Mooney Trail

Because this trail is steep and rocky in for a large part of the way, we split it into two different sections. We hiked the lower part on 29 January 2011 and the upper part on 2 April 2011. Both hikes are combined for this report.

On 29 January, fifteen Skyliners (Miriam Sterling, Jim Manning, Marvin Alt, Jan PreFontaine, Linda Tovar, John MacInerney, Dolly Yapp, George Everman, Kwi Johnson, Daisy Williams, Lila Wright, Donna Goodman, Colleen Maktenieks, Ellis Price and one other) hiked the lower section, that is the part of the trail running from FR 525C at Black Tank to the entrance of the Red Rock Wilderness Area, located about three-tenths of a mile southeast of Sebra Tank. This entire section of the trail can be traversed by four-wheel drive vehicles, although extreme care is advised in a couple of spots. Our plan way was to drive to the Wilderness Boundary of this hike at a later date and hike the rest of the trail from there.

We left Cottonwood traveling north on Hwy 89A, turned left onto Forest Road 525 at the Sedona Water Treatment facility (just past mile marker 364) and followed FR 525 for two and eight-tenths miles before turning left onto FR 525C. On FR 525C (Sycamore Pass Road) we drove five and seven-tenths miles before turning right onto FR 9551 at Black Tank. We parked there and started our hike.

We stopped for lunch at the Red Rock Wilderness boundary. Several members of the group asked me where Sebra Tank was located and I was not sure of the exact location at the time. Since then I have checked the map; it is located about three tenths of a mile northwest of where we ate lunch.

My GPS read 6.13 miles when we returned to the vehicles. However, I made a couple of small side trips and when I removed those from the file in my computer, I found that the round trip hike was 5.8 miles and the elevation change was just 445 feet. I think everyone found it a nice break after last week's nine-mile, 2000-foot climb we did on the slopes of Mingus.

We returned to finish hiking Mooney Trail on 2 April 2011. Our party of thirteen, traveling in four-wheel drive vehicles, drove up the trail lower part of the trail (the portion we had hiked on 29 January) to the wilderness boundary near Sebra Tank.

We thought we had made the drive without mishap. But later learned that Gordon’s jeep lost a shim (or spacer) just as we were approaching the parking area. The spacer sits between the rear axle and the spring assembly, holding the axle in place.

Parking at the wilderness boundary, we set out along the trail up Mooney Canyon. We were parked on a ridge and at first the trail angled down the ridge coming ever closer to Spring Creek, mostly dry at the time, which runs down the canyon. To our right, across the mouth of Lincoln Canyon, we could see Loy Butte. The wash that carries Spring Creek toward its junction with Oak Creek near Cornville was visible below. After reaching Spring Creek the trail continues up the canyon, crossing the creek a number of times times, and we did see water at several locations in the bed of the creek. The trail at first ascends gently up the canyon and, although it was a bit rocky in spots, the going is generally easy for the first 2.5 miles or so. It then becomes steep and is strewn with loose rocks, requiring care to avoid a twisted ankle or a fall.

About two miles from where we parked, and about half a mile short of the start of the steep portion of the trail, we came to a generally flat rock ledge, over which Spring Creek flows digging a deep streambed below. We stopped there for a snack and a short rest before heading on up the trail. It is a natural stopping spot, lying as it does about halfway between the wilderness boundary and the end of Mooney Trail atop Casner Mountain. Everyone settled down for a rest except Daisy who spent the time wandering around taking pictures.

Hikers paused for rest and a snack. Daisy is still wandering 

around taking pictures.

About half a mile on up the canyon from our rest stop the trail became quite steep and was strewn with loose rocks. The next seven tenths of a mile was a tedious and unrelenting climb, with an elevation gain of almost 600 feet, over the loose rocks that littered the trail. Great care was required to avoid turning an ankle or tripping and falling. The below pictures, taken during a December 2010 hike, show the condition of this section of the trail.

On Mooney Trail 12

On Mooney Trail 12

The worst part of the trail ended about one mile from the top of Casner Mountain. From that point on the climb was gentler, with an elevation change of only around 400 feet, and loose rocks were not as prevalent.

Mooney Trail ends at Taylor Cabin Trail 35 just after passing under the power line to Sycamore Substation on top of Casner Mountain. Having reached our goal, we settled down on the slope overlooking Sycamore Canyon for lunch … and my nap, of course.

After lunch the party gathered for a group photograph with a large white rock formation in Sycamore Canyon as a background. From snatches of conversation overheard as I was drifting in and out of consciousness during my noon nap, I think the rest of the party spend much of our lunch break discussing various possible names for that formation.

Left to right (standing): Lila Wright, John McInerney, Linda Tovar, Kwi 

Johnson, Collene Maktenieks, Name Withheld, Fran Lind, Daisy Williams, 

Gordon Bice and David Beach; (seated/crouching): Dolly Yapp and 

Jan PreFontaine.

On the way back down the trail we stopped once again for a brief rest at the rock ledge where we had eaten our morning snack, and then continued to our cars at the wilderness boundary. We doffed our packs, climbed into our vehicles and were off for cottonwood.

Unfortunately, the loss of the shim in Gordon’s jeep soon manifested itself. Just as he approached the most perilous section of the road, the axle in his vehicle, no longer restrained by the shim, moved to the rear, locking his left rear wheel. The first vehicle was long gone with no idea that anyone had a problem. However, two of us were behind Gordon and stopped to assist. We attempted temporary repairs, jacking the axle back into place using a screw jack and tightening the clamp holding the axle to the spring assemble. However, it soon slipped again and we decided to leave the vehicle for retrieval the next day.

Gordon and I duly returned the next day with tools and equipment. Gordon had estimated that it take us around four hours to effect the necessary repairs to permit driving the vehicle home. We had also brought picnic lunches because we were determined to make the best of the situation and enjoy ourselves.

On arriving back at the jeep we parked and walked the road back toward the wilderness boundary looking for the missing shim, not finding it until we were almost there. With the shim in hand, repairs were straightforward and we were ready to start back shortly after noon. However, we first paused for our picnic lunch. The day was most pleasant and we found a nice shady spot under a juniper with just a whisper of a breeze to keep us cool. We finished eating and, after some struggle to overcome my desire for a nap in that most pleasant spot, we loaded up our gear and returned home without further incident.

According to my GPS file, the entire Mooney Trail is 7.6 miles one way, the maximum elevation is 6319 feet and the total ascent is 2154 feet. The entire GPS track for Mooney Trail is shown on the included map (below).