Trails 548/547/FR 338 Loop

Saturday, 31 August 2013 was on a long holiday weekend and Mingus Mountain was obscured by fog when we set out to do a loop hike, using the lower section of Trail 548 (Bug Hollow), Trail 547 (Lower Mescal) and a short section of FR 338 (Trail 105). As expected, we had a sparse turnout. The author was joined by only two others: Donna Goodman and a hiker who chose to remain unidentified.

From the Safeway parking lot in Cottonwood, we drove south on Hwy 89A for 13.7 miles, passing through Jerome, and turned onto Forest Road 338 (also Trail 105 but unmarked as such) at Mescal Gulch. We then drove for 0.3 miles on FR 338, passing lower Trail 547 Trailhead on the way, to arrive at the lower Trail 548 Trailhead. The upper trailhead for this trail is on Hwy 89A about 0.9 miles below the summit, 2.9 trail miles from the lower trailhead. We would not follow the trail that far but would, instead, turn back down the mountain on Trail 547 which was just 1.7 miles ahead. This would bring us out on FR 338 just 0.2 miles from where we were parked.

None of us had hiked the lower portion of Trail 548 before and we were watching carefully to make sure we didn't miss the trailhead. Our anxiety turned out to be unfounded as, contrary to previous reports, the trailhead is now clearly marked (right). The photograph shows the trail leading off to the right along an old road which is closed to vehicular traffic. There was no designated parking area, but plenty of room for it alongside FR 338.

As we started up the trail, we noted that clouds had moved in and a few raindrops were falling. This quickly increased to a steady drizzle and we found ourselves stopping to don our ponchos no more that 200 yards from the trailhead.

Fortunately, the light rain soon slacked off and then ceased altogether and we were able to remove our ponchos. The rain didn't start again until we were well off the mountain and on our way back home.

Work has recently been done on the trail and it is clear and easy to hike on, following the old roadbed most of the way. When it did finally leave the roadbed, we found that it had recently been trimmed and graded to provide for drainage. Our primary goal was to make sure we followed the new (to us anyway) section of trail to its junction with Trail 549 (Powerline Trail); we had all three previously hiked the rest of it.

It has rained almost every day on the slopes of Mingus for the past few weeks and we found that this had brought out a number bright, colorful flowers along the trail. The two examples shown below were found before we reached the junction with Trail 549.

Snakeweed

Prairie spiderwort

I had first hiked on what is now Trail 548 before it was officially designated as a trail by the Forest Service. We just parked off Hwy 89A near the summit, at what is now the upper trailhead, and followed an old roadbed along the side of the mountain to where it seemed to end at a large fallen tree in a wash. Until recently, I had assumed that Trail 548 followed the same route and ended at the same place. Only recently had I learned that the official trail left the old road and led down the mountain to connect with FR 338, making the loop we were now hiking possible. I was anxious to learn where the trail left the old road and also to learn where Trail 549 (Powerline Trail), another trail that was new to me, intersected with Trail 548. I had read a recent report that said there was an open meadow with a single large juniper growing in it that marked the spot. I was not disappointed. Just short of a mile after leaving the trailhead, we came upon the following scene.

Open meadow just under a mile from the lower end of Trail 548

Just as described, growing prominently in the open space was a large juniper (left). Usually, what I picture in my mind from reading a report written by someone else, has little in common what I find when I actually view the same scene myself. This was an exception.

Just a few yards beyond the juniper, we came to the junction with Trail 549 and that also turned out to be the same spot where Trail 548 left the old roadbed I had hiked on several years ago. The leaning sign (right) shows Trail 549, actually a continuation of the old road I had hiked on previously, continuing on up the mountain.

Looking back the way we had come, a sign was posted (left) to show where Trail 548, actually following another old roadbed at this point, starts down the mountain to join with FR 338.

Our loop hike would be very short if we continued on as planned, so we decided to hike a short distance up Trail 549 before continuing on our planned route. As we continued on I turned to see the following cloud-shrouded view of Mescal Gulch and Verde Valley below.

Looking down Mescal Gulch to Verde Valley

We only hiked about 0.3 miles on Trail 549, far enough for me to make sure that it was indeed the trail I had hiked on before. Now, judging from recent hike reports, it must extend beyond the point where the old road ended. But, saving further exploration for another day, we returned to Trail 548 and continued our loop hike, pausing to view flowers and mushrooms along the way.

