Seven
Skyliners hiked in Ash Canyon on 29 March 2014. We drove south on
Hwy 89A to Forest road 104 at the top of Mingus Mountain and followed
it for 1.5 miles before turning right onto FR 413. We then followed
FR 413 for 2.3 miles before taking a right fork onto FR 132 which we
followed for 1.6 miles to the trailhead.
No
sign is posted at the trailhead. It is rather marked by two sturdy
upright posts (right) and a couple
of wire-bound rock bundles to prevent erosion.
We
lingered at the trailhead long enough to pose for a group photograph.
Left
to right: Collene Maktenieks, Ruth Frazier, Betty Wolters, Daisy
Williams,
George Everman and Lila Wright
The trail leads down
into the canyon following what appears to have been on old wagon
road. The slope is fairly steep, but the descent to the bottom of
the canyon is short, only about 0.2 miles, and the trail is wide and
clear with a firm surface and few loose rocks.
The first flowers
appeared along this stretch, especially prominent was this (Left)
Easter, AKA stemless, daisy, growing right in the trail. The
photograph was actually taken on the way back, the plant having
bloomed during the day.
When we reached the
bottom of the canyon, a descent of less than 100 feet, we found
cairns marking the trail as it turned left and led down the canyon.
The start of the cairns is easy to miss as the old road bed leads
straight ahead, at least for a short distance. We were approximately
0.5 miles due east of Kendall Peak when we turned to follow the trail
down the canyon.
Ash Canyon is, as
canyons in Arizona go, is rather shallow. Nowhere did we find
ourselves in an area where we could not climb out without too much
effort. Although there are some places in which the trail climbs
fairly steeply to avoid short narrow sections where the stream has
cut deeply into the rock.
Soon after we started
down the canyon we found a small amount of water, sometimes flowing
but often just collected in pools along the way. Looking at the map,
it appears that the water must have been from East Ash Spring which
is located upstream from where we entered the canyon. Ash Canyon
Spring is located about 0.5 miles from where we turned down the
canyon and after that we found the stream flow to be a bit stronger.
However, it still was sporadic with stretches of dry streambed
interspersed by pools and flowing water. This photograph (right)
taken by Lila Wright on 6 March 2014 while on a scouting hike, shows
a section of the stream at Ash Canyon Spring. The open, essentially
grass-free, terrain with thinly-scattered trees seen here was typical
of the upper portion of the canyon. Apparently, the pines drop just
enough needles, coupled with grazing by cattle during the summer
months, to suppress the grass.
The following
photograph shows a section of the streambed just below Ash Canyon
Spring. The weak streamflow shown here will probably essentially
disappear in the summer months, leaving perhaps a few widely
scattered pools.
Section
of streambed below Ash Canyon Spring
During the 6 March
scouting hike, the hikers noted a rather large pool, probably
containing water year round, that had a camera mounted nearby and
focused on the pool. This camera, labeled Yavapai College #4, was
probably part of a wildlife study. In any event, it has since been
removed. Lila is shown below looking for the missing camera.
Lila
looking for missing Yavapai College camera
About one mile down the
canyon we came to Hog Spring and the water flow once again increased.
Hog
Spring
 |
| Alpine pennycress |
 |
| Scrambled eggs |
This was a most
leisurely hike; we were continually distracted by the spring flowers
and numerous colorful rocks, primarily jasper, that we found along
the way. The photographs below show alpine pennycress (left)
and scrambled eggs (right).
We
noted several areas where the trail was littered with small tips of
branches, or twigs, from the pine trees above. I had seen this
phenomenon before and had often wondered what caused it. Lila
informed me that it is the work of porcupines. A little further
research revealed that the porcupine has a specialized pouch in its
large intestine that contains bacteria which can break down down the
cellulose in wood, enabling it to be digested. Enabled by this
adaptation, and armed with four incisors, two above and two below,
specially adapted for gnawing, the porcupine consumes as much as a
pound of edible cambium, or inner bark, per day. This activity leads
to the small twigs we saw littering the ground under coniferous
trees. I had previously thought that the twigs might have been
broken off by squirrels, or perhaps by some sort of bird.
Eventually,
the pines, especially on the east canyon wall, gave way to a mixture
of scrub oak and manzanita as shown in the photograph below. Someone
told me that it should be called “shrub” oak. However, I looked
it up later and found that scrub oak is correctly used to refer to
“several species of small, scrubby oaks1.
Looking
at the east canyon wall in Ash Canyon at one point in our hike
Starting
at the very beginning of the trail we had noted small jasper rocks.
As we continued down
Just
beyond this point the stream makes a sharp turn, looping back to the
north for a short distance before continuing in the south by
southeast direction. Because the stream ahead flowed between steep
rock walls on both sides and was virtually impassable, we climbed the
ridge formed by the loop and descended back into the canyon on the
other side. It was a fairly steep climb and descent but it was only
a short distance. We were aware that we had been traveling parallel
to FR 132 as it made its way to Cherry. Now, from the top of the
ridge, we could see the road as it ran along the side of the mountain
above us.
Looking
at FR 132 from the rim of Ash Canyon at the loop
(photo by Lila
Wright)
The
photograph below shows a particularly picturesque spot, located below
the loop, at the lower end of a narrow section that we had climbed
the canyon wall to bypass.
Picturesque
spot below the loop in Ash Canyon
We
did not go all the way to the end of Ash Canyon Trail, turning back
about 0.2 miles from where the stream in Ash Canyon joins Ash Creek.
At
some future date, we plan to park a vehicle near Bottle Ranch then
return to the Ash Canyon Trailhead and hike all the way down to Ask
Creek Trail and follow it to the Ash Creek/Medlar Spring Trailhead.
The total distance is estimated to be 8.5 miles.
On
the way back up Ash Canyon, as we were stopped to rest, Lila suddenly
cried out “deer” and then, as the rest of the group scanned the
hillside looking for a deer, she scrambled up the side of the canyon
and picked up the unblemished set of antlers shown below.
Lila
holding her antlers – photograph by George Everman
According to my GPS
track, measured after I downloaded it to my computer, the round trip
hike was 4.7 miles, the trailhead elevation was 6778 feet and the
elevation difference was 649 feet.
Our
track is shown in red on the included map (below)
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