Let's Thru-hike the Black Canyon Trail

Last December when hiking through the Gila River Canyons section of the Arizona trail with my friend Craig, we got to talking about backpacking all of the Black Canyon Trail or, as we call it, the BCT. It seemed like a fun adventure.

Arizona Trail, South Rim to Utah

October 20, 2015

Last February, on the second day of my hike from Picket Post to Roosevelt Lake, I met Ron, who was section hiking the Arizona trail too. We ended up hiking together for the rest of that trip. He continued on to Pine and also completed the trail from Pine to the South Rim. We decided to team up and complete our last hundred miles of trail together. Ron lives in Portland, Oregon and yesterday he flew into town, got a rental car, and spent the night at my house.

Our plan was to drop my truck off at the Stateline Campground, then drive to near the South Rim and camp for the night. Simple enough, but it would be a lot of driving.

We left in the morning and drove up to Flagstaff where we stopped and I got gas, then we had an early lunch at a nearby McDonalds. The low tire-pressure light turned on in Ron’s rental so he stopped to find some air and I continued on. When I got to the turnoff for Horseshoe Bend I stopped and found geocache, Trucker Stop #16 - The Muleshoe. It was at two memorials for a six person fatal accident including five family members and a state trooper. Very sad.

A few minutes after I found the cache, Ron showed up and we hiked to the Horseshoe Bend overlook. It was about a mile and a half walk and was well worth it. It is a very scenic view of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. While there, I also found the Earth-Cache, Horseshoe Bend, Page Arizona.

Horseshoe Bend

After checking out Horseshoe Bend, we drove into Page and stopped at a Sonic for a milkshake and to figure out how to get to the Stateline Campground. The milkshake was yummy!

To get to the campground we turned onto a dirt road off of US 89. Shortly after we were on the road, it was washed out in places from some recent storms. A dual-sport rider was coming the other way so I asked what the road was like. He said the creek was running across the road in places and was pretty bad. Ron got in the truck and we drove ahead a couple miles to see what it was like. We decided we wouldn’t be able to get the rental car to the campground so we turned around and left my truck on the side of the road, about ten miles from the campground. We’d figure out how to get to it at the end of the hike, or just walk another ten miles.

We left a change of clothes and some water in the truck and then we got in the rental car and headed back towards Page. We stopped at Cameron to have dinner. It was getting late and neither of us really felt like camping tonight so we found a room in Tusayan for us to stay at. After we checked in, we went and had a beer before calling it a night.

October 21, 2015

Start: South Kaibab Trailhead, GCNP.
End: Cottonwood Camp, GCNP.
Miles: ~14.7.

I slept pretty good last night, especially since it was in a hotel bed instead of outside in the cold and rain. I got up and took a quick shower since it would be my last opportunity for a while. Afterwards, Ron and I walked over to McDonald’s for breakfast. A sausage McMuffin and orange juice did the trick for me. We went back to the hotel, checked out and hopped in the rental car and drove to the Grand Canyon National Park’s main visitor center. I got all my stuff together and wandered down to the bus stop. There was a bus about to leave for Yaki Point. Ron came down, we boarded the bus, and off it went. Perfect timing.

The bus went directly to Yaki Point and along the way, we talked to a gal who was leading a group a ways down the trail for a day hike. She told us a rain storm was moving in in the next couple of hours. It wasn’t long before we were off the bus, where we took a couple minutes doing last minute things. For example, I turned on my GPSr and SPOT on, and used the facilities. Someone left a set of trekking poles at the bus stop. We checked to see if it was someone from the group but it wasn’t. We walked to the trailhead, took some pictures, and headed into the canyon a few minutes after nine.

Ron at the South Kaibab Trailhead

It wasn’t long before we reached Ooh Aah Point where we stopped and listened to a tour guide for a minute before continuing. Ron mused whether this was ooooh, aaaah point or ooh aaaaeeeeh (I’m plummeting to my death) point. Thanks for that!

Not long after we left Ooh Aah Point, it started raining. That was earlier than we expected. We stopped and put our pack covers and rain gear on and opened the umbrellas. A few minutes later we arrived at Cedar Ridge. I was working on completing geocache, Rim to Rim, an earth cache. Basically, I had to gather information at certain places on a rim to rim hike to answer a bunch of questions about the Grand Canyon’s geology. I thought Cedar ridge was the first of several stops but it wasn’t, Skeleton Point was and it was raining pretty good when we arrived there.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped to get a drink and dropped my bottle. It landed on its top and broke the cap. Crap! I could sort of screw the cap on but it wasn’t secure at all.

