Ash Canyon Trail

Seven Skyliners hiked in Ash Canyon on 29 March 2014. We drove south on Hwy 89A to Forest road 104 at the top of Mingus Mountain and followed it for 1.5 miles before turning right onto FR 413. We then followed FR 413 for 2.3 miles before taking a right fork onto FR 132 which we followed for 1.6 miles to the trailhead.

No sign is posted at the trailhead. It is rather marked by two sturdy upright posts (right) and a couple of wire-bound rock bundles to prevent erosion.

We lingered at the trailhead long enough to pose for a group photograph.

Left to right: Collene Maktenieks, Ruth Frazier, Betty Wolters, Daisy Williams,

 George Everman and Lila Wright

The trail leads down into the canyon following what appears to have been on old wagon road. The slope is fairly steep, but the descent to the bottom of the canyon is short, only about 0.2 miles, and the trail is wide and clear with a firm surface and few loose rocks.

The first flowers appeared along this stretch, especially prominent was this (Left) Easter, AKA stemless, daisy, growing right in the trail. The photograph was actually taken on the way back, the plant having bloomed during the day.

When we reached the bottom of the canyon, a descent of less than 100 feet, we found cairns marking the trail as it turned left and led down the canyon. The start of the cairns is easy to miss as the old road bed leads straight ahead, at least for a short distance. We were approximately 0.5 miles due east of Kendall Peak when we turned to follow the trail down the canyon.

Ash Canyon is, as canyons in Arizona go, is rather shallow. Nowhere did we find ourselves in an area where we could not climb out without too much effort. Although there are some places in which the trail climbs fairly steeply to avoid short narrow sections where the stream has cut deeply into the rock.

Soon after we started down the canyon we found a small amount of water, sometimes flowing but often just collected in pools along the way. Looking at the map, it appears that the water must have been from East Ash Spring which is located upstream from where we entered the canyon. Ash Canyon Spring is located about 0.5 miles from where we turned down the canyon and after that we found the stream flow to be a bit stronger. However, it still was sporadic with stretches of dry streambed interspersed by pools and flowing water. This photograph (right) taken by Lila Wright on 6 March 2014 while on a scouting hike, shows a section of the stream at Ash Canyon Spring. The open, essentially grass-free, terrain with thinly-scattered trees seen here was typical of the upper portion of the canyon. Apparently, the pines drop just enough needles, coupled with grazing by cattle during the summer months, to suppress the grass.

The following photograph shows a section of the streambed just below Ash Canyon Spring. The weak streamflow shown here will probably essentially disappear in the summer months, leaving perhaps a few widely scattered pools.

Section of streambed below Ash Canyon Spring

During the 6 March scouting hike, the hikers noted a rather large pool, probably containing water year round, that had a camera mounted nearby and focused on the pool. This camera, labeled Yavapai College #4, was probably part of a wildlife study. In any event, it has since been removed. Lila is shown below looking for the missing camera.

Lila looking for missing Yavapai College camera

About one mile down the canyon we came to Hog Spring and the water flow once again increased.

Hog Spring

Alpine pennycress  

Scrambled eggs

This was a most leisurely hike; we were continually distracted by the spring flowers and numerous colorful rocks, primarily jasper, that we found along the way. The photographs below show alpine pennycress (left) and scrambled eggs (right).

In addition to the above flowers, I found a nice patch of filaree (left) growing near the stream bank.

We noted several areas where the trail was littered with small tips of branches, or twigs, from the pine trees above. I had seen this phenomenon before and had often wondered what caused it. Lila informed me that it is the work of porcupines. A little further research revealed that the porcupine has a specialized pouch in its large intestine that contains bacteria which can break down down the cellulose in wood, enabling it to be digested. Enabled by this adaptation, and armed with four incisors, two above and two below, specially adapted for gnawing, the porcupine consumes as much as a pound of edible cambium, or inner bark, per day. This activity leads to the small twigs we saw littering the ground under coniferous trees. I had previously thought that the twigs might have been broken off by squirrels, or perhaps by some sort of bird.

Eventually, the pines, especially on the east canyon wall, gave way to a mixture of scrub oak and manzanita as shown in the photograph below. Someone told me that it should be called “shrub” oak. However, I looked it up later and found that scrub oak is correctly used to refer to “several species of small, scrubby oaks¹.

Looking at the east canyon wall in Ash Canyon at one point in our hike

Starting at the very beginning of the trail we had noted small jasper rocks. As we continued down

the canyon, we continued to see more of them along with larger specimens. Finally, about 1.7 miles from the trailhead, we came to a large jasper rock (right) embedded in the stream. I heard one hiker refer to it as the “grandmother of jasper.'

Just beyond this point the stream makes a sharp turn, looping back to the north for a short distance before continuing in the south by southeast direction. Because the stream ahead flowed between steep rock walls on both sides and was virtually impassable, we climbed the ridge formed by the loop and descended back into the canyon on the other side. It was a fairly steep climb and descent but it was only a short distance. We were aware that we had been traveling parallel to FR 132 as it made its way to Cherry. Now, from the top of the ridge, we could see the road as it ran along the side of the mountain above us.

Looking at FR 132 from the rim of Ash Canyon at the loop 

(photo by Lila Wright)

The photograph below shows a particularly picturesque spot, located below the loop, at the lower end of a narrow section that we had climbed the canyon wall to bypass.

Picturesque spot below the loop in Ash Canyon

We did not go all the way to the end of Ash Canyon Trail, turning back about 0.2 miles from where the stream in Ash Canyon joins Ash Creek.

At some future date, we plan to park a vehicle near Bottle Ranch then return to the Ash Canyon Trailhead and hike all the way down to Ask Creek Trail and follow it to the Ash Creek/Medlar Spring Trailhead. The total distance is estimated to be 8.5 miles.

On the way back up Ash Canyon, as we were stopped to rest, Lila suddenly cried out “deer” and then, as the rest of the group scanned the hillside looking for a deer, she scrambled up the side of the canyon and picked up the unblemished set of antlers shown below.

Lila holding her antlers – photograph by George Everman

According to my GPS track, measured after I downloaded it to my computer, the round trip hike was 4.7 miles, the trailhead elevation was 6778 feet and the elevation difference was 649 feet.

Our track is shown in red on the included map (below)

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