Thistle

Unusual mushroom

After following Trail 548 for another 0.7 miles from the junction with Trail 549, we came to the upper Trail 547 Trailhead. From here it was only another 1.5 miles to the car.

Donna Goodman and the author at upper trailhead – photo by Name Withheld

The loop hike as shown by the red track on the included map (below) was only 3.2 miles but, since we hiked 0.6 miles round trip on Trail 549, we actually hiked 3.8 miles. The elevation gain on the loop part of the hike was around 585 feet. We climbed another 85 feet on Trail 549, so our total elevation gain was about 670 feet. The highest elevation was 6765.

Our next hiking trip in this area will probably be a hike starting at the lower Trail 548 Trailhead, and ending at the upper end of Trail 549. That will be about 5.3 miles one way and we will return the same way, making it a 10.6-mile hike. The elevation gain will be about 950 feet with a maximum elevation of around 7050 feet.

Lower Mescal 547 and Upper Mescal 550

Six Skyliners hiked the Lower Mescal and Upper Mescal Trails on Mingus on 17 August 2013. Leaving Cottonwood shortly after 0700, we drove through Jerome on Hwy 89A and continued up the mountain to park at Mescal Gulch, mile marker 339.6. The parking area is marked by a Prescott National Forest sign.

Forest Road 338 begins at the end of the guard rail, directly across Hwy 89A from the parking area. From our vehicles, we walked across the highway and took the forest road down a short steep hill to the Lower Mescal 547 Trailhead. The distance from the parking area is about 160 yards. The trail leads southwest up the mountain, at first parallel and close to the state highway. But it was still early on a Saturday morning and traffic on the highway was light, so we heard nothing after we had hiked up the trail for a few hundred yards.

We stopped along the way for a group photograph.

Left to right; Ellis Price, Donna Goodman, Kwi Johnson, Miriam Sterling and 

Daisy Williams – photograph by Name Withheld

Our trail led us along the bottom of a heavily wooded wash. On our left, the hills sloped up to Mingus Mountain, on our right was Woodchute. Although the beginning of our trail was definitely in Mescal Gulch, I think the wash we were now following was not a continuation of Mescal but rather a side wash. Mescal Gulch itself appears to continue northwest to a point of origin above Woodchute Tank on the south slope of Woodchute Mountain.

As we made out way up the trail, at first along an old road and, when that ended a well-defined footpath, no hint of a breeze reached us, deep in the wash as we were. However, the shade provided by the trees all around us moderated the temperature somewhat and we were only mildly uncomfortable; it was not bad for an August day in Arizona.

There were no viewpoints to distract us with far away views, so we contented ourselves with what we found close up. The path we were following (ight) was itself worth noting, winding pleasantly through the trees as it did.

Other close in sites to be viewed included a medium-sized tree seemingly intent on swallowing a large rock (below left). It brought to mind a python ingesting something larger than itself

About 1.4 miles from the parking lot, Trail 547 (Lower Mescal) ended at Trail 548 (Bug Hollow). We turned left (east) on Trail 548 and traveled only about 30 yards before we came to the lower Upper Mescal (Trail 550) Trailhead.

Having both an Upper and a Lower Mescal Trail with different trail numbers seems to me to be unduly confusing. Why not just a single Mescal Trail. But, in any case, we had now hiked 1.4 miles and climbed about 300 feet. We still had another mile to go and about 600 feet to climb before we reached the upper trailhead for Trail 550, located at Hwy 89A just below the summit. Needless to say, Upper Mescal Trail, rises more sharply (600 feet in one mile) than does Lower Mescal Trail (300 feet in 1.4 miles).

About two-thirds of the way up this trail we came out on an old, long-unused road. We followed that road for the rest of the hike and the climb leveled off a little, with even a short downhill section or two.

We left the forest about a quarter mile short of the trailhead. We were at the edge of a large open meadow which has been closed to motorized vehicles for a few years now and is well on its way to recovery as a grazing area for wild game. At least the elk appear to agree with this assessment, as we came upon elk droppings just a few yards from the tree line.

Open meadow at top of Trail 550

The trailhead is actually downhill a bit from the edge of the forest, so the rest of the way was easy. On reaching the trailhead, we turned and looked back at the trailhead sign and the meadow we had just crossed.

