Blodgett Basin Loop

On Saturday, 28 January 2012, the Skyliners hiked in Blodgett Basin. Our plan was to split into two groups. One group would hike the entire Blodgett Basin Loop, returning by way of the West Clear Creek Trail. This would involve an elevation gain of 2200 feet, a hike of about 14 miles and four crossings of West Clear Creek. The other group would hike up Blodgett Basin Trail 31 to Cedar Mountain and return, about a five to six mile round trip hike with a 1700 foot elevation gain.

We gathered at the cottonwood Safeway parking lot and drove through Camp Verde on Hwy 260, turned left onto FR 618 at Clear Creek and drove about 2.2 miles, then turned right onto FR 215 (Bull Pen Road) and continued another 3 miles to the parking lot at Bull Pen Ranch. Facilities are provided.

At Bull Pen we split into two groups; the first group, Mary Gavan, Becky Fowski, George Everman and I had decided to do the entire Blodgett Basin Loop and we set out at a good pace, soon pulling ahead of the other hikers. Pausing once along the way for a short break we arrived after a hard 2.5 mile, 1700 foot, climb at a dirt road that would soon feed into FR 214 (Cedar Flats Road). We wasted little time there before pushing on to FR 214 where we would stop for a break and a snack. The views were spectacular on the way up the mountain, as well as from the top where the second group of hikers turned back, and Jon Lloyd took several excellent photographs along the way.

Looking back the way we came, Jon Lloyd

Looking back the way we came, one could see a distinctive red cliff near the bottom, the deeply eroded terrain beyond and a slice of the deep blue sky at the top. 

Red cliff below us - photo by Jon Lloyd

I think the shot of lichen on a rock with the sky as a background shown below must have been taken at or near the top of the trail at Cedar Mountain.

Lichen with blue sky as a background - photo by Jon Lloyd

From the saddle at the base of Cedar Mountain (where Blodgett Basin Trail intersects with the dirt road), we had a clear view on to the snow-covered San Francisco Peaks.

Looking on to the San Francisco Peaks from the saddle at Cedar 

Mountain – photo by Jon Lloyd

The second group of hikers stopped at the Blodgett Basin Trail/dirt road intersection for lunch before turning back.  Jon took a photograph of them (below) all scattered out and enjoying the views, along with a well-earned rest, while eating. Lila is in the foreground, but because they are so scattered and are not facing the camera I will not attempt to identify other individuals.

Hikers enjoying lunch near the Blodgett Basin upper Trailhead

ary Gavan provided a great shot of an earthstar taken during a Skyliner scouting hike earlier this month (below).

Earthstar - photo by Mary Gavin

). The earthstar is a fungus; other than that I will not attempt to further identify it. It is hydroscopic and a dried out specimen seemingly comes to life before ones very eyes upon the application of water. Mary also provided a picture, taken on the same scouting hike, of the Blodgett Basin Trailhead sign located where the trail ends/begins at FR 214. The sign (below) is located at the spot where the first group of hikers stopped for a snack break.

Blodgett Basin Trailsign

After our snack, ever conscious of the fact that it would be close to dark when we finished our 14-mile hike of the entire Blodgett Basin Loop, pushed on along FR 214 going first east and then turning to the north. After about 1.2 miles, we came to FR 214A and turned east on that road, following it 2.9 miles to the West Clear Creek Trailhead. We signed in at the trailhead, giving our destination as Bull Pen, and paused long enough to take a group photograph.

Left to right: the author, Becky Fowski, Mary Gavin and George Everman

– photo by George using my camera with time delay

We then headed headed down the trail toward West Clear Creek, soon finding ourselves descending a very steep trail with loose gravel on top of the rocks in many areas, making footing pretty precarious. I almost fell more than once on the way down. This photograph (below) shows Mary picking her way down the steep trail. West Clear Creek runs along the foot of the steep cliff shown directly ahead.