Around twenty past eleven, we made it to the Tonto Trail junction and stopped over by the outhouse to rest out of the rain. We talked to another hiker who was heading east along the Tonto. He’d been out for a few days but I don’t remember where he started (probably around Boucher or Hermit) or where he was heading.

After fifteen minutes, we were back on the trail and soon passed Tipoff, another spot I was supposed to get information for the earth cache. Again, it was raining and I missed it. From tipoff, the trail makes its final descent to the Colorado. As we dropped, the rain slowed and stopped as we neared the tunnel before the black bridge and we were able to put the umbrellas away for the rest of the day.

It felt good cross the bridge over the Colorado; I was last there four years prior. We checked out some information signs about some Indian ruins and followed a muddy trail to Phantom Ranch where we stopped close to an hour for lunch. I stopped in the canteen for some lemonade. While there, I asked if they had any water bottles since mine had a broken cap. They had a 24 oz. Aquafina bottle. Perfect!

We were back on the trail at quarter of two. Supposedly the water was turned off at Cottonwood Camp. We’d be along Bright Angel Creek the whole way but it was running chocolate brown from all the storms, so I left Phantom Ranch with a bunch.

From Phantom Ranch, we had about seven miles to the Cottonwood Camp campground where we had a permit for the night. The trail follows along Bright Angel Creek. It’s an easy trail, with a gentle grade most all of the way. There’s several bridges that cross the creek and it’s a really enjoyable walk. We stopped several times along the way. We even stopped for water at one place where water was dripping off the rocks along the trail.

Me and a Muddy Bright Angel Creek (Photo Courtesy of Ron)

We took a turn to go to Ribbon Falls, but that trail crossed the creek and it was flowing high so we turned back to the main trail. Not quite a half mile farther, there’s another trail to Ribbon Falls that has a bridge over the creek. When we got to it, we decided to skip the trip to the falls as it was getting late and the falls were in the evening shade.

Rainbow

Doe and Fawn in Center

We arrived at Cottonwood Camp about ten past five and spent a few minutes looking for a good campsite. We picked one but then found another that was a bit nicer so we moved there and set up camp.

I was going through my pack looking for my beanie. I had trouble finding it and was getting worried I forgot to pack it. I did find it, but I had myself quite a scare. Ron called it my, “beanie panic.”

We had dinner and were cleaning up and getting camp more organized when it started to sprinkle so we closed things up and called it a night. I fell asleep to rain spattering on my tarp.

October 22, 2015

Start: Cottonwood Camp, GCNP.
End: Passage 39, mile 11.8 (N 36° 19.963 W 112° 06.167).
Miles: ~18.5.

Yesterday, my camera broke. I took a picture and the memory card filled up and I was unable to delete any old pictures to make room. Sometimes the camera flakes out in high humidity so I was hoping the problem would resolve itself overnight but it hasn’t yet. Hopefully it will sometime during this trip. Today I used my phone’s camera to get pictures but I’ll need to limit its use to save battery life.

Even with the rain last night, things were mostly dry this morning when we broke camp. Also, the water was turned on so I was a bit bummed I carried all that extra water yesterday. We were on the trail at quarter past seven.

At eight, we reached the pump house and I went off to find an informational sign for the Rim to Rim earth cache. I found out the sign was up the trail a bit farther while talking to some geologists that were staying there for a few days. I continued up the trail to the sign where I took a picture of it, then continued to Roaring Springs where Ron was waiting. Roaring Springs comes out of the side of a cliff and roars down to the creek bed below.

Roaring Springs

After Roaring Springs, the canyon narrows and the trail starts climbing more steeply. It was difficult to see where the trail would work its way up the cliffs. This part of the trail was tiring but with the sun and clouds the light on the canyon walls was spectacular.

Photo Courtesy of Ron

About an hour and a half beyond Roaring Springs, we reached the Supai Tunnel rest area where we stopped. There was a group of four that were resting there too. We had a snack and chatted with them for a while when it started to sprinkle. The rain was just a smattering and we were able to mostly ignore it.

At ten forty, we started the last push up to the north rim.  Not quite an hour later, it started raining so we stopped to put on our pack covers and open our umbrellas. At eleven fifty, in heavy rain, we made it to the top where we hid under a kiosk and put on more rain gear. We ate some food while hoping for the rain to stop or at least slow down, but it didn’t. The four we met at the Supai Tunnel also made it up and hid on the other side of the kiosk. By quarter past noon, we had finished eating and were getting cold so we figured we better just suck it up and get on the trail.

It took a while, but it felt good to get warmed up while hiking through the Ponderosa Pines. There was water in the trail and I was really surprised and happy that my socks didn’t get wet. The trail turned onto a dirt road then veered off but we missed the turn and didn’t realize it until we walked a few minutes past it. We could have cut across a meadow to get back to the trail but it looked wet so we just turned around and followed the road back. In the meantime, the rain had stopped so we took a short break and put our rain gear away.