Upper Mescal Trailhead at Hwy 89A

We then headed back the way we had come. One alternative would have been to follow Hwy 89A back down the mountain to where we were parked at Mescal Gulch, but no one wanted to brave the traffic on that road and it would anyway have been further than the way we came. A second alternative would have been to bushwhack a short distance down the mountain to the Trail 548 Trailhead, take that trail back to the junction with Trail 547 and then continue on 547. But that too would have been further than the way we had come and we really didn't want to bushwhack. All in all, retracing the path we had taken up the mountain seemed the best way to return.

We saw a few interesting sights along the way back down the trail. The first was a tiny horned toad (right) that we saw just before reentering the forest. Note how well it blends in with the color of the rocks. Except for the distinctive shape, the toad could be just another part of the rock it is perched on.

Farther down the trail, actually along Lower Mescal, we looked toward the wash and saw steps leading up an ancient, gnarled old tree. Upon investigating, we discovered a long-unused hunter's blind (left) located just above eye level in the tree.

Some of our hikers had other commitments later in the day, so we left the hunter's blind behind and moved on down the trail, making good time now that we were going downhill. Unfortunately, we were not quite fast enough and the rain caught us about 0.2 miles from our vehicles. We were just too close to stop and don ponchos, so we all got wet.

Our GPS track is shown in red on the following map (below). Bug Hollow Trail (548) is shown in light green and Powerline Trail (549) shows as dark green.

According to my recorded GPS track, this hike was 4.8 miles round trip, the maximum elevation was 6930 feet and the total ascent was 1061 feet

Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail

The Skyliners last hiked the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail last spring when I was unable to participate and I had since been determined to do it myself. By sending an e-mail to the rest of the hikers, I found a few others who, having never hiked the trail before, were anxious to join me.

Donna Goodman, David Beach and the author left Cottonwood and drove north on Hwy 89A to Flagstaff, took I-40 west to Exit 167 and turned south on Garland Prairie Road which soon became a well-graded dirt road (also titled Forest Road 141). We followed this road for nine miles to the signed junction with FR 56, turned onto FR 56 and followed it for 1.9 miles to the trailhead. One could, if not paying attention, miss the trailhead. Just look for the Forest Service sign at a small parking area on the left. Our track from I-40 to the trailhead is shown in green on the below map.

Showing the route from I-40 to The Sycamore Rim Trailhead

This is a loop hike and one can choose to hike it either clockwise or counterclockwise. We chose the counterclockwise option (see trail sign at right) because that would allow us to make the 530 foot climb to the top of K A Hill while we were still fresh. We had driven 100 miles to the trailhead and it was now almost 0900. We had between 11 and 12 miles to hike before driving back home, so we wasted no time before starting our hike. We crossed the road from where we were parked, picked up the trail on the other side and headed directly up K A Hill, traveling northwest. My two hiking companions are shown in the photograph below.

David Beach and Donna Goodman – photograph by the author

As the temperature was moderate and we had good cover on our hike up the hill, we arrived at the top in good condition, but were happy to now be heading downhill.

The next two miles went quickly, as the trail led us downhill through a forested slope, and we stopped alongside a forest road for a midmorning snack. We were very near the beginning of the Pomeroy Tanks. These naturally-formed tanks, not individually named, occur in the streambed, at this point the center of a broad meadow, of Isham Spring Canyon. The tanks are strung out along the canyon as it deepens and makes its way down to Sycamore Canyon. Isham Spring Canyon continues to the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness area, just above Willow Spring and Sycamore Canyon Falls, where it joins Big Spring Canyon and becomes the west fork of upper Sycamore Canyon (also still called Big Spring Canyon), the east fork being formed by Sycamore Creek.

Showing the upper part of Sycamore Canyon (east and west forks)

The trail, hiked counterclockwise, leads one down this western fork of the canyon until it joins with the eastern fork. Shown following (see next page) is one of the first of the Pomeroy Tanks we saw on our way down Isham Spring Canyon to join Big Spring Canyon.

One of the naturally-occurring Pomeroy Tanks

Near where we first entered Isham Spring Canyon, we crossed the old Overland Trail (or Road). This is only a fragment of the system of trails used for cross-country travel before the day of the railroads. The below quote from Wikipedia would seem to refer to this section of the trail.

In 1857, the United States Postal Department extended bids for mail service along what became known as the "southern route" from Memphis, Tennessee to San Francisco, California through New Mexico and Arizona. The contract was given to the Butterfield Overland Mail Company and service ran until the Civil War started in 1861. Wells Fargo was the primary lender to the company and took control when it suffered financial difficulties in 1859. After the southern route was disbanded the Overland Mail Company moved operations to the central line between Salt Lake City and Sacramento.¹

We had not seen many flowers prior to reaching the Pomeroy Tanks. Now, however, we found several gorgeous specimens along the way.

