Crook Trail to Gray Wolf Ruins and Hecla

We had hiked on General Crook Trail from Hwy 169 and Little Hackberry Wash (6.9 miles west of I-17) to the junction of Forest road 9604F and Hwy 169 (1.8 miles west of I-17) last March. During that hike we had noted what appeared to be Indian ruins located among igneous outcroppings on top of a small round hill east of Gray Wolf Landfill. We could not be entirely sure that what we had seen were really ruins. Today, 28 December 2013, on our last hike of the year, we were returning to climb the hill and investigate.

We drove to Camp Verde on Hwy 260, took I-17 south to Hwy 169, turned west on that road and traveled about 1.8 miles to Forest Road 9604F. Turning south on the forest road, we drove about 0.3 miles to the point where it intersects General Crook Trail. We actually turned on a faint track just about 0.1 mile before reaching the trail and parked a little over 100 yards from the trail. General Crook Trail #64 is marked at this point by a standard upright trail sign displaying the trail number.

The trail is relatively easy to follow. The track of the original General Crook Trail is still visible and cairns, although often obscured by grass, have been erected along the way. The original trail, a wagon road, was scouted in 1871 by General Crook, construction began in 1872, supplies could be moved over it by pack trail in 1873, and in 1874 the first wagon train left Fort Whipple for Fort Apache.¹

When we started our hike, we were on the crest of the east slope of Johnson Wash. We followed Crook Trail down the slope of the wash, crossed over and continued for a short distance up the west slope, before turning to climb up to the ruins which could barely be discerned from our location. At the point where we turned off the trail we noted a single square, weathered post with no markings placed on the beside the old wagon trail. The climb to the top of the hill was along a gentle slope that rose some 275 feet in 0.3 miles.

We were not absolutely sure that the ruins even existed until we were close enough to see the man-made walls, with view-ports placed in strategic locations. Lila Wright is shown below ascending the wall.

Lila Wright ascending the north wall of Gray Wolf Ruins

I did not find an official name for these ruins, so I have chosen to refer to them as Gray Wolf Ruins, the name given to General Crook by the Indians and also the name of the nearby landfill.

The photograph shown here (right) shows a section of the north wall looking east from where we ascended.

From our perch among the ruins, we had a commanding view in every direction across the surrounding low-lying hills to the far mountains beyond.

Looking to the east from the ruins

The entire top of the hill had been fortified by strategically building walls to connect already existing igneous outcroppings. Since the connecting rock walls were were of the same composition as the outcropping rocks, the fortifications could easily go unnoticed from below.

Fortifications enclosing the entire top of the hill

We found a suitable spot at the very top of the hill and posed for a group photograph.

Left to right: The author (front), Betty Wolters, Collene Maktenieks, 

Daisy Williams (standing), 

Connie Woolard, Lila Wright (standing), 

Kwi Johnson and Gary Jacobson 

– photograph by Name Withheld

Leaving the ruins, we retraced our steps down the hill, rejoined Crook Trail at the bottom and climbed back up the eastern slope of Johnson Wash to our parked vehicles.

Hiking back up the east slope of Johnson Wash. The trace of the old Crook 

Wagon Trail runs just to 

the right of the hikers, topping out just above the 

leftmost hiker.

The red track in the below map shows our path to the Gray Wolf Indian Ruins. The green track shows a short section of the Crook Trail as it detours around private property, the Gray Wolf Landfill.

Map showing the trail to Gray Wolf Ruins and the Crook Trail detour around 

Gray Wolf Landfill

The short distance to and from the ruins was never going to be an adequate hike, so we climbed back into our vehicles and drove another 5.1 miles west on Hwy 169 to the point where Crook Trail crosses the highway and heads to Hecla (perhaps more commonly referred to as Ash Creek Station). The station was originally built by John Stemmer, a cavalryman stationed at Camp Verde, who mustered out in 1870. The station had an inn with seven rooms. In the early 1890, according to a July 23, 2008 article published in the Camp Verde Bugle, “the neighborhood became an official community with a real post office, named Hecla after a nearby gold mine.” The article goes on to say that the post office only operated for about a year.²

The start of the trail to Hecla was clearly marked (left) and there is plenty of parking alongside the highway.

As can be seen in the photograph at left, the trail was wide and had a smooth surface. Although the gravel surface seen here only lasted a few yards where it ended at a corral, the entire trail was still easy hiking. About 0.7 miles from Hwy 169, Crook Trail makes a turn and heads in a more westerly direction. Because the path straight ahead is wider and more distinct at this point it would be easy to miss the turn.

