Mescal Mountain Trail

Seventeen Skyliner hikers from Cottonwood and Sedona hiked Mescal Mountain Trail on 30 March 2013. We drove to the upper parking area for Long Canyon Trail on Long Canyon Road. From there we took the undesignated but well-worn connector trail across a dry wash and connected with Long Canyon Trail about 0.3 miles above the trailhead. We then followed Long Canyon for about 0.3 miles before turning west onto Mescal Mountain Trail (unsigned) at an old fence.

A short distance up this trail we came to what some call the “Birthing Cave,” supposedly used by Indian women for giving birth.

Hikers standing in front of the “Birthing Cave” alongside Mescal Mountain 

Trail

Having already seen the cave, I stayed on the trail below. I wonder whether Indian women went out of their way to give birth in such a place. It may well be just another story provided for tourist consumption.

As it headed up to a saddle in the mountain ahead, the trail became ever steeper and we found a couple of rock ledges that we had to literally crawl over.

On arriving at the first saddle we had a view across the Seven Canyons Resort to Wilson Mountain looming in the background. Note the distinctive red-rock sandstone base overlaid with cream-colored Coconino sandstone. The protruding cliff (left) of Mescal Mountain provides a closer view of the red sandstone.

Seven Canyons Resort and Wilson Mountain beyond

Looking to the northwest we could see bikers traveling along Deadman's Pass Trail which links Boynton Canyon Trail to Long Canyon Trail.

Mescal Mountain forms a ridge running generally northeast to southwest and has an adjoining ridge protruding to the southeast. As shown in the below photographs, our trail climbed from the first saddle, part way up the face of the southwest running ridge and then passed close alongside a sheer cliff wall leading to another saddle separating the mountain proper from the ridge running to the southeast.

Trail up the ridge from first saddle

Passing close alongside the cliff

From this saddle we could see Mescal Bike Trail running close along the side of the mountain to connect with Deadman's Pass Trail on the west side of the mountain.

We continued on across the saddle and climbed to the top of the southeast protruding ridge. From here we were able to see another section of the Mescal Bike Trail as it wound its way toward us from its trailhead at Long Canyon Road near the intersection with Dry Creek Road before veering to the west to join Deadman's Pass Trail.

We stopped for lunch at the top of the ridge. A gentle breeze was blowing and the sky, as it had been all day, was thinly overcast. It was not unpleasant but some of us did don our jackets.

Looking straight ahead from the ridge, we could see Dry Creek Road as it made its way back past Lizard Rock toward Sedona. In the below photograph, Lizard Rock is barely discernible at the top of the outcropping just to the left of the road. Thunder Mountain (the highest formation) looms starkly against the sky farther left. Two hikers are shown in the foreground carefully picking their way across the rocks.

Dry Creek Road, Lizard Rock and Thunder Mountain and two hikers

We paused for a group photograph before heading back.

Left to right (standing): David Beach, Jim Manning, Mark Purcell, Lila 

Wright, Beverly Sass, Becky Fowsky, Chris Adler, Marywave Van Deren, 

Miriam Sterling, Greg Mortimer, Gary Jacobson; (kneeling): the author, 

Dolly Yapp, Daisy Williams, Donna Goodman, Betty Wolters 

– photograph by unnamed using authors camera

The trip up had been considerably more difficult than I had anticipated and the trip back down, although faster, was also difficult. Not having hiked this trail before, I had relied on reports by others and I think they must have been much better hikers. Nevertheless, we did all make it back in good shape.

This hike was only 1.3 miles one way from where we parked. The highest elevation was 5026 feet and the total ascent was 528 feet.

Our GPS track is shown in red on the included map (below). The short blue section of track shows the section of Long Canyon Trail from the trailhead to where we entered the trail (Trl Jct) from the upper parking lot. From there to the spot marked “Trl Jct2,” our path is contiguous with Long Canyon Trail. The red flag shown midway along the blue track marks the spot where (according to the topographic map I am using) a branch of the Mescal Bike Trail intersects with Long Canyon Trail.