Mary picking her way down the steep trail

Since we had stopped for a snack at the upper Blodgett Basin Trailhead at FR 214 and were determined that we would get halfway through our hike before stopping for lunch, we pushed on until our GPSs showed we had traveled seven miles. Unfortunately, although this turned out to be on a sunny slope, a stiff breeze was blowing and I wanted a sheltered spot for lunch, so I continued on for almost a quarter of a mile looking for a good spot. I finally found it and settled in on a spot of grass alongside the trail for lunch. I then stretched out for a nap only to be interrupted immediately by the arrival of the rest of the group who were anxious to continue on and complete the creek crossings before dark.

Mary borrowed George’s camera for a few pictures and took the following shot looking back up West Clear Creek as we neared the bottom of our steep hike.

Looking up West Clear Creek from the trail as we descended to the creek 

– photograph by Mary

The hike down to the creek from the upper trailhead turned out to be approximately 2.9 miles. However, we found that the trail turned downstream before it actually reached the creek and and continued along for about 1.7 miles before our first creek crossing. We then followed the trail along the south side of the creek for another 2.1 miles before crossing back to the north side. From there it was another mile to the next crossing, but only about 0.4 miles from that third crossing to our fourth and final crossing (below).

Fourth and final crossing - photo by George

After that fourth crossing, we had only one more mile to go before reaching our cars at the lower end of Blodgett Basin Trail. We quickly climbed out of the streambed, almost over-looking wilted bouquet (below), carefully arranged on a rock alongside the stream; we decided it must be a memorial to a previous hiker who didn’t manage to complete the crossing.

Wilted bouguet - photo by George

For this hike, with the creek crossings in mind, I wore a pair of combination wading and hiking boots with mesh drains placed at the instep. These, Worn with a pair of heavy wool socks and synthetic sock liners keep me comfortable in just about any circumstances. My feet remain wet, to be sure, but after just a few minutes of walking after a crossing they are warm again and feel dry.

The trail between the last two crossings proved to be difficult to follow and we went astray, having to climb back up the creek bank and search for it. I have removed our wanderings in this area from the GPS track and substituted a section from the track shown on my AZ topo map.

Between the last downstream crossing and the parking area, one can either keep to the trail, following closely along the stream, or hike along an old road that runs by the abandoned Bull Pen Ranch house; we chose the road. The included GPS track shows the way we actually hiked.

The entire loop hike turned out to be 14.2 miles by GPS reading (but only 13.3 when I later downloaded the track and measured it in MapSource). I have no explanation for the different readings. The maximum elevation 5771 feet and the total ascent was more than 2100 feet. Our GPS track is shown on the included map (below). Note that the stream crossings are numbered on the map in reverse order to our crossings on this hike. In other words our first crossing is numbered as four on the map and our fourth crossing is numbered as one on the map. I did that because I think that most people will be hiking just the West Clear Creek Trail and not the entire loop. And even those who do hike the entire loop may very well hike in a counterclockwise direction to make sure they can cross the creek before committing themselves.

If I were doing this hike again, I would start earlier and leave time for a good 45-minute lunch stop and a couple of 20-minute breaks. As it were we did manage to finish the last creek crossing before it got dark and actually got back to our cars without using our flashlights.

NOTE: I am told that West Clear Creek Trail is sometimes impassable because of high water. Stream flow should be checked before hiking the loop in the clockwise direction as we did. Otherwise one might find himself faced with the prospect of having to retrace his steps and climb back out of the canyon after having completed two thirds of the hike.