The trail meandered through the forest most of the rest of the day. Sometimes it was single track and other times it would follow a road or close to a road. We stopped for a few breaks to eat and eventually we made it to a cabin near the park’s north entrance. We had some more food there and filled our water bottles from some water containers on the side of the cabin left for hikers.

It was about quarter past five when we left the cabin and followed the trail up a road towards the north rim lookout tower. The sun was low and it was starting to cool off. Not far from the tower, the trail turned off the road and shortly after that we stopped to set up camp in the Aspens. Our plan was to camp legally outside the park but it was starting to get dark and cold and even though it wasn’t a legitimate camping area, it seemed best to stop and camp where we were.

I took a few minutes to find a spot to pitch my tarp. First I changed into some warmer clothes, then set up the tarp. I was concerned that the ground was littered with very wet aspen leaves but that turned out to not be a problem. Once the tarp was pitched, I had dinner then turned in for the night.

October 23, 2015

Start: Passage 39, mile 11.8 (N 36° 19.963 W 112° 06.167).
End: Passage 41, mile 1.8 (N 36° 34.326 W 112° 10.363).
Miles: ~23.6.

It got cold last night. I put on my pants, puffy jacket, and gloves to try to stay warm but was still getting cold, mostly from below. I ended up putting my thin closed cell foam pad on top of my air mattress. That helped a lot but I still wished the foam pad was a bit thicker.

There was a heavy dew last night that was all frozen this morning. There was a thick layer of frost on my tarp and I wasn’t able to shake it all off so it folded thick and wouldn’t fit in the stuff sack. That made for cold hands too.

We were packed up and on the trail at quarter past seven. I was wearing my beanie and gloves to start the day. Fifteen minutes later, we reached the park boundary and the start of passage 40. The morning had been in the shade, but finally the sun was starting to reach the trail and help warm us. At half past eight we took a short break to shed some clothes and have a quick bite to eat.

By twenty of ten, we reached the trail to North Canyon Spring. We didn’t need any water but geocache, BIGHUNK Adventures 2011, was hidden at the junction so I stopped to find it. I wandered around for several minutes before I finally found it. It wasn’t a difficult hide, it just took me a bit to spot it. The Big Hunk was still in it when I found it and when I left it. After over four years sitting in the cache, it probably wouldn’t taste good.

From there the trail climbed up to what is called the East Rim. There were great views of canyons to the east. We could see for miles and miles and it was nice change to the short views we had been having since we reached the north rim.

The views were short lived though as we turned back into the forest after about a mile and soon stopped for a break at Dog Lake. We spent close to fifty minutes at Dog Lake drying out our shelters, getting some water, and having a bite to eat.

It was about half past eleven when we were back on the trail. It wove in and out of forest and open areas. We dropped down some switchbacks and then followed a road along a large grassy area. After a bit, a vehicle with two men pulled up and we chatted with them for a couple minutes before they continued.

By one we were ready for lunch so we stopped in a forested area of the trail to eat. I took my shoes and socks off and got out my food. Ron pulled out one of his salami/cheese/bagel sandwiches and teased me. He didn’t want to trade that for my tuna fish and crackers. Darn.

From there, we hiked for another two hours through the forest and meadows of the Kaibab Plateau before reaching Crane Lake, where we stopped for water. Crane Lake is more like a large pond with lots of reeds, a swampy shoreline, and greenish water. Ron took his shoes and socks off and waded in a bit and filled my bottle for me so I didn’t have to get my feet wet. What a guy! Geocache, Crane Lake North Rim Cache was across the lake, so I headed over there and found it while eating a Cliff Bar. It wasn’t long before I was back and we finished up getting water and were back on the trail a bit after four.

Not quite two miles from Crane Lake, we left the forest and entered the large burn area from the 2006 Warm Fire. The Warm Fire burned about 59,000 acres, some severely, and is controversial in how the fire was managed. There’s some interesting on-line reading about it.

About ten past five, we crossed FR 241, where passage 40 ends and 41 begins. It was near the end of the day and the temperature was starting to drop. We were looking for a place to camp but with the fire, the ground was all rock and there was tons of deadfall so camp choices were poor at best. We kept walking. There were some hunters across the way, camping off the road. We saw some deer. Every once in a while, there would be some stands of trees but they were never in easy reach. We kept walking. Finally, about ten of six, we came upon a spot that would do, just barely, but it would do.

There was one snag near where Ron was setting up his tent. He pushed on it hard to make sure there was no chance it would fall during the night. I found a place to pitch my tarp and set up my camp. I was cold and had some trouble getting my tarp up. Things just weren’t working out right for me, but finally it was set up and I started dinner.

