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| Hiking | 10.27 Miles |
2,670 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.27 Miles | 6 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.94 mph |
| 2,670 ft AEG | 47 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I attempted to hike Peter's Canyon on Sunday; however, the tropical storm-force winds convinced me otherwise. Monday's winds, although still breezy, weren't forecasted to be as bad and were expected to decrease as the morning progressed, so, of course, I picked out something on a ridge  . Started from the Cross F TH with no other vehicles in the lot, which was probably due to the 37-degree temperature and the arctic wind. I decided to do the loop CCW, getting the easy portion out of the way, and as expected, the AZT portion of the hike was in great shape. When I got to the turnoff, I briefly contemplated finishing out the section of 22 to the Saddle Mountain Trail, but the artic winds once again convinced me not to. Once off the AZT, the trail was initially easy to follow; however, it was a bit hit and miss near Marion Spring as the scratchy stuff was being super fed. Once I got past the spring, near the old corral and fenceline that was in severe disrepair, the grass took over, and the trail disappeared. As long as you know the general direction and stay close to the track, you will be fine. Took a break near the Upper Sheek Creek Spring area and started the biggest climb of the day. The trail here is easy to follow, although a bit muddy, rocky, and torn up in some places due to the cattle; the climb is steep but fairly short. The trail vanishes again at the top of the ridge, all the way to Brunson Tank, which is like a small lake; it's massive, and even with cattle in the area, the water did not look that bad at all. Past the tank, the trail is easy to follow again, although slippery in some areas due to the rocks. Came across my horse friends near the power lines and followed 393 down a bit before jumping off on a game trail back to the TH.
A good amount of scratchy stuff once off the AZT, which my legs took the brunt of, and with all of the steep, slippery sections, which I got through no problem, I fell on my pumpkin 20 yards from the TH . Came across a couple of deer and zero people all day, not surprisingly. Great hike through an absolutely beautiful section of the Mazzies, it was long sleeves all day with the ridiculous wind, which for me rarely happens.
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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Brunson Tank |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | Tons of water, it's like a small lake. |
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Marion Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Did not look for the spring, but some nice pools with light flow below the area. | | _____________________
Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
). It was a chilly 43 degrees when we started through the meadow. As has been the case, the trail is in great condition for the first mile or so until you enter the burn, then it's more work to find the old tread and the new sections. Once we approached West Spring, water appeared in the creek in the form of Green Slurpees, which we passed on purchasing. Just before the Campaign junction, I crawled under a tree that was blocking the old tread. Something on the ground there did not like me, as part of my arm and leg turned red and started burning. Rubbing some alcohol on it helped, but it hung around for a couple of hours. We arrived at Oak Flat and decided to hike up the creek as I flashed back to the nightmare that is the trail past this point. An eroded, negative camber, bloody mess that I did not want to repeat. The creek was dry most of the way; however, as we approached the small rock slide area, it appeared above ground, very clear and cold. After a couple of miles of rock-hopping in the creek, my ankle reminded me that it wasn't 100% and let me know it was time to head back—an uneventful hike back as we tried to stay on the old tread as much as it was there. A little past the Cuff Button junction, the old tread climbs high above the bank. Unfortunately, it has two good-sized deadfall sections that require you to hike through baby junipers to get past the first one and get on all fours for the second one, but other than that, the tread is good up on the bank. We heard a gunshot a short distance away near West Spring and saw a couple with a dog down in the creek while we were up on the bank, but did not come across anyone else on the trail the whole day. After getting back to TH and cleaning up, the 4Runner battery decided it was done, fortunately I carry a jumper box, which worked perfectly. On the drive out there were some horses along the side of the road at the upper HC TH, looks like Jack was doing some work at the cabin. Great day to be out in the Supes, trying to work my way back to longer hikes. 