Ryal Canyon Trail

Our hike for 23 March 2013, Ryal Canyon Trail 521, was new to us. Two members of the group had scouted it; however, neither was able to hike with us today. They did provide a description and I found a GPS track for the trail on the web.

The lower trailhead is located on Salt Mine Road 1.5 miles south of the junction of Salt Mine and Oasis Roads, When we reached the trailhead, the sun was shining brightly, but this was tempered by a chilly breeze that felt as though it were blowing across snow-covered mountains. The trailhead sign had been torn down, no doubt by some careless 4-wheeler, and was lying flat on the ground. Nevertheless it served to reassure us that we had reached our intended trail.

The trail at first leads across a flat and then up a gentle slope, but after about 0.3 miles it starts to rise steeply and, with a few short interruptions, continues at a steep slope for the rest of the way to its junction with Trail 521. We found that we were climbing along the crest of the north wall of Ryal Canyon. At one point the crest was only a few yards wide, with Ryal to the south and a small basin carved out by an intermittent stream between Ryal and Lucky Canyons to the north. After we passed the head of that intermittent stream, the canyon wall we were following clearly divided the two canyons. Beyond Lucky Canyon to our north we could see the far wall of Copper Canyon where I-17 snakes its way up the mountain.

We passed through two gates, one near the trailhead and another farther up the mountain. However, we saw no cattle, excepting a pile of bones near the second gate, and the metal watering tanks placed along the way were mostly dry.

The trail, obviously used fairly extensively by off-roaders, followed closely along a barbed-wire fence that ran up the spine of the ridge; the watering tanks, fed by a black plastic, above-ground waterline were placed so as to allow stock to water from both sides of the fence, about two-thirds of each tank protruding into the north pasture. Farther up the mountain, the trail left the fence and dipped down into Ryal Canyon and we did note one small tank that actually contained water. However, there were no signs of recent usage.

When I say the trail “dipped down” into the canyon, I do not mean that we were actually traveling down hill, rather that while still climbing rather steeply, we were getting closer to the stream in the bottom of the canyon. The trail continued to slope upward pretty much as shown in the below photograph which was taken on the way back down the trail.

Descending hikers carefully picking their way back down the trail along 

the north wall of Ryal Canyon

The trail did finally turn downhill, just 0.1 miles short of its end at Trail 511. On reaching the end of the trail, we continued about 50 yards along Trail 521 to the spring, labeled just as “Ryal Water” on my map, that feeds the stream running down the canyon.

It was about 1145 when we reached the spring and we scattered out to various sun-drenched spots that were sheltered from the wind and settle down for lunch. In my case, of course, followed by a short nap.

All too soon it was time to leave and I started the somewhat lengthy process of donning my gear. I was breaking in a new pack loaded with everything I would require for any of several upcoming backpack trips (Rainbow Bridge, Crack-in-Rock Indian Ruins on the Navajo Reservation and a 5-day trip down Paria Canyon) along with two 48-oz bottles of water hanging from my belt. With the extra 96 ozs of water, needed only for the Crack-in-Rock, I was carrying 42 lbs.

When everyone was ready, we stopped for a group photograph before starting the trip back down the mountain.

Left to right (crouching): Dolly Yapp and Donna Goodman; (standing): Jim 

Manning, Frank Lombardo, Gary Jacobson, Marywave Van Deren, the 

author, Anita Jackson, Daisy Williams and Miriam Sterling

– photograph by unnamed

The below photograph, taken just after we started back, shows the short section of the trail that leads up from the spring. Except for this 0.1-mile section, the trail back was essentially downhill all the way back to our cars.

Short uphill section of trail on the way back down the mountain from 

the spring in Ryal Canyon

Once we climbed up the rise shown in the above photograph and started downhill, the going was faster, but hiking downhill along a trail strewn with loose rock is hazardous and requires close attention to footing. Stepping on a rock that rolls can cause a serious fall, and this trail was composed of just such rocks. Note the care with which the descending hikers are placing their feet (photograph before group shot).

