Mitten Ridge Loop

Ten Skyliners (Lila Wright, Miriam Sterling, Donna Goodman, Daisy Williams, Dolly Yapp, Kwi Johnson,Gordon Bice, Colleen Maktenieks, the author and one other) hiked the Mitten Ridge Loop off Schnebly Hill Road On April 30, 2011. We drove north on Hwy 89A from Cottonwood, turned south on Highway 179 in Sedona, crossed the bridge across Oak Creek and turned left on Schnebly Hill Road. We proceeded 2.6 miles on Schnebly Hill Road before parking alongside the road in Bear Wallow Canyon. Schnebly Hill Road is paved for the first 0.9 miles, but the last 1.7 miles to where we parked is rough, unpaved road. Our parking area was a wide shoulder on the left side of the road. We started our hike by making a short, easy descent into the wash that runs alongside the road, crossing to the other side and joining Munds Wagon Trail leading upstream.

We followed Munds Wagon Trail for about 0.75 miles until it crossed Schnebly Hill Road. At this point we continued on uphill on the road for about 0.2 miles to the Cowpies-Mitten Ridge Trailhead. Note that Cowpies-Mitten Ridge is a descriptive name; I have no official name for this trail.

Following the trail we passed by the Cowpies, really just large, relatively flat rock formations that look rather like giant cow droppings when viewed from the ridge above. Viewed from the trail crossing they appear as just part of an expansive, bare rock outcropping in Bear Wallow Canyon. The below picture is a view looking out over the formation, across Sedona and Verde Valley to the mountains beyond.

The trail, after leaving the Cowpies formations, runs west along the south slope of Mitten Ridge, leading to a prominent gap in the ridge. It was distinct and easy to follow with no steep climbing except for a very short section immediately below the saddle formed by the gap.

When we arrived at the gap we found that it was very windy and immediately donned the jackets we had shed while hiking up Bear Wallow Canyon on the south side of Mitten Ridge. Although it was only about 11 AM we decided to eat our lunch at this spot and moved back to just below the ridge line on the south side for shelter from the wind. There were impressive rock formations on both sides of the gap; looking east along the south side of Mitten Ridge we could see the Merry-Go-Round formation and Munds Wagon Trail leading diagonally up the mountain to the Mogollon Rim. See the photographs presented on the following page.

The two faces (sides) of Mitten Ridge Gap are shown below.

The west face of Mitten Ridge Gap

The east face of Mitten Ridge Gap

The following photograph, taken on a previous hike in January 2009, shows the Merry-Go-Round formation and Munds Wagon Trail snaking up the mountain beyond.

Merry-go-Round formation and Munds Wagon Trail snaking up the 

mountain beyond - January 2010

Many of the group had hiked to the Cowpies and on to Mitten Ridge Gap before (e. g. our January 2009 hike); however most of us had not known that the trail actually continued through the gap and turned west along the north side of the ridge. We now knew that it did and, determined to follow it all the way, donned our packs after lunch and climbed back to the ridge line in the gap, pausing there for the view. Looking to the northwest from the gap, we had a clear view of Oak Creek Canyon and Midgley Bridge below.

Looking down on Midgley Bridge in Oak Creek Canyon

The trail leading west along the north side of Midgley Ridge is not easily discernible. It leaves at the east side of the gap, runs north (perhaps a bit northeast) for a few yards and then turns sharply back to head west along the north side of the ridge. This is illustrated in the below two photographs taken in January 2009.

The trail leaves the gap to the left of the hikers heading north/northeast. 

After a few yards it then turns back and heads west

After leaving the gap and turning west, the trail runs along the side of the 

ridge through the trees shown in the center of this photograph

Once we made the initial descent from the gap, the trail was well defined and basically level as we headed west along the north side of the ridge.

Lila leading the hike west along the Mitten Ridge

Looking back along the trail

We had good views from the trail down into Oak Creek Canyon. Shown below is a photograph looking up the canyon. Lila pointed out that the white dot visible just above and slightly left of center is where Thompson’s ladder Trail starts up the canyon wall on its way to the rim.

Looking down into Oak Creek Canyon from the trail along Mitten Ridge

Kwi, one of the few who had hiked this way previously, told us that we would find a window in a rock formation ahead. We kept looking and finally spotted it just as we were turning back through a gap ridge to return to our cars parked in Bear Wallow Canyon on the other side. As the formation (right) was located a considerable distance away, across a side canyon, and the climb to reach it would have been quite strenuous, we discarded any plans to go there and continued on our way through the gap.