A field of sphaeralcea globemallows at tank in Islam Spring Canyon

Insofar as I can determine, this is a parry's aster

When we reached the Sycamore Canyon wilderness and came to the turnoff to Sycamore Canyon Falls, we chose to not turn off because we really couldn't expect to find water flowing there this time of year. We did pause at a convenient overlook to observe a rock climber making his way up the canyon wall.

Rock climber making his way slowly up the sheer canyon wall just below 

Sycamore Canyon Falls

leaving the rock climber behind, we continued in a southeast direction along the rim of the west fork of Sycamore Canyon (Big Spring Canyon). Except for one relatively short, fairly steep section the hiking was easy. We had great views all along the way, available by just stepping a few yards from the trail to the edge of the canyon.

When we came to Sycamore Canyon Vista, where the east and west forks join, we had a particularity good view far into the wilderness area (below). Again, the west fork is really Big Spring Canyon.

Looking into the wilderness from Sycamore Canyon Vista

This viewpoint is also accessible via a short hike from the end of FR 56, the very road that we took to the trailhead.

The trail forks at the viewpoint with one branch, the left, leading back to FR 56 and the other continuing on along the rim, now heading northeast along the canyon formed by Sycamore Creek. We very nearly came to grief here, the trail sign directing travelers to the rim trail was missing. The remaining sign just provided an arrow pointing to Sycamore Canyon Vista Trailhead. At first, we had no idea whether that trailhead might be located on the rim trail. But we did have the track on our GPS and by zooming in very close we knew, after traveling just a few yards along the right fork, that we were on the correct path.

For about two miles along Sycamore Creek from the viewpoint we were still following along the rim of a deep canyon. But it became ever more shallow along the way as the streambed rose to meet the trail. Eventually, we found ourselves hiking along a shallow stream with naturally-occurring tanks along the way. The tank shown below is covered with lily pads.

Lily pad-covered tank along upper Sycamore Creek

A little further along we came to ruins of an old cabin (left). Some other similar cabin ruins were also to be seen at the location. A nearby sign said that we were at another crossing of the Overland Road Trail. Dow Spring is located nearby and this was apparently a watering stop for those traveling the Overland Trail. Dow Spring, for a brief period, even had its own post office.

We continued along our way, the naturally-occurring tanks of upper Sycamore Creek now on our left, and passed the site of an old sawmill. A Forest Service sign erected nearby indicates that the mill operated in the early 1900s. Nothing is visible now and the site would surely not be noted by passers by were it not for the sign.

As we approached the trailhead we found that we must cross a wetland, the very upper reaches of Sycamore Creek, to reach it. We got a little mud on our shoes but didn't get our feet wet.

Back at the trailhead, we used the posted sign to review our hike.

Sign at FR 56 Sycamore Rim Trailhead

This hike, as shown below (below), was an 11-mile loop, the maximum elevation was 7266 feet and the total ascent was 1346 feet.

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Trail

Arizona Trail From FR 751 to 3.6 Miles South

Having decided to hike a section of the Arizona Trail south from FR 751, we left Cottonwood shortly after 0700 on 3 August 2013. We drove through Camp Verde on Hwy 260 and continued on to the junction with Hwy 87 just below the Mogollon Rim. The mile marking system used on Hwy 260 is rather quirky. The road starts in Cottonwood and less than a mile ahead has mile marker 207 posted, the approximate distance by highway to the western state border by way of Hwy 89A, US 89, Cr 71, US 60 and I-10. The marking system is then consistent for 46 miles to the junction with Hwy 87 which it reaches at approximately mile marker 251.9. Highways 260 and 87 then run south together for 26 miles to Payson where Hwy 260 continues east with mile marker 252. This means, of course, that all remaining mile markers on Hwy 260 are off by 26 miles.

But, for purposes of this hike, we turned north on Hwy 87 and drove 16.6 miles to the junction with FR 751, turned south on that road and drove another 2.1 miles to reach the Arizona Trail crossing to start our hike. We paused for a group photograph before starting our hike.

Left to right: Ellis Price, Miriam Sterling, Lila Wright, Dave Beach and 

Kwi Johnson - photograph by name withheld

A sign showing the layout of the Arizona Trail was posted at the trailhead.