There is a trail marker (right); however, it is one of those whose directional arrows can be interpreted incorrectly. For guidance, just look for the two rock cairns beside the shrub just to the right of the sign. They are aligned to take you in the right direction.

From the turn described above, the trail becomes a little narrower and in places follows along washes. But it is still easy hiking with a relatively smooth dirt and sand surface and well-placed cairns to show the way. The distance from the turn to Hecla is only another 0.7 miles and we were soon there. On arrival, after crossing the creek, we were greeted by a beautiful, gnarled old hackberry tree standing sentinel on the west side of the creek.

Beautiful old hackberry tree at Hecla

We continued past the remains of the old stone corral and stopped alongside the creek to eat lunch.

Still standing wall of old stone corral at Hecla

We had now completed all of Trail # 64 except the 0.6 mile section that continues on past Hecla to end at FR 323, so we decided to continue on and complete that section. The red track in the below map shows Trail 64 from Hwy 169 to its end (or start) at FR 323. The blue track shows an alternate route we took on the return trip

Map showing Crook Trail #64 from Hwy 169 to Hecla and on to Forest Road 323

We hiked 6.3 miles (2 miles to the Indian Ruins and 4.3 miles to Hecla and on to FR 323). All distances are round trip. Our highest elevation was 4736 feet and the elevation difference was 416 feet.

1General Crook National Historic Trail Study Report, USFS, 1986 (Draft), p. 384

2 http://campverdebugleonline.com/print.asp?ArticleID=20599&SectionID=74&SubSectionID=702  

Crook Trail from FR 9604 to Copper Canyon

Eight Skyliners hiked the section of General Crook Trail starting at Hwy 169/FR 9604F and ending near the top of Copper Canyon. The date was 14 December 2013; the hikers were Lila Wright, Kwi Johnson, Daisy Williams, Ruth Frazier, Connie Woolard, Collene Maktenieks, the author and one unnamed hiker.

Our original intent had been to position one vehicle at the old stage stop in Copper Canyon and hike one-way to there. To do that we would need two 4-wheel drive vehicles and, unfortunately, I had not made that fact clear, so we did not have two such vehicles. After some discussion, we decided to hike part way on the trail and then return to where we started.

The sun was shining brightly, but a chill wind was blowing and we all wore jackets. From a previous hike on the trail from Little Hackberry Wash to the starting point for today's hike, we knew that the trace of the old wagon trail would be quite visible at the start of our hike. We followed that still-visible old road down a gentle slope and across a wash that drains C F Canyon and feeds into Cienega Creek.

Where General Crook Wagon Road crossed the wash draining C F Canyon

Shortly after crossing that first wash, we crossed another, less distinct one and then joined a dirt road. There we found a Prescott NF sign (right). Such signs are posted all along this section of Crook Trail, beginning at the FR 136 Trailhead at the bottom of Copper Canyon near Salt Mine road at Camp Verde. The small sign visible in the lower left quadrant identifies this section of General Crook Trail, in Prescott National Forest, as Trail 64. Other sections of the trail are given different numbers as it crosses other National Forests. The large sign, dominating the above photograph, notes that this is a “non-motorized” trail. Some other, similar signs, along the way specify “multimodal,” indicating that motorized vehicles are permissible.

We continued to follow the remnant of the old wagon road, eventually arriving at the fence shown below. We could see the old wagon road ahead, but there was no easy way to cross the fence.

Old General Crook Wagon Road blocked by a fence

 We didn't know it at the time, but we had gone about 0.3 miles beyond the point where Trail 64 leaves the original wagon road in a diversion to avoid private property. The diversion starts at N34 30.739 W112 00.382 as shown on the map below. The turnoff is far from obvious as the old wagon road is clearly visible continuing directly east at this point and nothing indicates one should turn north.

Trail detail at Hwy 169/I-17 Junction

As shown by the green track (map above), one can avoid the private property by following along the fenceline to Hwy 169 and then continuing along FR 9603F which starts at Hwy 169 and skirts the western and northern boundaries of the private holding. However, following the official trail (red track) is the easier, and shorter, route.

The following sign (left), posted alongside FR 9603F near the northeast corner of the private property boundary, is the only indication that it is time to leave the road and cross under I-17. There is absolutely no other indication that a trail ever existed here. One can, however, see signage along the interstate highway. The sign, located just to the left of the tree visible at the top of the photograph, is very near the underpass which the trail utilizes to pass under I-17 and rejoin the original General Crook Trail on the other side.

