We
hiked in upper Sycamore Canyon on 17 August 2016. This was an
exploratory hike done to determine the routes' suitability for
inclusion in the regular Skyliner schedule. From the Cottonwood
Safeway Parking Lot we drove 36 miles north on Hwy 89A, turned left
onto Forest Road 535 and drove for 5.6 miles, turned left onto FR 536
and drove 3.6 miles, turned left onto FR 538 and drove 5.5 miles and
then turned right onto FR 538G which we followed for 0.5 miles to
park at the junction with FR 538E. After parking we hiked along FR
538G for 1.5 miles to the upper Kelsey Trailhead, followed Kelsey
Trail for 3.5 miles to the lower Dorsey Trailhead, followed Dorsey
Trail for 2.9 miles to the upper Dorsey Trailhead at the end of FR
538E, and hiked for 0.2 miles along FR 538 to where we were parked.
Note that we were caught by a downpour just at the end of the hike
and our two drivers Jim Manning and Dave Beach hurried ahead to their
cars and drove back to meet us at the upper Dorsey Trailhead where FR
538E ends. Thus, although the entire hike distance was 8.0 miles,
some of us only hiked 7.8 miles.
As
we started our hike at the junction of Forest Roads 538G and 538E we
noted two signs. One pointed to the upper Dorsey Trailhead (below
left) along FR 538E; the other
(below right)
warned us that no camping was allowed near water sources, in this
case Casner Tank.
The
GPS track we were following at this point was created by tracing the
route of FR 538G from a map; it turned out to be only approximately
accurate. However, we had only to follow the road and our track did
begin and end at the correct points. Just before we reached the end
of FR 538G at the Kelsey Trailhead at Sycamore Canyon Wilderness
Area, we passed FR 527A which leads off to the right. Just a short
distance past that intersection we came to the trailhead and the end
of the section of hand-drawn track. From this point on we would be
following GPS tracks made during actual hikes.
Shown
below are the pedestrian gate that marks entry into the wilderness
area and the start of Kelsey Trail (below
left)
and the trailhead sign itself (below
right),
a sign which also notes that Kelsey Trail leads to Little LO Trail.
The trail led us
through a thick ponderosa pine forest, sprinkled with low-growing
oaks, The trail was quite steep at first, descending over a hundred
feet in the first 0.1 miles as it zigzagged its way down the steep
mountain slope. But it then leveled off and descended at a more
gentle slope leading northwest along the mountainside.
The path was
well-defined and we really didn't need a GPS track to stay on course.
However, some members of the hiking group had recently purchased a
new Garmin GPS device and were getting the feel of it. Having
carried one on all of my hikes for several years and having become
almost proficient in its use, I was attempting to demonstrate a
feature on the new instrument when it suddenly went blank. We
attempted for quite some time to revive the device and I was
beginning to think I had broken it when it finally dawned on me that
it might be a battery problem. We changed the batteries and were
back in business.
About 0.5 miles from
the trailhead we came to Kelsey Spring (below
left), a spot marked by a small,
lush meadow. In common with all such water sources in the area, a
sign is posted prohibiting camping within 200 feet. It was while we
were paused here that I unwittingly used the last few electrons from
the GPS battery. We continued to fumble with it for another 0.6
miles before finally changing the batteries when we reached Babes
Hole Spring (below right).
Just another 0.1 miles
past Babes Hole brought us to the junction with Little L O Trail.
This is a short trail that leads for 0.8 miles to Geronimo Spring,
located at the lower end of Little L O Canyon, and then continues for
another 0.2 miles to the site of the old Girdner Homestead. Having
been told of the spring and homestead a few years ago by Leon
Girdner, now of Cornville, who had lived there as a child, we
subsequently hiked to the area in May of last year.
Compared to the May
2015 hike we saw relatively few flowers on this hike. We did note
some asters (below left)
between Babes Hole and the Little L O Trailhead. From this point
Little L O runs northwest down the spine of a ridge to Geronimo
Spring. Kelsey Trail, meanwhile continues straight for a few yards
and then turns southwest toward Dorsey spring. A sturdy sign post
(below right)
carries two signs pointing out the separate trails. It would indeed
be difficult to become lost on this trail, with or without a GPS
track.