By the time I finished dinner, the dew was already turning to frost, so I knew it was going to be another cold night. At least I knew what I needed to do to stay warm from last night as I crawled into bed.

I tried my camera a couple times during the day but was still unable to get it to work. I also didn’t want to turn my phone on, so no pictures for today.

October 24, 2015

Start: Passage 41, mile 1.8 (N 36° 34.326 W 112° 10.363).
End: Passage 42, mile 6.2 (N 36° 47.566 W 112° 08.915).
Miles: ~21.6.

I slept pretty good last night, better than I expected to. Despite that, I was slow getting up this morning and it seemed to take a long time to break camp. It was almost quarter of eight when we got on the trail, and as usual, Ron was standing around for a few minutes waiting for me to get my butt in gear. Maybe someday I’ll be quick out of camp but it hasn’t happened yet. Then, barely five minutes later, I stopped to zip off the bottom of my pants. We had another heavy frost last night and the frost is starting to melt in the sun and I’d rather have my legs get a little wet than to soak the bottom of my pants.

We made it another hour and were just leaving the burn section when I noticed we passed geocache, In the Sticks. I dropped my pack and doubled back to find it. I didn’t find it, but I did find a gallon freezer bag and some wadded up napkins like somebody did their business. I didn’t look too much harder after that and returned to Ron and my pack. I later found out someone took the cache and it’s now archived.

It turns out we didn’t reach the end of the burn, just a small area that wasn’t burnt. We continued on close to four more miles before we finally left the burn for good, a bit before we reached the Murry Lake Trailhead were we stopped for close to half an hour for a break.

It was twenty of eleven when we continued hiking. This stretch of trail paralleled a dirt road where there were several hunters camping. We crossed a hollow where we disturbed a couple of does then we climbed out and crossed next to a man’s campsite. He was just getting into his truck and we mentioned the deer. He knew they were down there and had seen them for the past few days.

Not long after that, we reached Buffalo Trick Tank, our water source for the day. First things first, I found geocache, Wildlife H2o which was hidden in a stump right there. There was a large metal water tank and below, a hundred yards or more was a dirt cattle tank. We didn’t see an obvious place to get water out of the metal tank, such as a valve, or trough connected to it. There was a lid opening on the top and fortunately, the tank was full so it was easy to get to the water through the lid.

Photo Courtesy of Ron

We spent well over an hour at the tank, gathering water, eating, and drying out our shelters from last night’s frost. Again, Ron teased me with his bagel sandwich while I ate my tuna and crackers. We’d also been joking about Cliff Bars just being flavored bear poop. They actually do look a lot like bear poop and really don’t taste much better either. Not that I know what bear poop tastes like, mind you, it’s just that Cliff Bars get old quick.

After the long lunch break, it was about one when we got back on the trail. From there we hiked steadily through the forest talking about whatever came to mind. As we neared the Orderville Trailhead, off of highway 89, I left the trail to find geocache, Not By the Spoon, while Ron continued to the trailhead. After finding the cache, I cut back to the trail, then started searching for geocache, Jolly LightFoot, that was near the trailhead. It took me over ten minutes to find. Ron was talking on his phone so I wasn’t super concerned about the length of the search. After finding the cache, I went to the trailhead where I took a short break. A dual-sport rider rode up and we talked to him for several minutes. It was about half past three when we made it across the highway and started passage 42.

From here on, we were walking through forest and were just making miles for the rest of the day. There wasn’t any views, just trees, so we walked. Somewhere when we were about to cross a small road, a truck drove by. The people in the truck waved to us and we waved to them. The interesting thing was that we waved to the same people as they passed by us many miles earlier while we were at the Murry Lake Trailhead.

The trail turned into a road that was recently graded. After a bit, it looked the whole road was newly cut. At any rate, with the new grading, we missed where the trail turned off the road. We had gone maybe a quarter mile past before we realized we weren’t on the trail. I could see where the trail was supposed to be on my GPSr, so we headed cross country to get back on track. We missed maybe a quarter mile of trail, but travelled about a half mile off it. It was sort of like a large isosceles triangle where the trail was one side, and we travelled the other two sides.

Around five-thirty we started looking for a place to camp. There were several reasonably nice spots. We got to a road and decided to go back a short distance to one we had just passed.

We set up camp and had dinner. It definitely cooled off after dark but wasn’t as cold as it had been the last two nights. My tarp was pitched between two trees and there was lots of pine needles for a soft bed. This was my best campsite for the trip and I went to sleep pleased with how things were going.

