Forest Road 503A on Woodchute

On 3 November 2012, eight Skyliners hiked along the slope of Woodchute Mountain on Forest Road 503A. We traveled through Jerome and continued up the mountain on Hwy 89A for 2.4 miles past the hairpin turn at the fire station in Jerome to leave one car at Walnut Springs, our hiking destination at the lower end of FR 305A.. We then traveled an additional 2.7 miles on up the mountain on Hwy 89A to park at the first hairpin turn above Mescal Gulch. Parking is available on the left side of the road traveling south on 89A as we were. The trail (FR 503A) starts directly across the road from the parking area.

The first section of the hike (about eight-tenths of a mile) was up a canyon on the southeast slope of Woodchute Mountain. We were at the head of Mescal Gulch, but I could not discern from the maps available whether this canyon formed the upper part of Mescal Gulch or was instead a side canyon. On the way up the canyon, we passed two roads turning off to the right. They just led off to the bottom of the canyon and possible campsites. Near the end of our climb up the canyon, a road turned sharply back to the left. We thought this road might lead up the mountain to intersect with Woodchute Trail near Woodchute Tank. Some of the group, including the author, decided to find out and we split into two groups, one group continuing along FR 503A, the other group turning up the side road.

The old road we were following was, for most of the way, in very good condition; however, it shortly forked with a less distinct road leading up the mountain while the main road continued along the slope. Thinking that the road heading up the mountain would be more likely to connect to Woodchute Trail, we took it. Alas, it ended after about a hundred yards and we were forced to turn back and continue on the road running along the slope. By this time I had decided that it must continue along the slope until it intersected with Hwy 89A somewhere above where we had parked. No such luck. After about another half-mile, the road became rough and rocky and then abruptly ended at a capped pipe set in concrete. We turned back to join the others, having added two miles to our hike.

I took the following photograph of clouds hovering over the San Francisco Peaks as we were returning from our unproductive side trip.

A layer of clouds hovering over the San Francisco Peaks (right of center). 

Left to right are seen; Humphreys, Agassiz, Fremont and Doyle. Rees 

Peak can barely be seen just over the left shoulder of Fremont; Abineau 

is entirely hidden behind Agassiz. Kendrick Mountain can be seen 

at the left through an opening in the trees

When we reached the point where we had separated from the rest of the group, we contacted them by cellphone to let them know that we were back on the regular trail; they were waiting for us in a sunny spot at the crest of the next hill, and we hurried along to catch up with them.

When we were all together again, we paused for a few minutes for a snack break and then gathered for a group photograph before pushing on.

Left to right: Beverly Sass, Daisy Williams, Becky Fowsky, David Beach, the 

author, Donna Goodman and Jim Manning 

– photograph by the eighth hiker with the authors camera

This section of the road is clearly visible from Woodchute Trail, high atop Woodchute Mountain, and a now-deceased hike leader once pointed it out to me when we were hiking on Woodchute and told me that this road was once part of the main road between Jerome and Prescott.

From where we took the group photograph, the road we were following headed downhill at a pretty good slope, becoming badly rutted and quite rocky for a short distance. Nevertheless, it would still be easily navigable with high-clearance, 4-wheel drive vehicles.

The rough section was soon behind us and we were once again on a fairly level road with a good hiking surface. As we continued on, we met a couple out deer hunting. They indicated that they had encountered no deer but had seen a lot of bear sign. As for ourselves, we saw one hawk cruising gracefully overhead, apparently out for a late breakfast, and shared the trail with a large tarantula (see photograph at right).

Looking off to our right, we could see the road we were following as it wound its way down the mountain (top center) to where our car was parked at Walnut Springs. Hwy 89A (lower right to center) is also visible.

Our road is visible on the mountain ahead 

– Jerome is just over the mountain

Looking ahead across a deep bend in the road, I could see a section where a lot of work had been done to shore up the road where it crossed a wash (see photograph at left). This would seem to lend credence to the theory that it was once the main road to Prescott.

Soon enough we were at the start of the section of the road that leads down the mountain to rejoin Hwy 89A at Walnut Springs. This section is pretty steep and has a lot of loose rock, making it imperative that one step carefully. Nevertheless, we made good time and were soon at the end of our hike.

The GPS track for this hike is shown on the included map (below) shows the basic hike in red. According to my track that was 5.4 miles. The section in blue shows the additional two miles hiked by those of us who took the road up the mountain searching for Woodchute Trail. The magenta line shows the 2.7 miles along Hwy 89A between the two ends of the trail.

The maximum elevation for this hike was 6715 feet and the total ascent was 1232 feet.

Schoolmarm Trail on Mingus

The only background information I have on what I am calling Schoolmarm Trail came from a now-deceased leader of the Cottonwood Skyliners hiking group. According to her the trail was built for the use of a teacher who rode a mule up and down the trail to teach the children of miners. That would imply, of course, that miners' families were living in the vicinity of the Copper Chief/Iron King Mines on the slope of Mingus. It would also seem to imply that Schoolmarm was constructed before Trail 106 which runs from the overlook at the Mingus Mountain Campground to Allen Spring Road, just above Iron King Mine.