As we approached the freeway crossing, we came to a gate with a chain and latch that defied our best efforts to unfasten it. Finally, one of the hikers walked a short distance along the fence and found that it ended just a few yards from the gate. All we had to do was walk around it. The photograph below shows the gate looking back from the other side along with the open passage to the right.

Carefully locked gate on left; wide open fence at right

A look at the map showed that we crossed I-17 in Oxtail Draw. The highway follows this draw all the way to the top of the mountain before heading down the other side into Verde Valley. On the east side of the highway we once again began to notice signs of the old wagon road and followed these, along with an occasional cairn, up the draw toward Bates Windmill. We were now sheltered from the wind by a hill that lay between us and Oxtail Draw and were becoming uncomfortably warm. We stopped for a snack just short of FR 136 where the section of old Crook Trail designated as Trail 64 in Prescott National Forest ends and most of our group took advantage of the stop to remove their jackets.

After our snack, we followed FR 136 (Copper Canyon Road) up the gentle slope past Bates Windmill toward the head of the canyon. We were no longer sheltered from the stiff, chill breeze and were soon stopping to don jackets again. Near the top, the slope became a little steeper, but it was never a very difficult climb. We had planned to turn back once we could see down the other side into Copper Canyon. However, when we reached the top, it was still a little early for lunch and the wind was now striking us full on, so we continued down into the canyon for approximately a quarter of a mile before stopping in a sunny, sheltered spot for lunch.

Hikers stopped for lunch

We all wanted to hike the entire trail down Copper Canyon to Salt Mine Road at Camp Verde, just not today. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that we would do that in March. We will park a vehicle at Salt Mine Road, take the interstate up the mountain and then drive back on FR 136 to the top of Copper Canyon to start our hike. That way it will be just a bit over 6 miles and downhill all the way.

After a short lunch break we headed back to where we were parked. Cozy as the spot was, I didn't even linger to take my traditional noontime nap because I wanted to get back in time to sort out the trail around the Hwy 169/I-17 Junction. We made good time and soon found ourselves crossing back under I-17. This time we followed FR 9302F along the north perimeter of the private property and cut back south toward the Old Crook Road as soon as we reached the western perimeter. This brought us out at the junction of FR 9603F and Hwy 169. We then crossed the highway and continued a short distance to rejoin our previous track where we had found the old road blocked by a fence. It wasn't a very difficult route, but it did not appear to be part of Trail 64. Nevertheless we continued on our way. Lila had noted a sign at another location along the highway that might indicate a trail crossing; we would look for that on the way back home after we finished the hike.

We became a little strung out on the final leg of the hike and one of our hikers managed to become separated and cross the last wash at the wrong place. Meanwhile, I had stopped at the wash to count heads and came up one short. Finally, one of the hikers told me that she had seen the missing one cross the wash at a different spot. There was really no serious danger of anyone getting lost on this section of trail, but a lone hiker could fall and be rendered unconscious. It was a bit frustrating, but we did all make it back in good condition.

When we left the parking area and headed east on Hwy 169 toward I-17, we were traveling parallel to our hike route and we knew that the trail had to cross the highway somewhere, so we were all alert to locate that crossing. It turned out to be well-marked and rather obvious. It was marked on each side of the highway with the now familiar Public Trail signs (right) along with a Trail number sign.

That answered the question of where the trail crossed the highway; still unresolved, was exactly where it left the old wagon road, and the route it followed before rejoining it on the other side of the parcel of private property. To answer the first of these questions two of us parked our vehicle alongside the highway and followed the trail south until, after 0.2 miles, it connected with our previous hike path.

My fellow hiker then drove to the corner where FR 9603F makes a 90 degree turn to follow along the north side of the parcel of private property and looked for signs of the trail there, while I tried my luck starting at Hwy 169. I found several cairns to guide me for a while but, at first, no other sign of a trail. Eventually I did come to a section that appeared to show a worn track. Unfortunately, that turned out to be nothing more than a cow path that led me directly east toward Mistake Tank instead of northeast, the direction in which the trail should be heading. By now, though, my fellow hiker had located a couple of cairns near where he was parked and we then managed to locate others, completing the GPS track for the last section of the trail.

The GPS track for the entire 4.3 mile section of Crook Trail completed on this hike is shown in red on the included map (below).

We hiked 8.6 miles (plus an additional 1.2 miles mapping out the deviation around private property). Our highest elevation was 4837 feet and the elevation difference was about 431 feet.