October 25, 2015

Start: Passage 42, mile 6.2 (N 36° 47.566 W 112° 08.915).
End: Stateline CG.
Miles: ~21.6.

It was warmer last night and drier. There was no dew last night, nor frost this morning. That made breaking camp much nicer as I didn’t freeze my hands folding up my tarp. Ron and I had talked about people stepping out of camp to take care of business and being unable to find their way back to camp when done. It’s just one of those things that happened to come up in conversation. So this morning, I wandered out of camp and took care of business. I thought it would be fun to pretend to get lost so I circled around camp for a bit then yelled. The forest was too open so my stunt fizzled miserably. Oh well. We were on the trail a bit past seven; our earliest start.

The tread was good and the trail was mostly level and descending slightly. It was near the end of the trip so our packs were light. We were cruising along and making good time, covering well over three miles the first hour when we reached the junction for nearby Government Reservoir. We saw a hunter off to the left approaching the reservoir (really just an earthen cattle tank) and bag full of garbage another hiker had left. I’m not sure why, but we left the garbage for the hiker to come and retrieve and took off walking, probably ruining any chance the hunter had for taking any nearby game.

At Government Reservoir, the forest changed from Ponderosa to Juniper and scrub. The terrain stayed flat and we continued to make good time. At half past nine, we’d already walked seven and a half miles and stopped for our first real break for the day because a tendon in my left ankle was getting a bit sore. We sprawled out and had some food and I took my shoes off and rubbed my foot some.

We were back on the trail before ten and about a half hour later, after crossing a small road, I scratched A-Z-T-Y-O-Y-O-G-O-G-O-!!! on the trail for Kathy and Ras Vaughn who were maybe a week behind us attempting the first yo-yo of the Arizona Trail. I didn’t know if rain would wash the letters away or not but hoped they would spot the message.

Just before eleven, we finished passage 42 and stopped for another break. I had developed a small blister on the outside of my left heel and took care of it with a second skin bandage Ron gave me. While there, a BLM ranger drove up and we talked to him for well over half an hour. We’d been seeing tracks on the trail and wondered what they were from. They were small paw prints with very large claw marks. He thought the tracks were probably from a badger. I also found out that I left the driver’s window open on my truck. The ranger seemed happy to know why the truck was parked where it was and lamented me not leaving a note on it.

Interestingly enough, from camp to passage 43 was the same distance as passage 43 was to the end of the Arizona Trail. After forty minutes resting, we were back on the trail starting passage 43, the last passage of the AZT.

We continued for a little over an hour when we stopped for lunch. Again, I wasn’t able to trade my tuna and crackers for Ron’s last bagel sandwich. While we were resting, a man hiked by that was doing day hikes along the Arizona Trail.

For the next hour the trail wandered through junipers and pinon, then funneled into a wash were we stopped to get water. We had just over four miles left until finishing the AZT, but my truck was nine or ten miles farther and we weren’t sure how or when we’d get to it so we made sure we’d have enough for camping another night and hiking to it.

Wildlife Tank Water Stop

From there, the trail was washed out from the recent storm as it travelled along the creek bed. That made for slower travel but soon the trail turned out of the wash and reached a ridge where we could see the colored rock of the Vermillion Cliffs. It wasn’t long until we could see the Stateline Campground, the end of the AZT, well below us. The views were spectacular and we excitedly travelled the last two miles of trail that switch-backed about 900’ down to the end of the trail.

Photo Courtesy of Ron

Photo Courtesy of Ron

We reached the Stateline Campground about quarter past four and took celebratory pictures and congratulated each other and were happy to have completed our hike from Mexico to Utah.

Arizona Trail Complete

We hung out for about half an hour trying to figure out what to do. We decided that we would start walking to the truck and hopefully we’d get a ride. We also figured odds were better to get a ride from the Wire Pass trailhead than the empty campground. It was about two miles to the Wire Pass Trailhead. There were some people there that were dropped off by Betty’s Shuttle Service and they said the shuttle service would be coming back later. We were thinking of just night hiking the rest of the way but figured we’d eat dinner first. Some more people stopped at the trailhead for their hike the next morning. A man from the BLM also drove up and asked how we were doing. We mentioned we needed to get to the truck. He had some business at the campground but wasn’t sure whether he’d need to spend the night or not. If not, he offered us a ride. While eating dinner, the thought of walking the rest of the way seemed less and less appealing so we were leaning on camping at the trailhead if we weren’t able to get a ride. Well after a bit, the BLM guy came back and we got the ride.

Heading to Wire Pass Trailhead

Once back to the truck, we changed out of our dirty hiking clothes and headed to Page where we got a hotel room for the night. Once settled into the room, we went to restaurant and had another dinner and a beer before crashing for the night. It was great to be cleaned up and fed and have a comfortable bed.