After we crossed back to the south side of the ridge the trail became very faint as it went through an area of bare rock and we lost it, resulting in a precipitous climb down the steep slope to rejoin it below. (Note: We did learn later approximately where the trail runs, and I have included that route on the map included with this report. The route we took is shown separately as a yellow line.)

Hikers making their way carefully down the rocky slope after we lost 

the trail above.

While resting after rejoining the trail below, we observed two women hikers following the actual trail above and decided that we would schedule this hike again, hiking in the opposite direction and following the actual trail all the way.

After our steep descent the rest of the trail was easy and we rejoined Munds Wagon Trail less than 0.2 of a mile from where we were parked.

The hike turned out to be about 5.2 miles in length and the elevation difference was just over 600 feet. Except for the steep climb down the mountainside after we lost the trail, it was an easy hike.

The red track on the included map (below) shows the loop hike. The short green section shows where we got lost and wound up bushwhacking our way down the cliff.

Grapevine Trail

Thirteen Skyliners hiked the Grapevine Trail on 23 April 2011. We drove from Cottonwood on Hwy 260 to Camp Verde, took I-17 south to the junction of Hwy 169, turned right onto Hwy 169, drove to Dewey-Humboldt and turned left (south) on Hwy 69. We drove through Poland Junction on Hwy 69 and turned right onto FR 87A at about mile marker 273.9. Following FR 87A, a dirt road, we crossed Big Bug Creek and then headed up a hill. Along the way we passed turnoffs to a couple of less well-traveled roads and one well-traveled road before coming to a fork in the road beyond which FR 87A becomes very rough, definitely calling for a high clearance vehicle, preferably one with four-wheel drive. At this fork FR 87A bears slightly to the left, heading down the slope to a stand of trees visible along Grapevine Creek ahead. The other fork of the road leads on up the hillside, probably to a mine. A good-sized parking area is located at the fork, and that is where we parked. We were about 2.0 miles from Hwy 69. My truck is shown below in the parking area. The trees along Grapevine Creek are visible to the left of the truck. A small section of the rough road leading from here to the creek is shown just to the right of the truck.

Truck parked in paring area alongside FR 87A two miles from Hwy 69

Jan, having done the hike before, agreed to lead and I would bring up the rear so as to make sure we didn’t lose anyone. Hikers are shown below on the road from the parking area to the trees along Grapevine Creek.

Hikers strung out along the road. The trees along Grapevine Creek are 

visible ahead

About 0.7 miles from the parking area, just as the road entered the stand of trees along the creek, we came to a green gate – open at the time of this hike. This is where we parked the time we hiked Grapevine. However, it is not recommended unless one is comfortable driving on a very rough road for the last seven tenths of a mile.

The green gate where FR 87A enters the grove of trees along Grapevine 

Creek

Meanwhile, from my position bringing up the rear, it soon became apparent that we were becoming so widely dispersed that we might lose some of our party. Leaving my post, I ran to catch up with the leaders and we paused to let the rest of the group reach us. We then agreed that we would each keep the hiker immediately behind us in view at all times. Of course, being a rather loose group, we then soon modified that to allow John and Linda to go on ahead; they were, after all, used to hiking by themselves and could find their way back without assistance if necessary.

While we were stopped to regroup, we all gathered for a photograph.

Left to right (standing): John McInerney, Collene Maktenieks, Gordon Bice, 

Miriam Sterling, Name Withheld, Betty Wolters, Linda Tovar, Daisy Williams

(front), Marvin Alt, Jim Manning; George Everman; Sitting: Jan 

PreFontaine; Ellis Price and dolly Yapp not shown

About 0.4 miles from the green gate we came to a fork in the road, with the less well-defined branch (little more than a footpath, really) leading off to the left toward the creek and FR 87A continuing straight ahead. Choosing the left fork, we discovered that it soon devolved into a well-worn path that followed closely along the (dry at this point) creek.

Where we turned off FR 87A to follow the trail along the creek

The trail we were following was well worn by cattle and gaps had been cut in fallen tree trunks to permit easy passage. I wondered whether the work had been performed for the benefit of hikers or for the cattle … the cattle I suspect.

After following the cattle trail for about 0.35 miles, we rejoined FR 87A. (Actually, it would be more accurate to say we crossed it, as we joined it from one side and left it on the other side after only a few yards.) The forest road leads up the hill veering away from the creek at this point while we crossed the creek and continued upstream.

As we continued our way upstream we encountered our first rattlesnake of the season. He was a nice specimen apparently crossing he trail on his way back to his lair from the creek. I would guess that he was between four and five feet long.

Rattlesnake on his way back from a visit to the creek

Continuing on upstream we soon found that we could hear water running in the creek and about 1.75 miles from the green gate part of the group decided to leave the marked rail and follow the creek in search of a nice waterfall at which to stop for lunch. John and Linda had gone ahead on the marked trail and Gordon and I decided to follow them. We thus effectively broke into two separate groups.