Deadwood Trail

I had long wanted to hike Deadwood Trail from Cedar Flat to Forest Road 618 near Walker Creek. The Skyliners had hiked a part of the trail, starting at FR 618 and returning the same way, the previous spring. I wanted to start at Cedar Flat and hike the entire trail. Saturday, 30 November 2013 turned out to be the perfect day for it. The regular Skyliners hike, led by Lila Wright, was to be on the lower portion of Chavez Historic Trail and several of us had already hiked that trail last spring to scout it for today's hike.

After some discussion with Lila we agreed that I would organize a separate hike on Deadwood for those who had accompanied us on the Chavez Trail scouting hike. This would include, in addition to the author: Jim Manning, Collene Maktenieks and Miriam Sterling. As it turned out Miriam was unable to hike that day and I recruited Donna Goodman to take her place.

We met at my house and left for our hike at 0800, the normal time for Skyliner hikes this time of year. In retrospect, we should have left an hour earlier because the driving and staging time to get to the Deadwood Trailhead at Cedar Flat turned out to be 2 hours, so we didn't start our hike until about 1000.

We drove to Camp Verde, took I-17 north to the Sedona Exit and turned right (southeast) onto FR 618. We continued on past the turnoff to the Beaver Creek Ranger Station, crossed Wet Beaver Creek and arrived at the unmarked Deadwood Trailhead just 0.1 miles before crossing Walker Creek at Ward Ranch (also known as Rancho Roca Roja); we had traveled 3.9 miles from I-17. The only sign at the trailhead proclaims the route to be Forest road 9201J. Deadwood Trail follows this road all the way between FR 618 and and FR 214 at Cedar Flat Tank. Although the road is coded on the Coconino National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map as being open to all vehicles, only about the first 0.8 miles should be attempted by other than serious 4-wheelers, as it quickly becomes very steep and is covered with loose rock.

For this hike we had already decided that we would position one high- clearance vehicle (my pickup) at a corral located 0.8 miles from the trailhead at FR 618 and drive Jim's Jeep around Walker Mountain on FR 214 to the upper trailhead. Collene had also driven her vehicle which we left parked at the FR 618/Deadwood Trailhead.

We then continued south on FR 618, which now became a dirt road (it had been paved this far), crossed Walker Creek, continued past the entrance to Ward Ranch and turned left (east) on FR 214 about 6.2 miles from the Deadwood Trailhead. We followed FR 214 for another 9.6 miles before arriving at the upper Deadwood Trailhead (again unmarked) at Cedar Flat Tank. The spot is marked by a large corral with a huge, now unused, loading chute constructed of large timbers set on concrete footings. The old chute has apparently been replaced by a nearby portable metal chute.

Although not marked as such, the Deadwood Trail was easy to find with our plotted GPS track; it starts at FR 214 on the northeast side of Spring Creek. As we set out across the flat we were at an elevation of almost 5800 feet and we had clear views of the mountains all around us. Especially prominent were the San Francisco Peaks to the north and the Black Hills to the west. The area is open and grass covered, except for the eponymous, widely scattered cedars.

We saw several clumps of closely growing cedar trees located on top of the surrounding low hills. The clumps were similar to those, of other species of tree, I have seen growing in tropical environments such as the Philippines and Borneo. In particular, I remember standing on the catwalk of the USS Thetis Bay Flight Deck while anchored off the coast of Borneo at Kota Belud in 1959. We were landing Marines in the jungle as part of SEATO operation, Saddle Up and, while observing helicopter operations, I noted an otherwise bare hill with trees growing in a clump very much like the clumps of cedars we saw on the hills in Cedar Flat.

We noted that the old road (FR 9201J) we were following, did not correspond very well with the track (copper colored on the map below) I had plotted from an old USGS overlay in Google Earth. When we stopped for a snack at about 1130 at a fork in the road, I could see on the GPS just how great this variation between the track and the road was. Thus it didn't bother me at all when, having taken the fork leading north after our snack, we again departed from the GPS track. I thought it was just another temporary deviation. In retrospect, we should have taken the left fork, leaving both the road we were on and the GPS track in favor of what I have since determined is actually FR 9201J, the green line on the map below.

