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| Backpack | 12.00 Miles |
2,179 AEG |
| | Backpack | 12.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
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| 2,179 ft AEG | | | |
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| no partners | | This was planned as a trip from Tule TH to Reavis Ranch and back, something I've done a couple times before, with the intent of stopping after the second big climb, not far from Walnut Spring. However, the weather had other ideas. I knew it was going to be warm, but it was already burning hot by mid-morning when the real elevation started.
Water went down a lot faster than usual and had to spend more time resting, despite being pretty well conditioned. Bees besieged me every time I stopped, but I was mostly able to ignore them. By the time I crested Two Bar Ridge, there didn't seem to be enough gas left in the tank for the next climb, so I started looking for a flat spot to camp. Along the way, I saw a couple big water caches and scouted ahead to where the trail dives back down into the canyon. I saw a good site with a hunter's camp nearby and set up for the night, pretty worn out an working at quarter speed.
After setting up, I went out walking again and met one of the hunters on his way back to back. He said the shots I heard a couple hours earlier were his buddies, who got a deer up on the ridge on the far side of the canyon. They had about 3 miles and something like 1500 feet up to get it back to camp. I looked around a bit more and went back to fix dinner and watch the night fall. Even without the moon, it didn't get too dark. From that point on Two Bar Ridge, light domes from Phoenix and Tucson are clearly visible, and I could also see construction activity on Hwy 188, I think at the Roosevelt Work Center.
Eventually the other hunters came in with the deer and ate dinner before they finished cutting it up. I had been asleep for an hour by the time they were done, but my camp was between them and the trail and I talked with them for a few minutes as they began their night-hike out to the Two Bar Ridge TH.
The next morning was warm after a warm night, so I expected another hot day. I wasn't much in the mood for another hot climb starting with less water than I like, so I decided to hike out instead. It was indeed brutally hot by 10:00 am, but I did run across a big group of dayhikers who climbed a little peak next to the Tule Trail. After dodging some cattle, I ate lunch by the tanks in Tule Canyon and watched the birds for a while before the last couple dusty miles to the car.
The trail is well maintained and is much easier to follow than the first few times I was out here. It seems more heavily used than it was 15 years ago. If I ever try this route again, though, it will be in cooler weather. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
The trail was mine alone and the temp was 62 degrees at 5:15am and then 92 degrees at 11:50am. 
It wasn't bad. 
. Not as muddy as we thought it would be and some trail work in progress on Tule. We finished off our hike with a "salad" in Tonto Basin. MmMm. Thanks for driving Wally, like HAZ, 
and so did the "salad"! 
) From the top the trail leveled out and afforded us more beautiful views of snow covered Four Peaks. Eventually we reached Pine Creek and chose a great campsite with a nice resting rock near the fire for back support. Cold first night and the water in Pine Creek made filtering water extra chilly.