Arizona Trail - Mexico to Patagonia

September 25, 2015

Camped: Below Montezuma Pass (N 31° 21.737 W 110° 18.026)

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make this section of the hike. I had plans to hike it with a man I met on the Hike Arizona Website that was looking for someone to hike the first three passages with him. As far as I was concerned, everything was set, then yesterday, he bailed out because he was worried it would be too difficult to do with his level of fitness. He’s the one that suggested three days to complete it too. Fortunately I was able to set up a ride from Patagonia back to Montezuma Pass with Ken’s Shuttle Service.

Tonight, after dinner, I hopped in the truck and drove over Montezuma Pass and down the hill a ways, where I camped at a pull off just off FR61 below Eighty Spring. It was windy out but comfortable. I set up on the leeward side of the truck. The moon is almost full so I pulled my beanie over my eyes so I could sleep better.

September 26, 2015

Start: US/Mexico border monument 102.
End: Sunnyside Canyon, Passage 1, mile 16.2 (N 31° 26.756 W 110° 23.330).
Miles: ~16.1.

After a reasonable night’s sleep, I got up and stowed my sleeping bag, pad, and cot quickly. I grabbed some food and started driving back up towards Montezuma pass. Along the way, I stopped and found geocache, San Rafael Vista. There’s some really nice views south into Mexico from it.

My plan was to head to the Coronado National Monument visitor center to get permission to park at Montezuma Pass. I got there early enough that I decided it would be best to hike down to the border and back first so I wouldn’t waste time waiting for it to open. After a few minutes getting my pack situated and taking a few pictures, it was quarter past seven and I was on my way.

It took me about forty minutes to make it to the border. The views along the way were spectacular. The day was clear and I could see miles into Mexico. The trail went along the side of a ridge with a drainage to the east where there was water seeping out of the rocks. I knew I was getting close to the border but it stayed hidden from view. I was very close when the border monument abruptly appeared, overwhelming me with emotion. I knew then that I would be completing the trail. This trip would fill the one gap in my progress and I already had the final stretch from Grand Canyon to Utah scheduled. I thought back to when I started last November and all the doubts I had about ever being able to complete the trail. Those doubts were now replaced with confidence. Now I just had this trip to hike and then one more in a month’s time.

Mexico

Me at Border Monument 102.

I spent about ten minutes at the border, savoring the moment, looking into Mexico, and taking some pictures before hefting my pack and climbing back up to Montezuma Pass. Once back at my truck, I talked to a couple of Border Patrol agents and asked if I needed a permit to park my truck in the lot for a few days. They said they didn’t care but the park may require one. I had cell service so instead of driving there, I decided to call and see if one was needed. The park service said to leave a note on my truck for law enforcement and that would be fine. I thought that was funny since the Border Patrol told me they didn’t care. At any rate, I was happy that I wouldn’t have to waste time driving to the visitor center and back.

Heading Back to Montezuma Pass

From Montezuma Pass, the trail climbs into the Miller Peak Wilderness. It’s not a steep climb but it is long and tiring. After close to an hour, I passed a group of Asian hikers that I saw leave Montezuma Pass maybe forty minutes before I did. There were some adits along the trail that had been closed with heavy steel bars that I passed about the same time. I continued up the trail another forty minutes where I stopped to rest and eat. I figured the Asians must have turned around because I hadn’t seen or heard them during my break. Just when I was getting going again, after a half hour, they appeared down the hill from me. They were just hiking slowly.

Miller Peak

About quarter past noon, I reached the high point of the southern portion of the Arizona Trail at the junction to the summit of Miller Peak. I took it and continued another half mile and some 400’ to the top. The 360° views were incredible. To the northwest I could see over the Huachuca Mountains. To the north was Sierra Vista. I was 5000’ above the valley to the east and looking into Mexico was breathtaking. To the west, I was able to see Parker Lake and beyond, towards Patagonia. Miller Peak was the highest point I’d reach on the whole of my travels along the Arizona Trail and it was very much worth the detour to the top.

View to the NW Atop Miller Peak

Back on the AZT Near Miller Peak Summit Junction

I spent about a dozen minutes atop Miller Peak before heading back down. The whole side trip took just over forty minutes by the time I was back on the trail. From there, the trail continued down along a ridge and was easy hiking.  At quarter of three, I reached Bathtub Spring where I took close to an hour break resting, eating, and refilling my water bottles.



Bathtub Spring

About a half hour after I left Bathtub Spring, just past the junction to Bear Spring, I crossed a stream bed. I could hear running water but there was none across the trail. Surprisingly, just on the right of the trail was a large rock about waste high, and there was running water to the rock, but the water ran into the ground and under the trail. I found it very interesting.