Upper section of Deadwood Trail, showing trail details and deviations

So it was that we blithely continued on our way, leaving the GPS track and continuing on until we eventually joined Long Canyon Trail. We at first thought it might be Deadwood Trail. Actually, we only recognized it as a trail because of a series of neat, wire-bound cairns lining what would have been the path had there been one. Other than the cairns and an occasional sign bearing the number 63, there was no indication that anyone had ever hiked that way. I was pretty sure that Deadwood Trail was not numbered at all, but we were at least traveling parallel to my plotted GPS track and I knew that we would always be able to intersect it by traveling directly south.

We continued following the cairns until we reached Long Canyon Tank, at which time, it appeared that we were in danger of traveling too far down the north side of Deadwood Draw, the opposite side from the GPS track, so we headed directly south, traveling across country. We did have to cross Deadwood Draw, but we were soon back on the track as shown on the map (above). The below map shows the profile of our detour, including the 225 foot climb down into and back up the other side of the draw.

Profile of the major deviation we made from our plotted GPS track

After rejoining the plotted track and traveling west (slightly north) for about 0.6 miles we came to a fork in the road where another road branched off at an acute angle to the southeast. Later, I determined that that road was the actual trail, or at least was FR 9201J which we were attempting to follow as Deadwood Trail. It is the way we would have come had we taken the other fork where we stopped for a snack. See the point on the included maps labeled (snack at fork).

Another 0.4 miles brought us to a sharp turn where the trail headed almost directly south and descended sharply, dropping some 600 feet in 0.6 miles. The old road we were following was, in addition to being very steep, covered with loose rocks, making each step a perilous adventure. This was without doubt the hardest part of the hike.

About half way down this difficult section of trail, I discovered that I had lost my camera. I think that the strap probably snagged on a bramble while we were crossing Deadwood Draw. In any case, I wasn't about to return back up that steep, rocky road to look for it.

The below map (below) shows the GPS track of our hike in red, the plotted GPS track in copper and the short section of FR 9201J that we should have taken in green.

We might want to schedule an in-and-out Skyliner hike sometime in the future on the upper part of the trail, starting at Cedar Flat Tank and returning there.

We hiked 9.6 miles (from Cedar Flat to 0.8 miles short of the lower end of Deadwood at FR 618), 1.2 miles of this being due to our deviation to and on Long Canyon Trail. According to my GPS the total descent the way we hiked was 2193 feet and the highest elevation was 5780 feet.

Powerline Trail via FR 338 and Bug Hollow

The first time I hiked in this area was as part a group led by since deceased, long-time hiker, Ernie Hill, who was gathering data to restore an old trail. We started at the upper trailhead of what is now Trail 548 (Bug Hollow) and followed an old mining road past its present-day junction with Trail 549 (Powerline). Currently, information on the National Forest website indicates that Trail 548 still ends here¹⁷. However, that entry provided its condition in 2010 and said that plans existed to restore the section leading down the mountain to FR 338. The old Juniper shown below, standing at the edge of a meadow, marked the 2010 end of the trail.

Old juniper at meadow where Trail 548 (Bug Hollow) ended in 2010

Trail 548 now leaves the old road just before the juniper when hiking from the upper trailhead and leads past the tree, through the meadow and down the mountain to join with Forest Road 338 in Mescal Gulch, the start of our hike today. It is now clear, well-marked and easy to follow all the way. It even has a trailhead sign posted at FR 338.

On that years ago hike led by Ernie Hill, on the other hand, we saw no sign of the trail leading down the mountain to FR 338; it was that grown over. We did pause to take a quick look at what we then thought was just an old side road leading to the meadow, but is now clearly marked as Trail 548. The road we continued on was that now shown as Trail 549 (leaning sign near center) in the below picture. This, now clearly-marked, junction is shown below.

Road to left is Trail 548; road to right is Trail 549, both are now clearly marked

Having recently hiked all of the other trails in this immediate area, six members of our group set out on 16 November 2013 to hike on Powerline Trail. We would access the trail by following Trail 548 from its lower trailhead at FR 338 in Mescal Gulch. The day was chilly, a sharp wind was blowing, clouds were rushing across the mountain and it looked like rain at any moment. Nevertheless, we checked our ponchos, bundled our scarves around our necks and proceeded on our way.

Taking two 4-wheel drive vehicles we drove through Jerome and continued up the mountain on 89A to Mescal Gulch There we turned down the gulch on Forest Road 338. From 89A we drove approximately 0.3 miles down the forest road to to reach the lower Bug Hollow Trailhead (right). The sign is located on the right side of the forest road. The trail, seen to the right of the sign, follows along an old road, at first at a very gentle ascent. Soon, however, it started climbing at a fairly steep angle. Eventually it did level out a bit for a short distance, but then the trail left the old road and made another steep climb up the hill to the open meadow where the old juniper tree stands.