Having gone beyond the
turnoff to Geronimo Spring, we were now hiking along a trail that was
new to us. At first we climbed sharply to reach the crest of a ridge
that sloped down into Sycamore Canyon. We then crossed along the
head of a wooded wash and climbed a second ridge. The vegetation
along this section of trail consisted of a sprinkling of ponderosa
pines, oaks and manzanitas. We also saw a few more flowers such as
the delicate sprinkling of deer vetch (below
left) and a lonely firecracker
penstemon (below right).
We stopped on the crest
of this second ridge, about 1.3 miles from the junction with Little L
O Trail, for lunch. We had a great view overlooking Sycamore Canyon.
 |
Overlooking Sycamore Canyon
|
From our lunch spot the
trail descended at a fairly gentle slope and then climbed gently
again to the junction with Dorsey Trail. This was part of the trail
system used by the early ranchers to move cattle between summer
grazing around Flagstaff and winter grazing deep in Sycamore Canyon.
They would have continued along Kelsey Trail to Sycamore Basin below.
We, however, with no cattle to deliver to winter grazing, would turn
up Dorsey Trail to complete our loop hike.
From
our lunch spot we had traveled another 0.8 miles, descending around
200 feet and then ascending about 175 feet to reach the Kelsey/Dorsey
Trail junction. We still had a bit over three miles to go and an
800-foot ascent ahead of us so we stopped for a brief rest and a
group photograph before resuming our journey.
 |
| Left to right: Lila Wright, David Beach, Karl Sink and Jim Manning – photograph by the author |
Before
leaving the Kelsey/Dorsey trail junction, I snapped a shot of the
trail sign (below
left).
Dorsey Spring (below
right)
is located about 160 yards up Dorsey Trail from the junction.
The spring was a
pleasant place with a pool fed by a pipe from further up the slope.
We saw a clump pf irises, perhaps planted by an early settler in
remembrance of a loved one left behind. I can clearly remember that
my mother carried root plants, cuttings and seedlings from one house
to another as we moved from farm to farm in East Tennessee. These,
labeled “Mother,” “Aunt Fannie,” etc, to indicate their
original source, were lovingly tucked in the wagon between chairs and
tables and were replanted at the new location as the first order of
business.
Shortly after leaving
Dorsey Spring we encountered a steep but mercifully short section of
trail. After that the rest of the hike was along a gentle slope.
About 1.1 miles from the lower Dorsey Trailhead we left the
Wilderness at another of those walk through pedestrian fences (below
left) and then, after another 0.5
miles, arrived at the junction with Hog Hill Trail (below
right), a 2.4-mile trail that
skirts Hog Hill and connects with Kelsey Trail at Winter Cabin Spring
near Sycamore Point.
The path at the
wilderness boundary was closed by a single board and a couple of
sticks strung on a strand of barbed wire. It wouldn't have deterred
even the most sickly of cows. On the other hand, we didn't see any
signs of cattle at all during our hike, so I guess it really didn't
matter.
We were caught by a
sudden downpour at the Dorsey/Hog Hill Trail junction. I stopped to
there don my poncho while the others just pushed on. In retrospect,
I should also have just ignored the rain and continued on with them;
by the time I had gotten my poncho on, I was drenched anyway.
The upper Dorsey
Trailhead at FR 538E was only another 0.1 miles ahead and by the time
I arrived there, the drivers had retrieved the cars and were waiting
for me. Already soaked, I paused before entering the car to
photograph the sign at trails end.
 |
The very wet ending of a good hike
|
We
hiked 1.5 miles on FR 538G, 3.4 miles on Kelsey Trail and 2.9 miles
on Dorsey Trail for a total of 7.8 miles. The two drivers hiked an
additional 0.2 miles on FR 538E for a total of 8.0 miles. The
highest elevation was 7015 feet and the total ascent was 1506 feet.
The
red track on the attached map (below) shows our hike
route and the short section of blue track is part of the route we
drove from Hwy 89A to the junction of FR 538G and FR 538E.