From there, the trail went around a hill and then up onto a ridge where it meandered along. The hiking was very pleasant but I was tired and stopped for a half hour break just past four where the trail passed near where the mountain plunged into the valley. I picked a spot under a tree in shade with great view to the south. Even with the wonderful view into Mexico, most of the break was spent with my eyes closed.

Shortly after my break, the trail descends steeply into Sunnyside Canyon where a stream was flowing. I continued along until close to sunset where I found a place to set up camp for the night. It was so nice out I didn’t bother with the tarp and cowboy camped. In the canyon, twilight didn’t last long, so I ended up cooking and eating in the dark. Just before lying down for the night, I saw a pair of eyes about sixty yards off. They jumped around a bit then showed back up. I asked them if they were a coyote or a fox. I got no answer so I asked again. The eyes then turned away and ran off.

September 27, 2015

Start: Sunnyside Canyon, Passage 1, mile 16.2 (N 31° 26.756 W 110° 23.330).
End: Canelo Pass TH.
Miles: ~20.0.

As dark came quickly in the canyon last night, light came slowly this morning. I slept well enough but was slow to rouse. I pulled some food out of my bag and ate it as I laid there thinking I should get moving. I finished eating and finally got things together.

The morning was brisk in the shade but not cold. I was comfortable when I started walking at ten past seven. Soon, the trail left the Miller Peak Wilderness and then turned out of Sunnyside Canyon and up to Scotia Canyon. The trail was nice through Scotia Canyon and passed by a couple of windmills before it crossed FR48 and turned up towards the end of the passage.

About quarter past nine, I made it to the Parker Canyon Lake trailhead. Though it was starting to get warm and I was ready for a break, I decided to continue a ways farther where geocache Arizona Trail at Parker Lake was hidden. Once near the cache, I dropped my pack to search for it. It took me several minutes to find. It really shouldn’t have and figure it must have been because I was hot and tired. After finding the cache, I found a little bit of shade and had some food, drink, and enjoyed a good rest.



Parker Canyon Lake

Including the search, I was there for about an hour before I got back on the trail. From there, I hiked for about a half hour when I reached Parker Canyon and stopped to get some water. It was getting warm and I didn’t know what the water situation would be up the trail so I filled up and drank a bunch too.

For the next hour and a half it got warmer out and the trail went up and down, though mostly up. The trail worked its way through scrub and was exposed to the noon day sun. Somewhere along here I started using my umbrella and at quarter past one I had enough climbing and stopped to rest and recuperate. I sat in a juniper’s shade and ate a bit and had some Gatorade.

A bit before two, I was on the trail again. I finished the climb I stopped on, then the trail dropped into a canyon and descended for a while before another short climb where it joined a road that descended along a ridge. I’d been walking along the ridge for a bit when the border patrol drove up and stopped. We talked for a few minutes and they offered me some water. I knew there was water not far up the trail but it was hot and I was thirsty so I accepted. I was given a gallon jug and told to leave it on the side of the road and they would pick it up later. I filled up my bottles, drank a bunch, and poured some over my head. It felt great. There was maybe a quart left when I left.

Looking Back at Miller Peak

Not far after the break, the trail turned on a different road and passed a stock tank that was full and another half hour the trail was in a small canyon with pools of running water. I stopped at one climbed in to rinse off and to cool down. It was very refreshing.

The trail continued down Middle Canyon a ways farther before climbing up a ridge onto the Canelo Hills. The sun was lowering and I felt good after rinsing off and had no trouble climbing; I felt good kept a strong pace up the ridge where I stopped and dropped my pack to find geocache, Canelo Vista. It was over the ridge and in some rocks but it didn’t take too long to find and I was rewarded with great views to the west.

Once back on the trail, there was also great views to the east where I could see back where I hiked throughout the day and yesterday to Miller Peak. It seemed so far away; too far away to have walked from there to here.

Another Look Back at Miller Peak

I didn’t stay long because it was getting late and I wanted to finish the passage or at least drop down off of the east Canelo Hills. The trail skirted along the edge of the ridge gaining some elevation but the walking was easy. Then the trail dropped off the ridge to the north and descended fairly steeply. I could see some tanks below but the trail headed north of them. That didn’t matter anyway because I had plenty of water.

It was getting dark when I made it to the Canelo Pass trailhead. There was a great place to set up camp right there too. I was happy because I finished passage 2 before it was dark and didn’t have to search for a campsite. It was another nice night so I cowboy camped and was able to enjoy the blood moon and lunar eclipse.

September 28, 2015

Start: Canelo Pass TH.
End: Patagonia Market.
Miles: ~16.6.