Scheurman Mountain Loop

On Saturday, 21 January 2012, fourteen Skyliners did a loop hike on Scheurman Mountain. We gathered at the Cottonwood Safeway Parking lot, drove north on Hwy 89A and turned right on Lower Red Rock Loop Road. About 0.6 miles from Hwy 89A we turned left onto a dirt road and parked about 200 feet ahead. We paused there for a group photograph before starting our hike:

Jo Benkendorf, Donna Goodman (front), Connie Woolard, Bill Woolard, 

Jim Manning, Daisy Williams (front), Anita Jackson (rear), Janet Wakefield, 

Lila Wright, Name Withheld, Bob Wakefield, Colleen Maktenieks (front) and 

David Beach – photograph by the author

Our plan was to hike south along the bottom of Scheurman (parallel to Lower Red Rock Loop Road) until we intersected with Lime Kiln Trail where that trail crosses the road before zigzagging up the hill south of Elmerville and follow it to the saddle near the south end of the mountain; there we would connect with the southern end of Scheurman Mountain Trail. We soon found that we were generally following a trail that was marked with just the letter “S,” we think a horse trail. In any case, the going was fairly easy even when we were not following the “S” Trail, and we came to the intersection with Lime Kiln, about 1.1 miles from where we had parked.

Lime Kiln Trail up to the saddle is well marked and we were shortly, after climbing about 160 feet in just over 0.2 miles at the start of Scheurman Mountain Trail. We found the intersection clearly marked with a relatively new sign (right) and turned immediately to continue on up the mountain. After traveling another 0.7 miles and climbing another 350 feet, we came to a flat area along the lower slope of the mountain. Our trail ran about 30 yards from the east shoulder of the ridge we were on; walking over to the shoulder for a better view, we found Red Rock State Park laid out along Oak Creek below us to the southeast.

Looking out over Red Rock State Park from Scheurman Mountain

Turning a bit more toward the east we could see the Cathedral formation visible across Oak Creek; the Rabbit Ears formation is barely discernible far beyond and just to the right of Cathedral:

Looking southeast from Scheurman Mountain to Cathedral Rock and beyond

To the southwest, across the Verde Valley, the snow-clad Mingus and Woodchute Mountains were outlined against the blustery winter sky:

Mingus (left) and Woodchute (right) Mountains

Turning to the northwest we could see Rosie’s Volcano (slightly to right of center) just below us and across Hwy 89A. Two other similarly shaped formations are visible to the left of Rosie’s Volcano. Beyond Rosie’s, Black Mountain is visible to the left, Casner Mountain is to the right and in between is Sycamore Pass. Sugarloaf Mountain, not really discernible in this photograph is located just to the right of Black Mountain:

Rosie’s Volcano (just to right of center), Black Mountain (left), Casner 

Mountain (right) and Sycamore Pass (Between Black Mountain and Casner)

After a short pause for a mid-morning snack, we headed on up the trail, traveling another mile and climbing another 135 feet before we came to a fork in the trail. The sign indicated our trail continued by the left fork while the right fork led to a viewpoint. We turned right and found the viewpoint about 0.35 miles ahead.

Along the way to the viewpoint we had a good view out over Red Rock High School, where Scheurman Mountain Trail ends, at Upper Red Rock Loop Road and Hwy 89A:

Red Rock High School with Sedona and the red rock country beyond

Continuing on to the viewpoint, we found ourselves looking directly across Carroll Canyon to the airport on Table Top Mountain (more commonly referred to as “Airport Mesa”). This was our planned lunch spot and everyone but me settled down on the breezy hill to enjoy the view while eating lunch. As for me, being more interested in a good spot for a nap, I turned back down the trail looking for a cozy spot sheltered from the wind. I didn’t find anything that really suited me until I was back at the fork in the trail; so I settled down there for a quick lunch followed by a nap. It seemed that I had barely closed my eyes when I heard the rest of the hikers coming down the trail.