This photograph (left) shows a hiker making her way up the last section of trail below the meadow.

Upon reaching the meadow we found that the trail cut a quite distinct path, marked by cairns along the way, across it and on past the old juniper to the junction (photo shown at beginning of report) with Trail 549.

Surprisingly, several late season flowers were still hanging on. The cliffrose shrub and the thistle shown below were found along a sunny stretch of trail below the meadow.

Cliffrose

Thistle

Above the meadow, along Trail 549, we found additional examples of late blooming flowers, specifically several clumps of Rocky Mountain aster (right). Someone noted that we had recently had a good rain followed by several warm days and we decided the flowers were confused and thought it was spring already.

The trail, following an old mining road, was now leading gradually uphill and we soon entered a forested section and then, about 0.3 miles from the junction with Trail 548, came to sharp bend in the road. There appeared to have been some fairly extensive excavation at the area with a large flat space created at the bend. We did not see any mine tailings; however, we did note an orange-colored pipe (left) protruding from the ground. The notation R-31 was inscribed on the surface of the pipe by weld bead. We were not really sure whether it was a claim boundary marker or a vent for an abandoned underground mine.

From the sharp bend, the trail climbed fairly steeply for a distance and then followed closely along the 7,000 foot level along the contour of Mingus Mountain, dipping into and out of washes along the way.

But the hiking now became a little more difficult. We were still following along the old mining road, and would do so until the end of the trail. However, there were now fallen rocks in the trail, a lot of undergrowth in the old road bed and many fallen trees to navigate around. In a few cases the fallen trees and undergrowth constituted such barriers that some of our party considered turning back. But we all decided we had come too far to turn back this near the end.

We saw another orange-colored pipe further along the trail, this one inscribed with the notation R-30. Then still another, larger, pipe with a hinged lid on top, along with a smaller, rusted open pipe and a rod imbedded in a rock. We really couldn't discern the purpose of any of the objects. The only one we could be sure was not some sort of vent was the imbedded rod. These are all shown below.

Pipe inscribed R-30

Larger pipe with hinged top

Smaller, rusted open pipe

Rod imbedded in rock

Meanwhile, all along the way, we had great views farther afield. Woodchute Mountain was visible to the north and Verde Valley, dappled by the fast moving, ever-changing clouds was spread out below us. Closer in we noted a large, ancient fir tree growing at the shoulder of the road and wondered how it had escaped the lumbermen.

Ancient fir tree growing alongside the old road our trail followed

The view across Verde Valley is shown below. The clouds, impelled by the fast blowing wind, were moving swiftly across the sky creating an ever-changing mosaic of shadows on the hills below.

Looking out at Verde Valley from Trail 549 high on Mingus Mountain

The trail dropped about 200 feet during the last 0.2 miles. The old rock strewn, undergrowth choked, mining road that had been crisscrossed by dead, fallen trees for some distance cleared up a bit and then ended at the bottom of a draw. The old road's end ( as well as the end of our trail) was emphasized by the dead trunk of an enormous old tree that had fallen across it long ago.

Just on the other side of the old rotting trunk is a grass-covered open space, just big enough to let in a spot of sun. It makes a great place for a lunch stop and we availed ourselves of the opportunity. But it was still pretty chilly and we didn't linger after eating, pausing just long enough to pose for a group photograph while we were still at the end of the trail.

Left to right: Ruth Frazier, Frank Lombardo, Daisy Williams, Betty Wolters 

and the author – photograph by Name Withheld

Knowing that Trail 105, running from FR 338 to the top of Mingus, was not far below us, I suggested that we hike downhill from the end of Trail 549 and connect with it for the trip back to where we were parked. I had been that way several times before and it seemed shorter to me. Indeed, measured later it did turn out to be slightly shorter, 2.8 miles as opposed to 3.1 miles the way we had come.

Unfortunately, on the way down the mountain, I managed to miss Trail 105 when we crossed it. There were fresh-fallen leaves and it looked to be no more than just another game trail. This resulted in us wandering in the wilderness, so to speak, like Moses in the Sinai. Luckily, we didn't spend 40 years in our wilderness, just an hour and twenty six minutes. The extra distance was only half a mile, but I do have to admit that it was the toughest half mile of the hike.