When we were able to take our eyes off our feet we had good views across Camp Verde spread out below and the tree-lined course of the Verde river snaking its way down the valley.

Looking out over Camp Verde and the Verde River in the valley below

We made it back to our cars without any serious falls and were much relieved to settle into soft seats.

The GPS track of our hike, from the lower trailhead to the spring in Ryal Canyon just beyond the upper trailhead, is shown in red on the included map (below).

The round-trip hiking distance was 5.2 miles, the maximum elevation was 4768 feet and the total ascent was 1703 feet.

Bear Mountain Trail

On a sunny day with a high, thin layer of clouds providing some protection on an unseasonably warm late winter day, sixteen Skyliners hiked Bear Mountain Trail on 16 March 2013.

Thirteen hikers (Dave Beach, Miriam Sterling, Frank Lombardo, Collene Maktenieks, Anita Jackson, Dolly Yapp, Jim Manning, Donna Goodman, Daisy Williams, Betty Wolters, Lila Wright, one unnamed hiker and the author) gathered at Cottonwood and carpooled to the trailhead. From Cottonwood, we traveled north to Sedona on Hwy 89A and turned left onto Dry Creek Road. About 2 miles from Hwy 89A we passed Vultee Arch Road leading off to the right. After about another 0.85 miles (2.85 miles from Hwy 89A) we reached a stop sign. Long Canyon Road leads to the right from here. We turned left onto Boynton Pass Road, traveling another 0.6 miles to reach a second stop sign at the junction with Long Canyon road. Turning left we continued on Boynton Pass Road for about another 1.25 miles before turning into the trailhead parking lot for Doe Mountain and Bear Mountain Trails.

Three additional hikers (Becky Fowsky, Mary Gavan and a second unnamed hiker) were waiting for us there.

We crossed the road and found a graduate student ensconced in a camp chair at our trailhead. He was doing a paper on hiking in the wilderness. Apparently, the paper was trying to determine what hikers expectations were as they headed into the wilderness and whether those expectations had been met when they returned. Scholarly research on the benefits of wilderness areas seemed a good cause, and we stopped long enough to fill out a short questionnaire.

The trail leads generally headed northwest for its entire length. During the first quarter of a mile, crossing a mostly flat plain bisected by deep-cut gullies. It then continued up the slope of Bear Mountain, gently at first, but rapidly becoming quite steep and climbing 1000 feet in the next mile.

The photograph shown here (right), taken shortly after we started the climb up the steep mountain slope, shows the trail crossing the flat plain below to the parking area nestled at the base of doe Mountain.

After a hard climb we found ourselves nearing the top of the hematite-tinted sandstone (red rock) and the mountainside was littered with fallen cream-colored rock from the overlying layer. The following photograph shows hikers nearing the top of the red-rock formation.

Hikers nearing the top of the red-rock formation

When we were about a mile from the trailhead we could look southeast across a small canyon to beautiful red-rock formations on the other side and on across Sedona to Munds Mountain looming in the distance.

Red-rock formations across a small canyon and Munds Mountain looming 

in the distance beyond Sedona.

After topping the red-rock formation, the trail lead gently upward for a distance then started a steep climb once again. We were hiking along a ridge that, with intervening saddles followed by ever steeper climbs would lead us to the top of Bear Mountain which still loomed high above us.

Just over half way up the trail we topped a small summit of the ridgeline we were following and had our first glimpse of what lay on the other side of the mountain. In the following photograph, red sandstone spires arise from the bottom center pointing to Casner Mountain in the distance while the cream-colored shoulder of Bear Mountain intrudes from the right.

First view of the terrain beyond Bear Mountain

The trail was generally easy to follow with small cairns built by previous hikers placed along the way. There were occasional side paths leading off to viewpoints, but if one did take one of these in error, the mistake soon became apparent.

We became pretty scattered out on the way up the mountain, hiking in four different groups. One group decided to stop for lunch part way to the end of the trail and turn back from there. The other three groups went all the way to the “top” only to discover that it was just the end of the trail and that the highest point on Bear Mountain lay about a mile north and another 100 feet higher. No one seemed disposed to go another mile, closer to two along the course we would have had to take.