From the fork we climbed a short distance and then started the rather steep descent down the north end of the mountain to the end of Scheurman Mountain Trail at the high school. However, we needed to get back to our cars which were parked at Lower Red Rock Loop Trail, so just before we reached the high school, we turned left onto a trail (again Trail “S,” that would take us just behind and above the school and then along the side of the mountain parallel to Hwy 89A and then Lower Red Rock Loop road to our cars. Part of the way the trail followed an old roadbed above the present highway; however, as we approached the intersection with Lower Red Rock Loop Road, it veered off and followed a rock ledge around the side of the mountain. Somewhere along the way we missed a turnoff for Trail “S” and continued along the old ledge. But it really made little difference as we soon reconnected with the trail after the ledge ended at a wash. From there we followed Trail “S” most of the way back to our cars, coming out just about 0.2 miles farther along the dirt road from where we had parked.

My GPS disclosed that this hike was 6.3 miles long, the highest elevation was 4828 feet and the total ascent was 1002 feet.

The GPS track is shown on the included map (below).

Camptender Trail

On Saturday, 14 February 2012, fifteen Skyliners hiked Camptender Trail. We drove toward Camp Verde on Hwy 260, turned right on Cherry Road and drove approximately 3.2 miles before turning off to the left (just past mile marker 14) and parking at a road that leads down into Cherry Creek Wash.

We intended to follow written instructions prepared after my last hike on this trail from that point. However, with one person carrying the GPS to measure distances, another handling the written instructions, and a third (me) leading the way, that turned out to be a bit of a fiasco. The directions, which were accurate, said to walk up the wash for 0.15 miles (going southwest) then turn out of the wash and walk 0.1 miles (going southeast) to the start of a visible (barely) trail leading up the bank. Somewhere between the wash and the start of the trail we went astray and wound up at the mouth of the wash that leads down alongside Hull Hill. We spent 45 minutes or so beating our way through heavy undergrowth before finally intersecting the very faint Camptender Trail farther up the slope. We corrected this error on the way back and I erased our first meandering attempt, so the track included with this report is correct.

We found ourselves following a faint path upward along the slope of Hull Hill. The path runs above and parallel to the wash that starts at the gap between Hull Hill and Grief Hill and runs down to Cherry Creek. Along the way we saw a strange rock formation (right) directly across the wash, one of those improbable creations of nature that seemingly defy logic. It was a slender spire of rock, composed of stacked layers, standing defiantly out from the ridge that had eroded away around it. I took the picture of the spire and then blew it up to better display the multiple layers of stacked rock that compose it.

Just about 1.8 miles from the parking area at Cherry Road the trail seemingly ends in the gap formed by Hull Hill to our left (northeast) and Grief Hill to our right (southwest). A well-maintained fence runs across the wash and extends up the hills on either side. A wire gate (sometimes called a gap) is provided to allow easy passage. Beyond this point, we found no further visible signs of the old Camptender Trail. Our track to this point is colored blue on the included map.

It was too early to eat lunch when we arrived at the gap and we discussed whether to hike up Hull Hill for the view or to continue through the gap and climb Grief Hill to the southwest. I had previously plotted a route (a planned future hike) along Grief Hill Trail, south of our present position, and wanted to see whether we could intersect with that route today. We finally decided to give it a try and headed out on a course that I later learned would have taken us directly across the summit of Grief Hill before connecting with the trail. We made our way through (or around) catclaw groves, cactus patches and across several washes, finally stopping for lunch after having traveled another 0.6 miles (green track on the included map).

After lunch we turned back toward the gap we could still see in the distance, taking approximately the same route we had arrived on. I cut the track where we ate lunch and eliminated one leg so as to make the map easier to interpret. I also drew a more direct and, I think, much easier route from the gap to Grief Hill Trail. See the dark red line on the map; it follows closely along the contour of the slope above Grief Hill Wash at an approximate elevation of 4160 feet. It connects with where I have projected Grief Hill Trail to ascend the hill about 1.1 miles from the gap. The yellow line that starts at Hwy 260 is an old road that runs 2.8 miles and ends at Grief Hill Wash. The short red line is a route I sketched in to connect that road with Grief Hill Trail (shown in magenta), which is supposed to start further up the wash.