The trail Gordon and I followed lead up the hillside to avoid the tangle of fallen trees in the creek. For part of the way, we could hear the group following the creek and at first they actually seemed to be keeping pace with us. The official trail left the trees and climbed into the scrub along the hillside. It then descended toward the creek again and soon after it reentered the trees we encountered a fenced area marked off by the Forest Service as a research plot (right).

Passing through the gate we followed the trail through the research plot, reaching the other side after only a short distance and leaving by another gate. We now found ourselves once again alongside the creek, and John and Linda were waiting for us there.

John took the following photograph as Gordon and I were leaving the research area.

Ellis and Gordon leaving the Forest Service research plot 

– Photograph by John McInerney

Believing that the rest of the group would soon arrive, Gordon and I settled in to nap while we waited. John and Linda, meanwhile were anxious to see the end of the trail with its sheer rock cliff and (sometimes) waterfall, and after asking a few questions about the distance, continued on to wait for us there. After we awakened from our nap and found that the rest of the group had not arrived, we contacted them by cellphone and found that they had stopped at a nice waterfall for lunch. At least one member of the group needed to be back in Cottonwood by 4 PM, so after lunch, they would head back to the cars. After some discussion it was agreed that Gordon and I would continue on to join John and Linda at the end of the trail and that rather than all meet at the parking area, the rest of the group would return to Cottonwood without us. That would allow us to take our time and do any explorations we chose.

Gordon and I then headed on to join John and Linda for lunch. The trail ends at a high rock cliff where a trickle of water falls from above, forming a damp area as it seeps into the rocks below and then emerging again from the rocks at the bottom of the debris pile below the cliff face to feed he stream. The flow is then augmented by two additional seeps that we crossed along the trail downstream from the high cliff.

Stream running over cliff face at the end of Grapevine Trail 4
- Photograph by John McInerney

John and Linda eating at the end of the trail

Gordon standing behind the damp spot caused by the trickle of water 

falling from the cliff above

After finishing our lunch, the four of us left to return to our cars. Gordon and I lingered along the way to take photographs and stopped for a nap while John and Linda continued on to the parking area. John checked in with us by cellphone before leaving and by the time they left the parking area we were in sight.

As it turned out even Gordon and I were back in Cottonwood by 4 PM.

According to my GPS, the hike was about 7.4 miles round trip. It would have been about somewhat less for those who turned back early. I recorded the lowest elevation as 5010 feet and the highest as 6447 feet, making the elevation gain over 1430 feet.

The GPS track for this hike is displayed on the included map (below). Note that the track shown is the way I hiked, the official trail, and not along the creek bed.

Mooney Trail

Because this trail is steep and rocky in for a large part of the way, we split it into two different sections. We hiked the lower part on 29 January 2011 and the upper part on 2 April 2011. Both hikes are combined for this report.

On 29 January, fifteen Skyliners (Miriam Sterling, Jim Manning, Marvin Alt, Jan PreFontaine, Linda Tovar, John MacInerney, Dolly Yapp, George Everman, Kwi Johnson, Daisy Williams, Lila Wright, Donna Goodman, Colleen Maktenieks, Ellis Price and one other) hiked the lower section, that is the part of the trail running from FR 525C at Black Tank to the entrance of the Red Rock Wilderness Area, located about three-tenths of a mile southeast of Sebra Tank. This entire section of the trail can be traversed by four-wheel drive vehicles, although extreme care is advised in a couple of spots. Our plan way was to drive to the Wilderness Boundary of this hike at a later date and hike the rest of the trail from there.

We left Cottonwood traveling north on Hwy 89A, turned left onto Forest Road 525 at the Sedona Water Treatment facility (just past mile marker 364) and followed FR 525 for two and eight-tenths miles before turning left onto FR 525C. On FR 525C (Sycamore Pass Road) we drove five and seven-tenths miles before turning right onto FR 9551 at Black Tank. We parked there and started our hike.

We stopped for lunch at the Red Rock Wilderness boundary. Several members of the group asked me where Sebra Tank was located and I was not sure of the exact location at the time. Since then I have checked the map; it is located about three tenths of a mile northwest of where we ate lunch.

My GPS read 6.13 miles when we returned to the vehicles. However, I made a couple of small side trips and when I removed those from the file in my computer, I found that the round trip hike was 5.8 miles and the elevation change was just 445 feet. I think everyone found it a nice break after last week's nine-mile, 2000-foot climb we did on the slopes of Mingus.