I got going about the same time I did yesterday morning at ten past seven. First I got a short distance down the trail when I decided to take a picture at the trailhead. After that, I got maybe a hundred yards down the trail when I realized I left my trekking poles hanging from a tree. Unfortunately, backtracking ended up being a common occurrence this day.

The trail started out easy and after maybe three fourths of a mile, I left the trail to climb a mountain and find geocache, Under a Spoon 15 Feet From Pass, last found almost five years ago. It was over 500’ of climbing to reach the top. It wasn’t a bad climb but it was fairly steep and I had to work my way through the junipers. The views from the top were well worth the effort, Meadow Valley stretched out before me in oranges and golds. After finding the cache and taking some pictures, I followed a ridge down the mountain and was back on the trail close to half past eight.

The trail dropped down to the top of Meadow Valley then skirted the hills. As I went along, the trail became more overgrown; a lot of grass had grown. Some of the trail had recently been brushed so that was easier walking, but where that ended, the trail was even more overgrown. At least I was able to follow it.

Freshly Brushed Trail

About twenty past nine, I reached Down Under Tank where I stopped for about 45 minutes and refilled my water and had some food. Water was flowing down a creek below the tank where I gathered the water sitting in the shade.

Canelos Reflecting on Down Under Tank

From there, the trail mostly followed old roads along Redrock Canyon and not two miles later I reached the Cott Tank Exclosure, a fenced riparian area. It was warm and I’d been drinking a lot of water, so I stopped and filled my empty bottles and drank what I could before continuing on.

Shortly after the exclosure, I passed the ruins of a stone cabin then saw some trail signs point across a creek and some more trail signs on the other side farther along. I saw no need to go where the first signs were so I went to the farther signs which turned up a road. After walking up the road a ways, I noticed I was off trail and it was back where I had come from, where the earlier signs had pointed. I still don’t understand what the sign I followed is for other than confusing hikers.

Stone Cabin

I made my way back to the trail, where it continued down Redrock Canyon. I wasn’t really able to follow the trail through here. I lost it several times and mostly just worked my way down the creek bed. It was very frustrating not being able to find nor follow the trail. I was not sure what I would have done without the trail’s tracks on the GPSr. I’d find the trail and then it would just disappear in the grass. With all the grass, any cairns that may have been around were not visible. The grass even blocked the view of most of the trail signs along the way.

Trail?

At half past noon, I found the first stage of geocache, Ashburn Mountain. The actual cache is somewhere at the top of the mountain. I was hot and tired and wasn’t nearly as far along as I planned to be so I skipped it and continued hiking for another fifteen minutes where the trail dropped back into the canyon and there was a nice sandy spot under some shady trees to rest. I spent a lot of time cleaning all the pointy grass seeds out of my socks. They are barbed so they can’t just be pulled out, but need to be pushed through. My gaiters keep a lot out, but they still work their way through the shoe. Anyhow, it was a big problem with today’s trail conditions.

The trail continued to be overgrown and hard to follow, however after a time I passed through a gate and the trail was immediately clear. Cattle must have been allowed to graze on one side of the fence, but not the other. Once again, there was grass poking my feet, so I stopped for a few minutes to clean the grass out of my shoes and socks, then continued. A short distance after that, I came to some water so I had another short break and filled a bottle.

After the water break, I had a couple false starts figuring out where the trail continued on the other side of the creek, where it then climbed up a hill. About twenty minutes later, at quarter after three, the batteries in my GPSr died. I wasn’t able to find my spare batteries and with the difficulty I had been having navigating, I decided to use the batteries in my SPOT. After the battery search, exchange, and some food, I was back on the trail.

At four, I reached a gate with rocks all over it where the trail started to drop to Harshaw Road around four miles from my finish. I turned my phone on and texted the shuttle service that I would be in town in about an hour and a half and continued on. The trail drops fairly steeply for a short distance then continues its descent to Harshaw Road. It’s about a three mile walk along Harshaw Road into Patagonia. About halfway through the road walk, I was running out of energy so I stopped and mixed up a Gatorade and sucked it down. The break and sugars really helped me out and I felt much rejuvenated for the last bit of walking. As I was nearing the end, Ken, from Ken’s Shuttle Service, pulled up and we introduced ourselves. He suggested I finish at the Patagonia Market and that he’d be waiting there. Perfect! I made it there at quarter of six.

Gate

After getting some food and drink at the market, Ken drove me back to my truck at Montezuma Pass. We had really great conversation along the way and I really enjoyed the ride. Right as we were nearing the parking lot at Montezuma Pass, a rattlesnake was in the road. We stopped and got out and checked it out in his jeep’s headlights. I’m not sure what kind of rattler it was.