When we arrived back at the gap, we stopped long enough for our traditional group photograph before plunging back down the faint Camptender's Trail to our waiting cars:

Left to right: Jo Benkendorf, Bob Wakefield, the author(kneeling), 

Cindy Covin, Name Withheld, George Everman (kneeling), Miriam Sterling, 

Daisy Williams, Mary Gavan, Kwi Johnson (kneeling), Lila Wright, 

Anita Jackson, Colleen Maktenieks, David Beach, Donna Goodman 

– photo by George

We made much better time on the way back down the trail than we had going up. The way is very rocky and one must exercise great care to avoid turning an ankle or taking a fall due to the precarious footing. We did have a couple of minor spills on the way down, but no one was seriously injured and we all arrived back at Cherry Creek in good condition.

Before it actually descends into Cherry Creek Wash the trail seemingly ends on a small relatively level area just above the junction of Cherry Creek Wash with the wash that runs alongside Hull Hill to the gap with Grief Hill. The trail once again becomes distinct when it makes the final descent into the wash. To navigate that short stretch of no visible trail, pay close attention to the included map (below) or, better yet load the track into a GPS and follow it.

I call this a difficult hike because of the rocky and ill-defined trail and because going any further than the gap requires making ones way through catclaw and cactus.

Please refer to the included map (below) for a visual presentation of the trails and tracks discussed above.

The Camptender Trail is supposedly the route taken by those tending camp (cooking meals, etc) for the sheepherders who drove their sheep back and forth from the valley to the high country each year.

I you would like to know more about the history of the sheepherders and the annual trek to the high country (last made in 2011) a good place to start would be:

http://cvbugle.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=31237

Lo Lo Mai Indian Ruins

Seventeen Skyliners hiked to the Lo Lo Mai Indian Ruins on Saturday, 7 January 2012. Most of the group met at the Safeway Shopping Center in Cottonwood and drove north on Hwy 89A to the Page Springs Exit. There we met the rest of the group who had traveled from Sedona. We turned onto Page Springs Road and drove about 0.28 miles to a parking area on the right, directly across Page Springs Road from the Hidden Valley Road turnoff.

After parking we followed a Forest Service Road up toward the crest of the ridge that runs parallel and to the west of Page Springs Road. The ruins are atop this ridge, just across the road from the Lo Lo Mai trailer park at Page Springs, about 1.5 miles south of where we parked. About 0.4 miles from the trailhead, we came to a wide circular area, apparently used for turning around, in the road; from there the road appeared to lead downhill to the west, descending from the top of the ridge. We chose to leave he road and bushwhack closely along the crest from there. Much to our chagrin, we soon found ourselves back on the same road after having made our way for about 0.3 miles along the top of a cactus-infested ridge that closely paralleled the course of the dirt road. We followed the road for a short distance south along the ridge until it came to an abrupt end, and once again we were bushwhacking our way along the crest of the cactus-infested ridge.

The ruins are divided into two separate parts, each reaching from edge to edge of the very narrow ridge; we came first to the north ruins, just 1.5 miles from where we parked (about 0.7 miles from the end of the dirt road), and found ourselves looking down on the Lo Lo Mai Trailer Park just across Page Springs Road from the ruins. From the ruins, indeed for most of our hike, we had great views all around, Page Springs and the fish hatchery to the east, the Black Hills with Mingus and Woodchute clearly outlined to the west.

Leaving the north ruins we were faced with a double saddle between our vantage point and a mesa to the south against which the ridge ended. Lila described it as one large saddle with a camel’s hump in the middle. Her description paints a pretty accurate picture of the formation. The south ruins, nestled atop the hump in the middle of the saddle, are about 0.1 miles away. The trail, if such it can be called, leading from the north ruins to the south ruins and on down the slope toward the mesa beyond is tortuous -- rocky, steep and indistinct. Two of our hikers turned back at this point, keeping in touch by cell phone until they reached their car.