We returned to finish hiking Mooney Trail on 2 April 2011. Our party of thirteen, traveling in four-wheel drive vehicles, drove up the trail lower part of the trail (the portion we had hiked on 29 January) to the wilderness boundary near Sebra Tank.

We thought we had made the drive without mishap. But later learned that Gordon’s jeep lost a shim (or spacer) just as we were approaching the parking area. The spacer sits between the rear axle and the spring assembly, holding the axle in place.

Parking at the wilderness boundary, we set out along the trail up Mooney Canyon. We were parked on a ridge and at first the trail angled down the ridge coming ever closer to Spring Creek, mostly dry at the time, which runs down the canyon. To our right, across the mouth of Lincoln Canyon, we could see Loy Butte. The wash that carries Spring Creek toward its junction with Oak Creek near Cornville was visible below. After reaching Spring Creek the trail continues up the canyon, crossing the creek a number of times times, and we did see water at several locations in the bed of the creek. The trail at first ascends gently up the canyon and, although it was a bit rocky in spots, the going is generally easy for the first 2.5 miles or so. It then becomes steep and is strewn with loose rocks, requiring care to avoid a twisted ankle or a fall.

About two miles from where we parked, and about half a mile short of the start of the steep portion of the trail, we came to a generally flat rock ledge, over which Spring Creek flows digging a deep streambed below. We stopped there for a snack and a short rest before heading on up the trail. It is a natural stopping spot, lying as it does about halfway between the wilderness boundary and the end of Mooney Trail atop Casner Mountain. Everyone settled down for a rest except Daisy who spent the time wandering around taking pictures.

Hikers paused for rest and a snack. Daisy is still wandering 

around taking pictures.

About half a mile on up the canyon from our rest stop the trail became quite steep and was strewn with loose rocks. The next seven tenths of a mile was a tedious and unrelenting climb, with an elevation gain of almost 600 feet, over the loose rocks that littered the trail. Great care was required to avoid turning an ankle or tripping and falling. The below pictures, taken during a December 2010 hike, show the condition of this section of the trail.

On Mooney Trail 12

On Mooney Trail 12

The worst part of the trail ended about one mile from the top of Casner Mountain. From that point on the climb was gentler, with an elevation change of only around 400 feet, and loose rocks were not as prevalent.

Mooney Trail ends at Taylor Cabin Trail 35 just after passing under the power line to Sycamore Substation on top of Casner Mountain. Having reached our goal, we settled down on the slope overlooking Sycamore Canyon for lunch … and my nap, of course.

After lunch the party gathered for a group photograph with a large white rock formation in Sycamore Canyon as a background. From snatches of conversation overheard as I was drifting in and out of consciousness during my noon nap, I think the rest of the party spend much of our lunch break discussing various possible names for that formation.

Left to right (standing): Lila Wright, John McInerney, Linda Tovar, Kwi 

Johnson, Collene Maktenieks, Name Withheld, Fran Lind, Daisy Williams, 

Gordon Bice and David Beach; (seated/crouching): Dolly Yapp and 

Jan PreFontaine.

On the way back down the trail we stopped once again for a brief rest at the rock ledge where we had eaten our morning snack, and then continued to our cars at the wilderness boundary. We doffed our packs, climbed into our vehicles and were off for cottonwood.

Unfortunately, the loss of the shim in Gordon’s jeep soon manifested itself. Just as he approached the most perilous section of the road, the axle in his vehicle, no longer restrained by the shim, moved to the rear, locking his left rear wheel. The first vehicle was long gone with no idea that anyone had a problem. However, two of us were behind Gordon and stopped to assist. We attempted temporary repairs, jacking the axle back into place using a screw jack and tightening the clamp holding the axle to the spring assemble. However, it soon slipped again and we decided to leave the vehicle for retrieval the next day.

Gordon and I duly returned the next day with tools and equipment. Gordon had estimated that it take us around four hours to effect the necessary repairs to permit driving the vehicle home. We had also brought picnic lunches because we were determined to make the best of the situation and enjoy ourselves.

On arriving back at the jeep we parked and walked the road back toward the wilderness boundary looking for the missing shim, not finding it until we were almost there. With the shim in hand, repairs were straightforward and we were ready to start back shortly after noon. However, we first paused for our picnic lunch. The day was most pleasant and we found a nice shady spot under a juniper with just a whisper of a breeze to keep us cool. We finished eating and, after some struggle to overcome my desire for a nap in that most pleasant spot, we loaded up our gear and returned home without further incident.

According to my GPS file, the entire Mooney Trail is 7.6 miles one way, the maximum elevation is 6319 feet and the total ascent is 2154 feet. The entire GPS track for Mooney Trail is shown on the included map (below).