Arizona Trail – our starting position was near the middle of the trail, just above the Blue Ridge 

Reservoir – see red arrow

As soon as we disembarked, the mosquitoes attacked with a vengeance. One person had applied repellent before leaving home and another had a small amount with him. The rest of us just covered up as much as possible. I donned a pair of gloves to protect my hands and used a technique that seems to work for me – breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I don't know why, but it seems to repel insects.

The trail in this area leads through the forest and is mostly shaded, good for the mosquitoes, but did have some open spots where the trees were widely spaced. All along the way, we found flowers in bloom.

Golden tickseed flowers taking advantage of an old roadway 

- http://www.delange.org/TickseedGolden/TickseedGolden.htm

The trail led almost directly south for a little over half a mile, then turned west to follow closely along the rim of East Clear Creek Canyon. Knowing that Blue Ridge Reservoir was located in the canyon, we kept looking for water below. After about another half a mile, the trail began a fairly gentle downslope and then turned back to the south and descended the steep canyon wall, falling about 400 feet in 0.6 miles.

Some of the flowers we saw along the way are shown below.

Lindley's silverpuffs

Wild dwarf morning-glory

Parry's aster

Pineywoods geranium

When we arrived at the bottom of the canyon, we found it completely dry. Although the reservoir does apparently extend this far up the canyon when filled, it was at only 68% of capacity on the day of our visit.¹

Blue Ridge Reservoir, constructed by Phelps-Dodge, was completed in 1965 at a cost of 7.2 million dollars. It was constructed as part of an agreement between the company and Salt River Project to allow Phelps Dodge to use water from the Black River at its Morenci facility. A 187-foot-tall concrete dam was erected to create a 15000 acre-foot reservoir in the East Clear Creek Canyon. East Clear Creek is a part of the Little Colorado River watershed, outside the SRP's service area. Water from this reservoir would then be supplied to SRP to compensate for the water taken by Phelps dodge from the Black River. The water was routed through a tunnel and then pumped up a 435-foot shaft to a pipeline which carried it 10 or 11 miles to the East Verde River. A hydroelectric generating station was installed at the lower end of the pipeline to generate power to drive the electric motors which lifted the water from the reservoir.

In 2005, pursuant to a clause in the agreement that allowed SRP to purchase the reservoir should Phelps Dodge decided to sell it, SRP purchased it to add to their system's resources. The reservoir was also renamed C.C Cragin Reservoir in honor of an early 20^th century SRP general superintendent. However, it is still generally known as Blue Ridge Reservoir.²

Under a separate agreement, SRP will provide and Payson with a 3000 acre-foot annual allocation of water from the reservoir. To make use of this water allocation Payson is installing a 13.5 mile long, 18-inch diameter pipeline from the tailrace (discharge) of SRP's existing hydroelectric facility to a new 234 Kilowatt hydroelectric facility which will generate power to operate a new water treatment plant. This project is scheduled to be completed in late 2016.

When we arrived at the dry bed of East Clear Creek, we found that we had left the mosquitoes behind, so we stopped for a midmorning snack. We then started the steep climb out of the canyon on the south side. This seemed even steeper than the descent from the north rim had been. However, a look at a topographic map discloses that the south rim is actually 200 to 300 feet lower.

We came out on the south rim just west of the site of the Battle of Big Dry Wash, the last battle fought between the Apaches and army regulars.³

At the south rim, we came to a fence with a pedestrian pass-through. After that the rest of our hike, until we turned back, was along an old, level roadbed.

Arriving at the south rim of Clear Creek Canyon

We saw the below plants while ascending to or hiking on the south rim.

Pine drops

Silene (orange)/Parry's aster ( light blue)

After returning to the trailhead, some of our group were still intent on seeing water, so we drove on down FR 751 until it ended at the reservoir, before heading back home.

Blue Ridge Reservoir from the parking lot at the end of FR 751

This hike was 7.6 miles round trip, the highest elevation was 7377 feet total ascent was 722 feet.

Our track is shown in red on the included map (below). The yellow tracks are part of the Arizona Trail that we did not hike.

1http://www.watershedmonitor.com/siteDetail.aspx?dbNm=usgs&statn_id=09398300&kw=WW_LwrVerde

2http://www.srpnet.com/water/dams/cragin.aspx

3http://www.paysonrimcountry.com/MountainRecreation/InterpretiveCenters/BattleofBigDryWash.aspx