Fossil Springs Trail

Eleven Skyliners (Daisy Williams, Donna Goodman, Gordon Bice, Anita Jackson, Miriam Sterling, Betty Wolters, Dolly Yapp, Ellis Price and three others) hiked on Fossil Springs Trail on April 17, 2010. From Cottonwood we followed Hwy 260 through Camp Verde and turned on Fossil Creek Road.

The trail descends rapidly to Fossil Springs. There are some areas where loose rock makes the going a bit tricky but, for the most part, the going was easy except for being a bit steep.

We moved right along on the way down to Fossil Creek, stopping occasionally to rest for a few minutes and once for a snack break. I again volunteered to be the tailgater and no one objected. Thus when one hiker forgot his walking stick and had to return for it, I had the luxury of a quick nap while waiting for him. Of course, there was no real reason to wait, as he was an experienced hiker and I knew where he was. But no one ever accused me of overlooking an excuse to take a nap.

Tailgater diligently carrying out his duties

There were not many flowers in bloom along the trail, so I amused myself by taking pictures of some of the more familiar features along Arizona trails. For instance Broom Snakeweed, a grass that grows all along back roads and trails in the area, dies down from the top in the winter and then sprouts out again from low on the stems in the spring. In the picture here (right), you can see both the old stems and the new growth.

I also noted a large clump of mistletoe (left), another common plant in the area, which had almost drained the life from its small host tree. That greedy fellow can’t have much longer to live.

Just about 3.3 miles, measured in Google Earth, from the trailhead we arrived at a fence with a walk-through pedestrian gate. We were still about two-tenths of a mile from where the trail crosses Fossil Creek and leads down the other side to the camping areas, Fossil Springs and the old dam site where the flume to a now decommissioned hydro plant originated.

Walk-through pedestrian gate about two-tenths of a mile from Fossil Creek

(3.3 miles from the trailhead) 

We made a couple of wrong turns after crossing the creek and starting down the opposite side and a couple of our hikers turned back to wait at the stream crossing. Soon enough, however, we did manage to select the correct trail and arrived at the old dam site just before lunchtime. The dam was recently demolished when the hydroelectric station it served was removed from service and the stream restored to its natural state. Left behind are a nice waterfall at the old site and a stand of irises that must have been planted originally by a caretaker.

Waterfall at the old dam site

Irises left behind at the old dam site on Fossil Creek

After we walked around looking for artifacts that might have been left behind when the dam was demolished and exploring the waterfall up close, we settled down for lunch. Most of the group decided to sit on rocks beside the stream and gaze at the water while eating. I, on the other hand, choose to retreat a bit up the trail to a nice shady spot in the grass, still close enough to enjoy the sound of the stream and asked that they alert me when they were ready to go.

After eating my sandwich and half a grapefruit and enjoying a cup of hot tea, I settled down for a nap, using my pack for a pillow. My jacket served as a cushion and my thermos and walking stick were at my side. To make sure that no one could play a prank on me by taking my thermos or walking stick while I was asleep, I carefully splayed my right arm across the thermos and placed my hand on the stick. Feeling quite safe, I drifted peacefully off into dreamland thinking of what a great job the caretaker must have had. Isolated as he would have been from his boss and with the flowing stream singing him a constant lullaby.

Sometime later, I awakened to the sensation of something tickling my right hand and thought: “I was right. One of my companions is trying to filch my stick to see whether I will remember it.” After all, it would be quite a prank to ask me about half a mile up the trail where my stick had gone. Thinking to catch the culprit in the act, I carefully opened one eye and glanced down only to see the yellow and black strips of a Bull Snake (body of snake shown, right) as it slithered gracefully across my hand. I thought, “This is not good.”

Then I carefully opened my other eye and saw the snake’s head sliding past my right ear (head of snake shown, left). Although uncomfortably close, he didn’t seem to be terribly interested in me, so I just lay quietly until his tail passed my line of vision before gabbing my camera to take a picture.

Not seeing any other snakes in the area, I figured my spot was still as good as any other, so I continued my nap. When the rest of the group stopped to roust me from sleep on the way out, I showed them my snake pictures and was reassured that it was indeed a Bull snake rather than a more dangerous variety. One hiker, always looking on the bright side, pointed out that Bull snakes love rodents and that since it had obviously examined me up close on the way by and turned me down, I definitely was not a rat … no matter what all my friends said.

Miriam and Betty, having tired of the false turns we had taken while making our way downstream to the old dam site before lunch, had turned back to eat at the crossing and wait for us there. As we traveled back upstream, we passed a clear spring bubbling out of the mountainside just below the trail and spilling into the creek below. Our leader stopped and refilled her water bottle there. I guess that if she makes the scheduled hike next Saturday, we can safely assume the water was safe to drink. As we continued on to meet Betty and Miriam at the crossing, I noted a few flowers that I had overlooked on the way in. Since flowers had proven to be rather sparse so far during this hike, I lingered behind and photographed them.

 

Purple mustard or crossflower                              Scarlet hedgehog  cactus

(Chorispora tenella)

 Golden linanthus                                                     Streambank springbeauty  

Rattlesnake Weed                                                     Purple milkvetch 

We crossed the creek, passed back through the walk-through personnel gate and started the arduous climb back to the trailhead. A quick look at my GPS file shows that elevation difference between the lowest and highest points on this hike was about 1380 feet. The total ascent was about 1780, meaning that we added another 400 feet in climbing up and down interim gradients along the way. You could have fooled me; it seemed to me that every step from the creek to the trailhead was uphill. Nevertheless, we just took our time and still got back to the trailhead before sundown. An additional benefit of going slow on the way back up the trail was that I had plenty of time to look around at the scenery and take additional photographs. Some of these are presented following:

Blackfoot Daisy                                                       Desert Hyacinth

Fernleaf biscuitroot                                              Palmer (Dunn) Oak 

The following photograph, taken at the end of the hike, shows the canyon we have just climbed out of.

A final shot back over Fossil Creek Canyon as the sun was setting

My best estimate is that our hike was about 8.5 miles, except for the hiker who forgot his walking stick and had to retrace his steps. As I noted previously, the elevation difference between the lowest and highest points of the hike was about 1380 feet and the total ascent was about 1780 feet. Our GPS track is shown on the included map (below).

NOTE: A better route to the trailhead, assuming the road between Strawberry and the Fossil Creek Trailhead is open, would be to continue on Hwy 260 to Strawberry and turn right on Strawberry Road and then immediately left on Fossil Creek Road. From Strawberry, it is only about 4.75 miles to the Fossil Springs Trailhead, partly on a paved road. We followed that route on the way home. From this hike.