By the time I arrived at the trail's end, those who had arrived first were almost ready to start back. I ate a quick lunch and settled in for my customary nap, only to be awakened almost immediately by their departure. I reluctantly donned my pack and was on the trail shortly after they left. Betty was still with me, I think having been assigned as my keeper.

On the way back down, I stopped to photograph the Cockscomb formation and Doe Mountain from high up on Bear Mountain.

Cockscomb formation (center) and Doe Mountain just to its left

I certainly did miss that nap and was really dragging when we finally completed the hike. We had, according to my GPS hiked only 4.4 miles. However, the instrument gave our total ascent as 2037 feet. From the time we had left the plain that lies between the parking lot and the start of the climb, we climbed about 1000 feet per mile to reach the end of the trail. I don't mind climbing over 2000 feet, but I do like it to be spread out over a greater distance than two miles.

We found the graduate student still manning his post at the trailhead and paused for his follow-up questions.

After getting home and soaking in the tub for half an hour, I thought it a great hike.

Our GPS track is shown in red on the included map (below). The blue track is taken from a 2 February 2010 hike to an old still site in Fay Canyon.

Chavez Historic Trail

Having located a wire-bound cairn marking the upper end of the Chavez Historic Trail during a recent hike to the Rattlesnake Canyon gaging station, we decided to do an exploratory hike in preparation for adding it to the regular Skyliner hike schedule.

It was a perfect day for hiking when five Skyliners (Jim Manning, Colleen Maktenieks, Miriam Sterling, Lila Wright and the author) set out on 6 March 2013. Anita Jackson had intended to join us, but her car had broken down.

Chavez Trail¹, a road established in 1864 by Colonel J. Francisco Chaves, ran about 125 miles from Winslow (then Sunset Crossing) to Prescott (then Fort Whipple). It followed an old Hopi Indian path (the Palatkwapi Trail) that ran from the Colorado Plateau to Verde Valley. Upon reaching the Verde Valley, the trail continued by way of Montezuma Well to Camp Verde and then led up Copper Canyon to Ash Creek and on to Prescott. This would have it following the same route as the later established General Crook Trail² (built 1872) from Camp Verde to Prescott. Chavez Trail itself served as part of a much longer road, running from Santa Fe to Los Angeles.

Although the Arizona State Parks website describes Chavez Trail as “relatively even and straight,” Martha Summerhayes³ described the portion of it that we were to hike (now know as Chavez Historic Trail) as follows:

Little by little we gave up hope of reaching Verde that day. At four o'clock we crossed the "divide," and clattered down a road so near the edge of a precipice that I was frightened beyond everything: my senses nearly left me. Down and around, this way and that, near the edge, then back again, swaying, swerving, pitching, the gravel clattering over the precipice, the six mules trotting their fastest, we reached the bottom and the driver pulled up his team. "Beaver Springs!" said he, impressively, loosening up the brakes.

As Jack lifted me out of the ambulance, I said: "Why didn't you tell me?" pointing back to the steep road. "Oh," said he, "I thought it was better for you not to know; people get scared about such things, when they know about them before hand."

"But," I remarked, "such a break-neck pace!" Then, to the driver, "Smith, how could you drive down that place at such a rate and frighten me so?"

"Had to, ma'am, or we'd a'gone over the edge."⁴

With this historical background in mind, we hikers drove north on I-17 from Verde Valley and took the Stoneman Lake Road exit. Passing back under the freeway, we turned as though to enter the freeway on the southbound ramp, but then immediately veered right onto a dirt road (Forest Road 647, though unsigned). About 0.3 miles from the I-17 exit, we came to a very rough section of the road where it crosses a wash. High clearance vehicles, even 4-wheel drive in wet weather, are highly desirable here. After crossing the wash we drove along a smooth, well-packed dirt road for another 0.5 miles before coming to a 90% right turn. We parked at the bend in the road and started our hike from there.

