in the state. As late as the mid 1990s, it was an easy hike.

I just got back from an overnight trip during which I contemplated the cause of the vast overgrowth of brush and multiple areas where the trail has been completely washed away, and general increased erosion. It used to be that between Chevelon Crossing and Durfee you crossed the creek three times -- now, it's five.

Global warming? Bark beetles and the winter without rain around 2001/2002? (Which killed vast numbers of ponderosas.) Dams upstream?

Then I remembered the beaver skull I found up there when I was fourteen, and realized something was missing from the current picture. I started actively looking for beaver sign. Beaver, when they're in a waterway, are unmistakable -- they leave chewed off pungee sticks where there used to be groves of saplings, and build dams. You can't miss them.

Used to be, when you walked down Chevelon, you'd hear the slap of beaver tails and see the occasional beaver head cutting a wake in the water. And signs of their gnawing were everywhere. Somewhere, I have a photo of me STANDING on a huge beaver dam in the creek circa 1988ish. As a kid, I had a skull from a beaver I found in this creek.

No beaver. No sign whatsoever. None.

Did they get trapped out (legally or otherwise?) Did a great beaver plague sweep through? Did the incredible abundance of bears lead to their demise? I don't know. It's certainly good beaver habitat.

And that, I think, might be why the brush is so bad and the trail washed away in spots. I don't know for sure, it's just speculation, but beaver definitely change an ecosystem when they're in it.

Anyway, I backpacked from Chevelon Crossing to Elk Rub Canyon. I had planned to go all the way to Durfee but was exhausted and hot after bushwacking through a jungle of thorny bushes, and considered the first good campsite past Elk Rub "good enough." So I stopped a little bit short.

It had rained really hard preceding the trip. Water at the Crossing (normally dry) was calf deep, and all the creek crossings were ankle to knee deep. That's the first time I've seen water at the Crossing.

I made camp a few hours before the afternoon's storms fired up, and passed several hours fishing for crawdads. I had packed some Slim Jims and crawdads sounded tastier than Slim Jims, so I used Slim Jim pieces for bait and caught four dozen in a few hours. Just waited for them to grab on to the Slim Jim and shook them off on shore. Crawdads will pretty much eat anything! I stashed the (live) crawdads in a fabric bucket hanging from a tree branch in my campsite, and went to gather wood and look for raspberries.

Did you know crawdads could climb?

I didn't.

I came back to find a procession of crawdads crawling back to the water. Most had already made their escape. I ended up with an even dozen for dinner, and had crawdads alfredo. (You can use crawdads any way you use shrimp.)

And then it rained. I swear, all my backpacking stories have the line "and then it rained." I have a long unbroken string of "and then it rained" backpacking trips.

I didn't get a huge amount of rain where I was at, just an all-night steady storm, and stayed dry -- I had a bivvy set up with a plastic tarp as a rain fly stretched over it. However, the creek started coming up, and the ground was already saturated and the creek was already running high to start with. I spent a nervous night listening to thunder and watching lightning overhead and wondering if I'd be able to get out in the morning.

Around two AM I heard what I thought was a mouse in my gear, which was under the fly with me. I snapped on my flashlight and slapped the gear a bit, assumed the mouse ran off, and went back to bed. Off went the flashlight, and I rolled over and put my hand down ... right on top of SOMETHING ALIVE. Which promptly squeaked like a rodent and hit me in the face. Squirrel? Pack rat? I had no idea.

I screamed like a little girl and grabbed for the flashlight again ... only to discover that the source of the noise was a four inch long brown beetle that FLEW. I've never seen a beetle like that before, and when poked it made noises that sounded surprisingly like a rodent. It or its friends came back several times during the night.

By morning, the water was definitely higher, and with more storms in the forecast I decided to cut the trip short and hiked back out while I still could. The water was a couple feet higher in places -- a few of the creek crossings were thigh deep.

Overall, a fun trip, though I miss the Chevelon of my memories, which had so much less brush.

I had to cross the creek numerous times, and there were multiple very brushy sections (with tons of poison ivy, so watch out). Lots of crawling under overhanging limbs, scrambling over logs and rocks, and backtracking to find better routes.

I would suggest this trip for mid spring after an extended dry period rather than the monsoon season. It would have been much easier before the brush leafed out completely, and with the water levels much lower.

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Mar 20 2016

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area

Horton Creek Trail #285

Horton Creek Trail #285

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 20 2016
		ljcygnet • Triplogs 6

Hiking	7.10 Miles	1,222 AEG

Hiking	7.10 Miles
	1,222 ft AEG

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I hiked Sunday before last, but am only now getting around to posting a triplog.

Horton is about 12 miles by back road from my home, and is one of my favorites when I'm feeling like an easy hike. I rode an ATV over from my house, and it was a gorgeous day for riding. (Don't boo and hiss at me for the ATV; I ride responsibly.)

Horton Creek was running strong, with water (unusually) all the way to Tonto Creek. Crossing it was easy enough, though, as there are flat rocks placed there for the purpose.

The trail is in overall good condition, with the occasional tree down but nothing that can't easily be climbed over. All the trees seem to have fallen in the same direction. We had a severe storm in December, with 19 degree temps and 70 mph winds at our place, and I suspect that the downed trees are from that.

