BiotiteM's Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Feb 03 2025

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

Upper Haigler Creek to Colcord Canyon, AZ

Hiking		Feb 03 2025
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	5.70 Miles	662 AEG

Hiking	5.70 Miles	3 Hrs 13 Mns	1.77 mph
	662 ft AEG

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Road 200 is easily passable with a Forester; I parked at the start of road 848. Despite what prominent YouTube videos may suggest, I wouldn't even breathe down that road with anything other than a Jeep or a side-by-side; the hike down to the canyon was nice, though.

Haigler Creek has a nice flow to it. Right as I reached the creek, I was treated to the scolding of a Belted Kingfisher and, minutes later, an American Dipper.

The walk up the creek mostly follows an old jeep/atv trail jumping back and forth between banks. The imposing canyon walls of the Precambrian Apache Group are impressive.

The Falls at the mouth of Colcord Canyon were still mostly frozen, barely a trickle coming over the brink. The travertine on the face looked freshly dehydrated, though, so as I noted in my water report, I was wondering if there was an ice dam upstream holding back the main flow. Guess I'll have to go back to check!

The climb back up 848 was not as fun as the descent. Buyer Beware.

Next time I visit, I'll probably start from Fisherman's point.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Miraculously, there were still a couple of maples with pinkish-red foliage clinging to them. We need precipitation, bad.

Jun 04 2024

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

Land of the Pioneers #651

Alpine, AZ

Land of the Pioneers #651

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jun 04 2024
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	7.00 Miles	587 AEG

Hiking	7.00 Miles	2 Hrs 28 Mns	2.84 mph
	587 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

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I was a little nervous driving to the trailhead because Alltrails reviews from the past year had mentioned poor conditions. However, I made it to the trailhead just fine with my stock Forester; there was even a Corolla there, too, so the road was great. The day was sunny with some haze and whispy clouds, and the temperature was in the mid-70s. I started the loop counterclockwise. Only about 5 minutes and a quarter mile down the trail, I encountered a gentleman sitting on a log and his off-leash spaniel mix immediately took a disliking to my presence, charging up the trail and barking. I soothed the defensive pooch with kind words of what a good bodyguard it was. The gentleman wasn't too impressed that I was hiking without a gun or bear spray. Whatever, Black Bears are skittish, and if I see a cougar, it wants me to see it. I was more concerned about the calving elk in the area.

I continued down the trail, and shortly before the first shortcut cutoff for the 4-mile option of this loop, I began seeing the historic remnant of cabins, I spotted about 5 cabin remnants from the trail for the next quarter mile or so, and several other remnants of what may have been garden walls or something, I'm not sure. Dammit, Jim, I'm a naturalist, not an archeologist.

Just before the 7-mile shortcut cutoff, I noticed the box canyon mentioned in the trail guide off to my right. It was almost lunch time so I stepped off the trail to the brink and was surprised to find a dry 20 foot waterfall at the head of the box canyon, this place would be awesome during the snow meltoff or after a strong monsoon (probably not this year, sigh). I had lunch on the canyon rim, listening to the canyon wrens, stellar's jays, broad-tail hummingbirds, grosbeaks, and other members of the forest's orchestra perform, and then it was time to move on.

At the 7-mile shortcut cutoff, I went to readjust my boot's tightness, and the lace promptly snapped. Crap, a quick repair job and prayer to whatever deity wanted to help me later, and the second half of the hike was done at a rather quick pace.

I was surprised to find a small brook crossing about a mile before the parking lot in the last part of the loop. It appeared to be a spring that emerged above the trail a short distance before you crossed on a quaint little log bridge. But it had a decent flow and created a nice ambiance in an otherwise relatively dry excursion.

Someday, I'll come back to do the full 9-mile loop. But for now, the 7-mile was satisfactory, and I was pleased with this hike—it did not disappoint!

Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Blue Flag, Globemallow, Paintbrush, Fleabane, Mariposa Lilies, Wild Roses, and several members of the Asteraceae were in bloom. It was a nice selection!

Dec 17 2023

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

Tonto Natural Bridge

Payson, AZ

Tonto Natural Bridge

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Dec 17 2023
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	0.50 Miles	200 AEG

Hiking	0.50 Miles	35 Mns	0.86 mph
	200 ft AEG

no routes

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Made it down under the Natural Bridge for the first time in several weeks today.