We knew that at least the trailhead was marked by a prominent cairn and we knew just where that was, just a few yards from our parking spot. We had no idea what sort of markings, if any, we might find farther along the trail. Examining the trailhead cairn (right), we discovered it had apparently been placed as part of a cooperative venture between the Forest Service and an organization named Back Country Horsemen of America.

We were pleased to find that we could also see another cairn within sight of the first, a pattern that was to be repeated all the way along the trail.

For the first three-tenths of a mile the trail led us southwest through a grove of junipers, but then turned and ran for half a mile to the northwest heading directly toward Rattlesnake Canyon. This shift in direction brought us around the head of Hog Canyon, after which we again turned southwest to travel along the spine of the ridge between Hog and Rattlesnake Canyons. At the high point of the ridge, about 2 miles from the trailhead, we paused for a rest. I was carrying about 40 pounds of weight including two half-gallons of water strapped to my belt, and just collapsed beside the trail for a good rest. The others walked on over to the rim of Rattlesnake Canyon for a good view up and down the canyon.

Continuing southwest along the rim of Rattlesnake Canyon, we came to its junction with Woods Canyon and passed around the head of Bias Canyon on our left. We were now traveling along the crest of the ridge between Bias and Woods Canyons. Soon we found that the trail was following very close to the rim of Woods Canyon and we had excellent views (see next three photographs) down into and across the canyon. Looking upstream, we could clearly see the junction with Rattlesnake Canyon; looking across the canyon and just slightly to the northwest we had a great view of Courthouse Butte with the smaller Bell Rock to its left. Meanwhile, looking northeast from our viewpoint, we could see Lees Mountain and Munds Mountain poking above Horse Mesa which formed the opposite wall of Woods Canyon.

Looking up Woods Canyon past the junction of Rattlesnake Canyon

Courthouse Butte (center); Bell Rock (left of Courthouse Butte)

Lee and Munds Mountains looming above Horse Mesa

We had expected the trail to be rocky. However, it had to this point been exceptionally smooth and easy to hike, and it continued to be so for another for another 2.5 miles or so as it dropped at a gentle slope, falling just 200 feet in that distance. After that, it became rockier and ever steeper, finally plunging 800 feet in 1.5 miles near the end.

I thought of Martha Summerhayes' words as we made our way down the steeper parts of the trail, now clearly following an old road bed that twisted its way rapidly downhill very close to the edge. In some sections it was steep enough that we had to take great care to avoid slipping on the loose gravel and falling. Having driven a few loaded mule-drawn wagons down steep slopes in east Tennessee during my youth, I could easily understand the teamsters response to Mrs. Summerhayes complaint about his speed.

As we neared the end of the trail we came out on Forest Road 9402T and followed it a very short distance to the car we had parked here to take us back to the upper end of the trail.

Later reference to an old topographic map placed the site of the stage station about half a mile south of where we came out. I don't know whether that is correct; however, we could find no signs of any old buildings where we came out, so I think I will add an investigation of the area shown on the map when we do a Skyliner hike on the trail.

On the included map (below) our GPS track is shown in red while the green line shows the route from the I-17/Stoneman Lake Exit to the upper trailhead.

As measured by my GPS track the trail is 8.6 miles long (one way), the maximum elevation is 5301 feet and the total ascent is 1706 feet.

1http://azstateparks.com/trails/historic/trail_06.html

2http://www.outdoor.com/activities/backpacking/arizona-general-george-cook-trail/

3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Summerhayes

4http://www.readbookonline.net/read/53233/98873/

General Crook Trail South of Hwy 169

We left Cottonwood on 2 March 2013 intent on hiking the short section of General Crook Trail from Hwy 169 to Hecla (Ash Creek Station). Unfortunately, the Forest Service had closed off that section of trail at Hwy 169 for a controlled burn.

Undeterred, we simply walked across the highway and took the same trail in the opposite direction. None of us had been on this section of the trail before, but we found it relatively easy to follow with cairns located at frequent intervals. The sun was shining and a cool breeze was blowing, so we moved along at a good pace, crossing South Old Cherry Road in Hackberry Wash and then stopping atop the next ridge for a snack break and to take a group photograph.