After returning to Trail 105, the hiking was easy. The trail, despite our having missed it at first, is generally easy to follow and along this section varies little in elevation. We soon reached its end at FR 338 and then followed that route all the way back to our vehicles, waiting at the Trail 548 Trailhead. As we neared the end of our hike we passed a small cemetery on the left. It contains only three graves, one appearing to be that of a child and the others adults. The smaller grave had a marker made of a slab of stone with the figures 1901 inscribed on it. Other than uninscribed wooden markers of obviously more recent vintage, there were no other markers.

Three graves at an old cemetery

The small sandstone (right) with 1901 carved on it appears at the head of the middle grave. I moved it to take the photograph, then replaced it. There is an old mine shaft just across FR 338 from the site and I wondered whether the people buried there might have been a mining family. Or, perhaps they were ranchers running cattle in Mescal Gulch.

Continuing along the forest road, we came to the collector tank located at Mescal Spring and noted that it was now, unlike at earlier visits, bone dry. I climbed up behind the tank to investigate and found that the tunnel from which the spring previously ran is now completely blocked off (left) in the same manner as many old mine tunnels in the area. Perhaps it was once an old mine itself and has been blocked as part of some mine mitigation project. In any case, there is no longer any water flowing from it.

We were soon back at our vehicles. It had been a tiring seven-hour hike and we were ready to go home.

I had used a GPS track from another source to plan the hike and came up with a wildly excessive estimate of 10.6 miles for the round trip. I have since reexamined that track and still cannot determine what is wrong with it. As it were, my GPS-recorded distance turned out to be just 6.2 miles had we returned by the route we came. With the extra 0.5 mile detour caused by difficulty in finding Trail 105 coupled with the otherwise shorter distance the way we returned, we actually hiked 6.4 miles. Our highest elevation was 7007 feet and the elevation difference was 971 feet. But, considering all the ups and downs along the way, we really climbed a total of 1320 feet.

Our route is shown in red on the included map, except that the extra half mile is shown in blue.

17 http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/prescott/recreation/fishing/recarea/?recid=67441&actid=50   

Up Gaddes Canyon and on to FR 413

Six Skyliners set out on 9 November 2013 with the intention of hiking the 2.6 mile Gaddes Canyon Trail #110 from the trailhead on Forest Road 413 near Burnt Tank to the trailhead at FR 104D near the Mingus Mountain Fire Tower. Both Lila and I had hiked the trail in the past; the other hikers, although having hiked fairly often in Gaddes Canyon had never before hiked Gaddes Canyon Trail #110, which merely runs across the canyon at Gaddes Spring. Most people mistakenly assume that Gaddes Canyon Trail runs up and down the canyon and this leads to much confusion.

Another trail, number 9037, does run from the end of Black Canyon Trail in lower Gaddes Canyon up the canyon itself to connect with Gaddes Canyon Trail where that trail crosses the canyon. Some maps label the lower section of Trail 9037 as Gaddes 2. Then, adding even more confusion, another short section of trail on top of Mingus, shown starting from a point on the Forest Road between the south towers and the old heliport and passing to the north and west of Dry Lakes Tank to end at the rim of Gaddes Canyon, is also labeled Gaddes 2. Perhaps these two sections were once connected?

The normal Skyliner hike in Gaddes Canyon, referred to as the Coleman-Gaddes Loop hike, consists of hiking from FR 413 at the Black Canyon Trailhead up the Canyon on Trail 9037/Gaddes 2 to the junction with a faint trail that angles up the east canyon wall to connect with Forest Road 104 near Dry Lake Tank. From there we take Coleman Trail back down the mountain to connect with FR 413 about 0.5 miles north of the starting point, thus forming a loop. Sometimes, for variety, we hike this loop in the opposite direction, by hiking up Coleman Trail and returning by way of Gaddes Canyon. In either case, that leaves almost a mile of Trail 9037 in Gaddes Canyon that most of our hikers had never been on.

After a bit of discussion, we decided to abandon our original plan to hike from the Gaddes canyon Trailhead on FR 413 near Burnt Tank to the Mingus Fire Tower and return entirely on Gaddes Canyon Trail #110. We would instead leave one vehicle near Burnt Tank and take the other further along FR 413 to the Trail 9037/Gaddes 2 Trailhead. We would then hike up the canyon to connect with Trail 110 and follow it back to Burnt Tank, foregoing the trip on to the firetower.

The following photograph was taken where Trail 9037 starts at FR 413 in lower Gaddes Canyon.