Despite the consistent rumors I keep being told, all park trails are open. If you plan to visit, check the park website (NOT GOOGLE FOR THE LOVE...) for condition updates or call the office.

My route today was the Gowan-Pine Creek (under the bridge)-Anna Mae Loop, which is just a hair over a half mile and took me about 35-40 minutes to complete, including the time it took to stop and chat with some visitors. Watch for loose rocks on the Gowan and Anna Mae Trails. As always, the rocks under the bridge are slippery as snot, EVEN when dry. Follow the yellow and brown arrows for navigation.

If you're a birder, watch and listen for Canyon Wrens on the walls and cliffs of the Bridge and Canyon, they've been quite active recently. Other feathered friends seen throughout the park include the two resident Ravens: Bonnie and Clyde, Bluebirds, Cardinals, and Flickers with two brain cells fighting for third place.

Coues' White-tail deer and Javelina make appearances almost daily. White-nosed Coati are also seen about 2-3 times a week, always a crowd favorite.

Pine Creek continues to trickle under the sole power of the springs within the park. Upstream of where the springs drop in at the end of the Waterfall Trail, the creek is dry, dry, dry. We need rain badly. I can't believe that only eight months ago, I was standing on the metal deck watching logs the size of telephone poles porpoise through the bridge in a maelstrom of foam and spray. The water level of the insane flooding is still easily observable based on the debris it left behind. Side note: it's a bummer there isn't a water report marker here for Pine Creek. I'd be updating that all the time if there was one.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Some Willows are still barely hanging on, but they're going to be gone by the end of the week, especially if we get the predicted rain Wed-Friday.

Wildflowers Observation None
None right now, although I anticipate we'll be getting some random perennials with the next burst of rain if the frost doesn't nail them. I've seen things like Mock-vervain bloom as late as this time of year in the right conditions.

Dec 15 2023

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

Pole Hollow Canyon

Payson, AZ

Pole Hollow Canyon

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Dec 15 2023
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	5.62 Miles	357 AEG

Hiking	5.62 Miles	3 Hrs 15 Mns	1.73 mph
	357 ft AEG	19 Hrs 57 Mns Break

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Despite living in Rim Country for two years, I've never done any hiking around the Doll Baby Area, and I decided to change that by exploring Pole Hollow Canyon. I parked at the pullout at the switchback shortly before City Creek Trailhead. As I crested the rise before dropping to the confluence of Pole Hollow Canyon and City Creek, I had to sidle around some stubbornly unmoving bovines. Eventually, I got past them, and my adventure began in earnest.

On this hike, I elected not to follow the old road like the guide but instead walk along the wash itself. The going is easy, with only a few brief ducks or squats under fallen trees or clambering over small logjams.

About 1.5 miles in is a patch of Cypress that escaped the flames of the Willow(?) fire in 2004. These Cypress dwarf the surrounding dog-hair forest of younger trees and protect a mature forest floor of shrub species described above, a nice place to take a break. Shortly south is a nice small cliff of what I interpret to be an ancient river channel. At the 2-mile mark, the drainage forks and you want to take the righthand one down the smaller-looking wash, it widens up again shortly after.

I eventually picked my way all the way up to Pole Hollow Spring at the confluence of Pole Hollow Canyon and Hill Creek. Hill Creek was completely dry, and the spring was marked by 2-3 small pools of water. Despite the pool floors being coated with emerald-green algae, the water was remarkably clear, and if I had water purification items with me, I wouldn't shy away from drinking from it. the only evidence of wildlife was Deer and Javelina prints in the muddy surroundings, Juncos fluttering amongst the cypress, and water striders skating around on their little fortress of solitude. The spring was discharging enough water that it created a noticeable trickle between the pools and then a tiny outflow that went only 3-4 feet before soaking into the ground.

Pole Hollow Canyon is rather unspectacular terrain-wise, with no big waterfalls or narrows. The most interesting geologic part of the canyon is the small bedrock section right near the confluence with City Creek, where a large 100-foot wall of conglomerate and sandstone rises above you to the east, it reminded me of the terrain in the Verde Valley area.