Left to right (kneeling): Daisy Williams, Dolly Yapp, Colleen Maktenieks; 

(standing): Carey Torgl, Gary Githens, Donna Goodman, Miriam Sterling, 

Lila Wright, Anita Jackson and Jim Manning – photograph by the author

After our snack break we continued east along the trail until we were on top of a hill just west of the Gray Wolf Landfill and stopped there for lunch. We had now hiked about 3.6 miles, winding our way up and down gently-sloping, brush-covered hills along the old General George Crook Wagon Trail that once ran all the way to Fort Apache.

Following lunch, four hikers, including the author, decided to continue along the trail to the Hwy 169 crossing near I-17. The others would retrace their steps to our vehicles and pick us up at the crossing.

As we approached the landfill, we could see that it lay astride our path and that the trail would have to detour around it. As we came closer we found that a strip of private land lay to our left, between our path and Hwy 169. Eventually we found ourselves at the west boundary of the landfill where it extends south along Racetrack Wash. The entire property is fenced and No Trespassing signs are prominently displayed at frequent intervals. To bypass it we skirted closely along the fence, our way made easier by the cowpaths that also followed along the fence. In retrospect, we should have followed approximately along the blue line shown in the below figure. The faint dotted line at top of the figure shows the original trail, now closed by the landfill. The heavy red line shows our path and the blue line is a suggested short-cut for future hikes.

Bypass around Gray Wolf Landfill

When we came to the southeast corner of the landfill property, rather than following the fenceline directly north, we headed in a northeast direction to travel through a gap in the ridge caused by Johnson Wash. As we hiked up the wash, we noted a hawk circling around a rocky outcropping to our left. We also saw part of an old rock wall that must be part of an Indian Ruin. The wall is visible running along the very top of the outcropping in the below photograph.

Rock outcropping containing Indian Ruins

We were sorely tempted to climb up for a look at the ruins, but were constrained by fear of being late for our arranged pickup. So marking the ruins for investigation at another time, we continued on up the wash, eventually crossing over and climbing a gentle slope to rejoin the old General Crook Trail. Now we once again found rock cairns, absent during the detour around the landfill, strategically placed to guide us on our way. Additionally, the path of the old road was clearly visible for most of the way.

About 0.6 miles after rejoining the trail we came to an area where Crook Trail ran just a few yards south of Hwy 169, and Forest Road 9604F crossed the trail and connected with the main road. There was a good wide spot for parking and cellphone contact with the main group confirmed that they were almost back to the cars. We were still around 1.6 miles from our intended destination and wouldn't be able to hike that far by the time they arrived, so we arranged to wait where we were for pickup.

We had hiked about 6.3 miles at elevations varying from around 4315 feet to 4540 feet.

What Prescott National Forest identifies as General Crook Trail, an 11.3 mile stretch running from FR 323 at Ash Creek to FR 136 near the head of Copper Canyon, is part of the road established by General George Crook that ran from Fort Whipple to Fort Apache. Note that some descriptions of the trail have it starting at Fort Verde; however, since Fort Whipple was the regional headquarters, it must have started there.

While hiking along the section of the old road we were following this day, we wondered how far it would be if we were to follow the route all the way to Camp Verde. To answer that question, I first reviewed a previous hike from the firing range on FR 136 just off Salt Mine Road at Camp Verde to the old stage station in Copper Canyon and found that distance to be 4.7 miles. I then measured the distance along Crook Trail from where we stopped our hike to FR 136 and on down Copper Canyon to the old stage station and found that to be 5.3 miles. Thus we would have had to hike about another 10 miles to reach the junction of Salt Mine Road and FR 136 at Camp Verde.

Today's hike is shown in red on page 1 of the included map (below). Page 2 shows Crook Trail from FR 323 to FR 136 and on to the firing range at Salt Mine Road and FR 136 at Camp Verde.