Trees are just starting to leaf out.

Lots of people on the trail, which is typical for Horton.

I ran into a couple of teenage boys at about 4 PM on the way out who were just heading in. They asked me if they were almost to the spring. Both were carrying packs roughly the size of small refrigerators, and were out of breath -- and they were just past the gate that is approximately a half mile in. They were sitting down, catching their breath, and eating their snacks. I had to break it to them that they had a long way to go, and that they might not be able to make it by dark.

Wildlife sightings were limited to a zillion squirrels, and one sparrow hawk, and assorted small birds.

Overall, a gorgeous day and a pleasant hike.

Horton Springs, as a side note, always tastes and smells like petroleum to me. It's coming from a deep aquifer that comes to the surface at the base of the Rim, and this seems to be common with deep wells in our area, too -- our well is 950 feet and tastes and smells identical. If this bothers you, and you plan on getting water from the spring, you may want to bring something to mask the taste. I'm so used to it (because my own water at home tastes like this) that I didn't even notice when I refilled my bottles, until another hiker made a face and commented on the funky smell in water she'd filtered. It isn't harmful.

On the way home, though, my ATV blew up on me -- the starter suddenly engaged when I was doing 20mph on FS 29 and the results lent a whole new meaning to coming to a screeching halt. (I thought at first that I'd broken a cam chain or had some other catastrophic internal failure of the engine.) We suspect an electrical problem because it continued to crank even after key was out of the ignition, but engaging like that couldn't have been good. The ATV is now in the shop with a currently unknown degree of damage, so now I'm restricted to easy-to-access trailheads until it's repaired. My truck doesn't have 4wd. I use the ATV to get back into more difficult to reach trailheads where my truck wouldn't make it, so I'm bummed ... but at least it didn't fail on me somewhere really remote.

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Feb 24 2016

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area

Highline Trail #31

Highline Trail #31

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Feb 24 2016
		ljcygnet • Triplogs 6

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Hiked the Highline from FS144 to Bonita and back, day hike.

I live just a few miles from here, in Ellison Creek Estates. I've been getting back in shape after some health issues and decided I'd do a bit along the Highline.

FS 144 goes north from the Control Road, just west of mile marker 15. It was bladed by the forest service last fall and is currently passable by any vehicle with decent clearance in dry weather. It'll probably be like driving in axle deep vaseline after a rain. It is currently dry, but it's worth bearing this in mind. After a rain or snow, that road will probably require 4wd due to the clay. It's several miles from the Control Road along FS144 to the trailhead.

Note that in winter the Highline trail is a bit hard to pick up from the trailhead going west. There's what looks like the trail (actually an old road) headed north from the trail marker in the parking area, but this peters out. If you face the Rim at the trail marker, the trail takes off at 90 degrees to your left, but it's fairly faint and looks like a game trail. In summer, when the grass is tall, I expect the trail is easier to see.

I missed the trail leaving the parking lot, and ended up bushwacking my way across what I think was Perley Creek (which had a little seasonal water running in it) and following game trails across a low saddle. I had a good cell signal and Google Maps kept insisting I was right on the trail, too, which was frustrating. I wasn't sure at first if I needed to go more to the north or south to find it. This is an unpleasant area to hike off trail in, as the manzanita is extremely thick.

I finally picked up the Highline about a half mile from the trailhead, and things went smoother from there.

The trail is in rough shape, with a lot of cobbles and rocks, a few fallen trees, and steep spots that are are badly eroded. It's passable, and once I found it I didn't have any problems staying on it, but it is definitely rough. It's in the old Dude burn (burnt in 1990).

There wasn't a square foot of dirt that didn't have elk tracks on it and I also saw big kitty tracks (no surprise) and fox tracks. I was, however, surprised to see no bear tracks. They are definitely out with the warm weather as I've spotted bear scat and tracks in other areas, including right in front of my mailbox. Not one bit of bear sign here, though. (As a side note, anyone who hikes the Highline should beware of bears because they are around, and while they usually run, there are four bear attacks in this area that I'm aware of in the last several years.)

I saw a coyote, a few bunnies, and a squirrel approximately every twenty feet. We seem to have a lot of squirrels this year. I expect the coyote and bobcat population will explode next ... (as I lie here in bed I can hear our resident coyote pack singing.)

Bonita creek is a bit milky looking and running vigorously with snowmelt. I poked around the creek a bit (saw a couple large trout) and then headed back the way I came.

This would be a very hot hike in summer as there's not a lot of shade. It is very exposed. It was enjoyable now, however -- the air temps were in the 60s and there was a nice breeze. Really, a beautiful day.

You can see the Mazatzals, Mt. Ord, and Four Peaks from this stretch of trail, as well as Payson. The views are truly spectacular.

Overall, a nice short hike with great views and the potential for seeing lots of wildlife. I'll definitely be doing it again.

I saw one other set of human footprints. It's been several weeks since the last weather of any kind, so I think only on other person has hiked this trail in about the last month or so.

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May 28 2015

Photos 20
Triplogs 6

50 female

Joined Mar 17 2015
Payson Area