I'll be honest, I was mostly here for the plants. I've wanted to explore this area for some time due to the abundance of Smooth Arizona Cypress (Cupressus glabra), as well as to see what kind of semi-desert flora and fauna I could find in this arid hollow sandwiched between Payson and the Mazatzals.

The flora of the hike is dominated by a Cypress woodland, as mentioned above. Other upland trees making appearances besides the cypress include Arizona Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus x fallax), and Junipers (Juniperus spp.). Despite their abundance in the highlands where Payson lies to the east, I saw no large Oaks. However, the shrub layer below the canopy of Cypress was dominated by Sonoran Scrub Oak (Quercus turbinella), with Palmer's Oak (Quercus palmeri) making frequent appearances as well. Other shrubs included Acacia, Mimosa, Silktassels, Manzanita, and Buckthorns.

The most surprising botanical observation I made was the frequent appearance of Coffeeberry practically the entire length of the canyon from the confluence with City Creek up to Pole Hollow Spring. Coffeeberry (Frangula californica is an evergreen shrub typically associated with Pine Oak Habitats, which in our region is Ponderosa Pine/Gambel Oak Forest, the nearest example of which is over 1,000 vertical feet and several miles from here. It should not be shaking hands with Chaparral and desert grassland plants in a pseudo-xeric environment, yet here it was.

Overall, Pole Hollow Canyon was a very rewarding hike and a nice introduction to this area of the region. I will definitely be back to do more exploring.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Coffeeberry

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cross-bedding

Wildflowers Observation None
Everything is in seed.

Hill Creek

Dry

	Pole Hollow Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Zip, nada, nothin'

	Pole Hollow Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	There was a trickling flow out of the main source pools that went for several feet before soaking into the ground. Conservatively placing it in "dripping" category.

Dec 08 2023

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

Chillicut Trail #132

Payson, AZ

Chillicut Trail #132

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Dec 08 2023
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	1.00 Miles	3,610 AEG

Hiking	1.00 Miles	2 Hrs	0.50 mph
	3,610 ft AEG

no routes

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I joined the Tonto Basin Chapter of the Arizona Native Plant Society on a field trip today down the Chillicut Trail and adjacent washes. There were about 20-25 folks in attendance, including one very well-behaved doggo. This wasn't a legitimate hike per se but rather more of a meandering along the trail for a short distance, discussing different keystone species and their relationship to the desert and each other.

We started out right at the trailhead, where I was somewhat surprised to see some Thurber's Desert Honeysuckle in bloom. I first saw this delicate desert plant on the west side of Four Peaks on an ill-fated Thanksgiving campout last year, so I guess the timing isn't too far off. The wash of Rock Creek has a multitude of Arizona Sycamores growing up from their root crowns following the (Bush?) fire that burned through the area some years ago. Within the wash, one could also find Desert Broom, various grasses, Prickly Pear, and lots of Desert Willow. Another surprise for me was when the field trip leader pointed out an Elderberry. I usually associate Elderberries with higher, cooler, moister areas of Arizona, so to see one in the desert holding hands with a suite of plants from the Sonoran Thornscrub and Interior Chaparral was not something I was expecting.

Continuing up the trail, we passed by sizeable thickets of Sonoran Scrub Oak, teeming with various galls of different species. One of these galls actually hatched for me and several others as we were examining it, revealing the tiny black wasp inside (See the photoset; I'm not quite advanced enough to link to a specific photo yet). Other chaparral species growing within the wash included catclaw Acacia, catclaw Mimosa, Hollyleaf Redberry, Sugar Bush, and Mountain Mahogany. Isolated occurrences of Palo Verde were on the slopes, and there are two individual Saguaros growing on an exposed, south-facing slope above the trail at one point, one of which has a huge nest of some kind in its arms.

As the trail followed the drainage around a curve, the wandering wash naturally drew the eyes to the hulking mass of Browns Peak, towering over Tonto Basin. The weather was fantastic, and one could easily see the Ponderosas growing near the top of the impressive edifice. I really need to get back up to the pass someday...