Left to right: Daisy Williams, Lila Wright, Collene Maktenieks, Ruth Frazier 

and Betty Wolters – Trail 9037 begins behind Daisy; FR 413 is to the right 

of Betty

The last time I hiked this way was just after a rain in July 2011 and the vegetation was then lush and green. It was now November and the area has apparently been pastured heavily since then. The leaves have fallen for the year and cattle have eaten much of the smaller vegetation that we saw in 2011. The trail itself was clear except for several trees that have fallen across it and the hiking was easier this time.

With the leaves having fallen from the deciduous trees, we had relatively clear views of both sides of Gaddes as we made our way up the dry streambed, crossing and recrossing it several times along the way. The two photographs below show the canyon walls. At left is shown the south side of the canyon, actually it is the southwest side for we were traveling northwest for the the first 1.5 miles before the canyon made a turn and heads almost directly north. The photographs below show, respectively, the south and north sides of the canyon .

South side of Gaddes Canyon

Shown below are the hikers making their way up the gently-sloping trail. Note, in the foreground, the fallen tree that has not yet been cleared from the trail.

Streambed (left), fallen tree (bottom center) and hikers on trail ahead 

(center left)

About 1.5 miles from from the trailhead where we started our hike, at the point where the canyon turns to the north, a very faint trail leads off to the right, running across the streambed and through an opening created by cutting a section from the trunk of a large, fallen ponderosa (right). Note the rock cairn built atop the end of the fallen tree trunk. It marks the way. This faint trail comes out at Dry Lake Tank atop Mingus and is the route we normally take to hike what we call the Gaddes Canyon-Coleman Trail Loop.

Today, however, we had other plans and continued on up Trail 9037. As already noted, none of the other hikers had hiked the 0.9 mile section of trail between here and the junction with Trail 110 (Gaddes Canyon Trail) at Gaddes Spring before, so this short section along with Trail 110 would be a new experience for them.

We had started to see bear scat and cowpies shortly after beginning our hike and this continued all the way to the junction with Trail 110. The cowpies were pretty well dried out, indicating that the cattle had been moved to lower country some weeks ago; some of the bear scat, however, appeared to be no more than a few days old.

We joined Gaddes Canyon Trail at the bottom of the canyon. From here, we could turn right, follow the trail on past Gaddes Spring and up the east rim of the canyon to the top of Mingus where it ends at FR 104D just below the firetower. The distance would be something over half a mile. However, we were parked in the other direction, so we turned sharply southeast and climbed the west rim of the canyon to follow the trail back to the trailhead on FR 413 near Burnt Tank.

The climb out of the canyon on this side is surprisingly gentle, sloping diagonally up the canyon wall to join a fire road at the rim. As we neared the rim, we could look back over our shoulders and see the firetower at the other end of the trail in the distance. The tower can be seen, between the tree branches, in the very center of the photograph (left).

The fire road we joined at the rim of the canyon turned out to be the firebreak at the edge of a prescribed burn conducted by the Forest Service from November 1 through November 4. We noted a few smoldering embers along the way, but there was not enough smoke to bother us. In fact, we stopped right in the burn area to eat lunch, having found a good spot on a sunny slope with an excellent view across Prescott Valley.

Lila eating lunch and enjoying the view of the mountains beyond 

Prescott Valley

After following the fire road along the rim for perhaps half a mile, our trail left it to make its way down the mountain to the trailhead at FR 413 about 700 feet lower.

There are a few rather steep places in this section of trail, but it is generally well-engineered with several switchbacks making the way easier.

At the trailhead, the Forest Service had posted a sign (right) saying that the trail was closed due to the prescribed burn that had ended five days earlier.

That seemed rather odd as the trail appears to have been closed in only one direction; we saw no closure sign when we approached the burn area from the other side. Possibly, the closure had been lifted earlier and this sign was just forgotten.

On the included map (next page), our track is shown in red. The track up Gaddes Canyon to Trail 110 follows Trail 9037. Trail 110 from the junction with 9037 is also shown in red as it is part of today's hike. The remainder of Trail 110 is shown in blue. The faint trail that leads out of the canyon at Dry Lake Tank is shown in yellow and the short section of trail on top of Mingus that I have referred to as Gaddes 2 is shown in magenta. The lower section of trail, running part way up the canyon and also referred to as Gaddes 2 is not shown separately, but its start point is coincident with Trailhead 9037 and its end point is shown.

My GPS recorded the hike distance as 4.3 miles, the elevation change as 1449 feet and the highest elevation as 7486 feet. For reference, the elevation at Mingus Firetower is just over 7700 feet and the hang glider launching pad on Mingus is about 7800 feet.