It was still short of noon when we finished with the south ruins and most of the party wanted to cross the saddle (the second half of Lila’s “large saddle with a camel’s hump in the middle”) and climb to the top of the mesa on the other side. Three of our hikers, however, never having intended to go farther than the ruins, decided to wait there until the main group returned.

Now numbering twelve, we climbed down the rocky slope, crossed the saddle and ascended to the top of the mesa. After pausing there for a short rest, we checked the time and saw that it was still only about 1030. It was entirely too early to eat lunch, so we decided that we would circumnavigate the mesa. We did this in a counterclockwise direction by continuing west along the rim before turning south and then east. We found that, although the rim of the mesa generally formed a circle, the southwestern quadrant was badly deformed by an eroded section that had us turning back north then to the southeast before turning north again in order to follow reasonably close to the rim. For the final leg of our trip around the mesa we were headed directly west again. The approximate distance of the path we took around the rim was 1.5 miles.

About two-thirds of the way around the mesa we had stopped for lunch, a nap and a group photograph:

Left to right: Ellis Price, George Everman, Colleen Maktenieks, 

Daisy Williams, Donna Goodman, Dolly Yapp, Karl Buckendahl, 

Anita Jackson, Mary Gavan, Linda Tovar, John McInerney, Becky Fowsky 

– photograph by George with time delay. (NOTE: hikers not 

shown include Lila Wright, Larry and Michelle Stover, Miriam Sterling and 

Virginia Driscoll)

Never one to overlook a good opportunity, I got in a twenty-minute nap (right) while everyone else enjoyed the view. From our position they could look out over Page Springs Fish Hatchery to the east and the country traversed by Willow Point Road as it wound its way through the hills to Mormon Crossing to the south.

Before resuming our hike, actually even before eating lunch or taking a nap, I reviewed the number of hikers still with us, determined that we had enough drivers and vehicles among us to provide transportation from the trailhead and called the hikers waiting back at the ruins to let them know that they were free to return without us. Cellphone service is available in most areas where we hike and we use it frequently for such purposes. The group heading back would call us again when they reached the trailhead. We were taking a lot longer than anticipated because we had only decided to circumnavigate the mesa after we left the other group at the ruins and it seemed unreasonable to ask them to continue waiting.

We had spread out a bit on our way around the mesa, using portable radios carried by John and George to keep in touch, and somewhere in the southeast quadrant, John and Linda found what they identified as an old Indian grinding and grain storage site. Then later, as we neared the point of descent from the mesa, they discovered a circular manmade ring of rocks with extensions pointing northwest, southeast, northeast and southwest. We couldn’t decide whether it had been created by Indians or by some new-age group; it did look to be of fairly recent vintage to me, but perhaps it was an old artifact that had been restored. In any case it is located about 75 yards south of the point where had first topped out on the mesa and where we would begin our descent. The picture below shows several hikers gathered around the ring and me doing the calibration dance (i.e. turning slowly two full circles to calibrate my GPS compass). The calibration was performed because it just seemed illogical that the four spurs extending out from the ring didn’t point east, west, north and south. They didn’t:

Hikers gathered around the ring while the author calibrates the compass 

on his GPS – photograph by George

After viewing the mysterious ring of stone, we quickly descended from the mesa the way we had come and headed back to the trailhead, making our past the south and north ruins and picking our way carefully through the cactus along the ridge crest until we arrived back at the end of the dirt road. From there it was an easy eight-tenths of a mile hike to the trailhead and the comfort of our waiting cars.

I classify this trail as difficult; primarily because of the steep rocky slope from the north ruins to the second saddle beyond the south ruins. The hike on up to the top of the mesa is steep but not otherwise difficult; the hike around the rim of the mesa is flat and easy going; and I have already described the path along the cactus-infected crest of the ridge where no road exists.

According to my GPS this hike was 5.8 miles in length, the highest elevation was 3954 feet and the total ascent was 1051 feet.

See the included map (below) for a GPS track of the hike.