The group followed the trail down to the bottom of the drainage and then stepped off the trail into the drainage as the main path ascended the ridgelines leading toward the Mazatzals. In the wash we made some closer examinations of catclaw Acacia, Sacred Datura, and Fremont's Cottonwood before turning around and retracing our steps to the trailhead. Before we intersected the trail in the wash, the raspy cry of a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay caught my attention, and I spotted the boisterous corvid just before it flew over the ridge and out of sight. On the drive back home, I also spotted a gorgeous male Phainopepla and two circling Red-tail hawks. I plan to return to do this hike in earnest again sometime in the spring when the desert flowers are blooming. Nice day!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Desert Honeysuckle

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Striped Oak Apple Gall Wasp

Autumn Foliage Observation Light
Sycamores were nearly done, with their rapidly dropping leaves an orangy brown. The Cottonwoods were another story, bright green-yellow and absolutely radiant in the midday sun.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Desert Honeysuckle and I spotted some late-season snakeweed.

Nov 30 2023

BiotiteM

Photos 15
Triplogs 6

male

Joined Nov 15 2023
Pine, AZ

South Fork Trail #46

Payson, AZ

South Fork Trail #46

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Nov 30 2023
		BiotiteM • Triplogs 6

Hiking	6.60 Miles	783 AEG

Hiking	6.60 Miles	3 Hrs 26 Mns	1.92 mph
	783 ft AEG

no routes

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My hiking partner and I arrived at the Deer Creek trailhead just after 9 am, and only one other car was present.

Things were kicked off right at the beginning as we approached the trailhead sign. Off to our left (east), a covey of Gambel's Quail suddenly scattered out of the mesquite and scrub oak and flew about 40 yards away from the parking lot. About 30 seconds later, after our attention had already returned to the trail, panicked quail squawks made us do a double take. A singular male quail was in frantic flight, emitting rapid-fire spik calls as if pleading for his life. Right on his tail and seemingly with a missile lock tone was a Cooper's Hawk in hot pursuit. We watched as the quail dove into another chaparral thicket, and the hungry accipiter followed. Despite the sounds of crashing brush and more cries from the quail, we couldn't tell who won the contest.

The beginning of this hike was nice, of course, if you didn't mind the roar of Highway 87 off to the right. The trail rolled through a semi-desert grassland of Mesquite, catclaw, Hedgehog Cacti, and Prickly Pear, with the Mazatzals dominating the skyline to the left. About a quarter mile from the trailhead, the Gold Ridge Trail peeled off to the left. I couldn't quite tell which one of the badly eroded paths was the official trail.

After a gate and another quarter mile, the lefthand turnoff for South Fork #46 appeared and began descending to the South Fork of Deer Creek. Where the trail reaches the bottom of the valley, the creek was dry, and if it wasn't for the scattered Sycamores and Cottonwoods still recovering from the Willow Fire over a decade ago, one would have assumed this was just one of the many ephemeral washes in the southwest which only flows after heavy rain or snowfall.

One thing became quickly apparent on this hike. This was a trail for the cairn lovers. Even in places where the path was obvious, rock piles appear every 50-100 feet or so. I would advise caution following these, as we realized on the way back that contradicting cairns will lead you down unofficial paths and into tricky debris piles and stream crossings.

Despite the odd cairn placement, the first 2.5 miles of the South Fork trail was relatively easy for experienced hikers and would probably be considered moderate for the inexperienced. The terrain and plant community changed almost constantly. This is the naturalist's dream trail, and I could only imagine what it would be like in the spring and early summer with the creek running and the flowers blooming.

About 3 miles in was a lovely short gorge of bluish-gray rock where Deer Creek cascaded into a series of deep potholes. On our hike these cascades were dry, and I hope to return one day when they are running. Shortly after this cascade, the trail conditions took a turn for the worse, with us relying heavily on cairns, frequently pushing aside brush and branches.

Our stopping point was about 3.3 miles in at a small area where the creek was (barely) flowing probably with the help of perennial springs. As the creek splashed through some geologically incredible boulders, the floor and bank of the tiny brook was lined with some of the most brilliant emerald green moss I've ever encountered anywhere outside of the Pacific Northwest or Yellowstone National Park Thermal Areas.

The hike back was easy to retrace the trail, except for one spot where a poorly placed cairn sent us in the wrong direction, resulting in us scrambling up the side of the slope until we hit the trail.

Lots and lots of bear sign in this canyon as well.

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
Sycamores were on the way out, Ash and Cottonwoods were near peak.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few small flowers blooming. Everything else was in seed.

South Fork Deer Creek

Dry

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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