We drove up Mingus on FR 493 and parked on the ridge between Iron King and Copper Chief Mines, just at the intersection of FR 493 with an old jeep road that runs south from there and joins Allen Spring Road 0.3 miles north of Allen Spring.

Eight Skyliners participated in this hike; seven are identified in the below photograph, the eighth hiker, choosing to remain unidentified, used my camera to take the photograph.

Left to right: Anita Jackson, Daisy Williams, Lila Wright, the author, 

Frank Lombardo, Donna Davis and Betty Wolters

– photograph with author's camera

Leaving the parking area, we headed down the old jeep road, paused briefly at the Grand Island Mine site, described as a “former underground Cu-Au mine on 14 claims.”¹

After briefly examining the old mine shaft, we continued on our way along the jeep trail, soon arriving at the turnoff to the crossover trail that would take us to Allen Spring Road (FR 413). I call this crossover trail Schoolmarm Extended, as I normally use it when hiking Schoolmarm. The turnoff is located 0.57 miles from FR 493 where we were parked and was marked by a dead tree the last time I hiked Schoolmarm four and a half years ago. The tree has now fallen and only a rotting piece of it remains (right).

The trail, always faint at best, had been subtly modified by animals and hikers who had made diverging paths along the way and I had to refer to an old track on my GPS to keep us on course. We did, however, emerge in good order at the expected point on Allen Spring Road, about 0.3 miles from the beginning of Schoolmarm Trail.

When we arrived at the Schoolmarm Trailhead, located at a sharp bend in the road where the piping from Twin Springs ties into the Jerome waterline, I left the rest of the group waiting at the trailhead and continued south on Allen Spring Road for about 150 yards to verify that the faucet located in the waterline at Copper Chief Spring was still operable. I am planning an overnight camping trip that will involve hiking from Quail Springs Ranch Road to this area and camping overnight before returning home. The spigot was still in place and working, so I will not have to carry a lot of water.

The following photograph, displaying colorful maples and the greenish-yellow of Arizona walnut trees, was taken on Allen Spring Road between Copper Chief Spring and Twin springs.

Maples and Arizona walnuts sporting fall colors along Allen Spring Road

We found the lower end of Schoolmarm to be a little difficult to follow. Small maples have overgrown the trail and the combination of fallen leaves with those still clinging to the two-to-three-foot high trees combined to completely hide the trail in spots. Nevertheless, wrong turns soon became apparent, and there was little chance of going seriously wrong.

The trail starts out following along the hillside on the south side of the wash at Twin Springs, crosses over the waterline leading from the southernmost of the twin springs, and then crosses the wash to continue up the mountain toward the communications towers on top of Mingus. After it crosses the wash the trail is easy to follow; it just continues close alongside the wash for about 0.3 miles before switchbacking to the north back along the slope. The beginning of the switchback is marked by a row of rocks and a small cairn.

The below photograph, showing the morning sun hidden behind the towering ponderosa pines and a carpet of maples showing off their fall foliage below, was taken from the trail just below the switchback.

Sun hidden by ponderosa pines and colorful maples below

I remembered most of the trail through this section and previous trail markers were mostly still in place, so we had little difficulty in following it as it led out of the tall trees and wound its way up the hillside, before returning to the wash and crossing back over. We were now once again in the tall trees and the shade felt pretty good. Although I will say that whenever we stopped to rest, I sought out a sunny spot. To me it seemed pretty chilly when we were not moving.

The photograph shown below, taken just before we entered the tall trees and crossed the wash again, provides a look at the way we would make our way on up the mountain. The wash runs from bottom left to top right, ending on top of the mountain at the low point to the right of the towers. Our trail zigzags it way up the steep slope to come out on the rim just where the shoulder of the mountain juts up to the left of the towers.

A look ahead at the way to the top of Mingus

Once we had crossed the wash, we started climbing at a fairly steep, unrelenting incline and the trail became ever more faint and difficult to follow. I was not concerned as I had been this way several times before and knew basically where it ran. But the steep climb together with having to slow down to search for the trail had slowed us down and noon was upon us long before we reached the top of Mingus. Five of our hikers decided to stop for lunch and wait for the rest of us to return from the top.

Along with two other hikers, I continued to the top for lunch, staying in touch with the rest of the group by cellphone. When we reached the top, we were at an elevation of about 6750 feet and had an unobstructed view across the Mogollon Rim all the way to the San Francisco Peaks as shown below.

San Francisco Peaks beyond the Mogollon Rim

By the time we had finished our lunch and were ready to start back, the shade of the mountain had reached the hikers below and, now chilly from inactivity, they had started moving back down the trail seeking the sun. They waited for us at a sunny spot on the south slope of the wash. We joined them there and we all retraced our way back down the trial to Allen Spring Road.

As we traveled back down the wash above Twin Springs, we noted that the colors were now all subtly different in the late afternoon sun. Note the deep red of the maple shown below and the contrast with the surrounding lighter-colored maple and oak trees.

Deep red maple in center with lighter contrasting maples and oaks

When we reached Allen Spring Road, we chose to follow it back to FR 493 and down to where we had parked rather than take the half-mile shorter route along the jeep trail below below Allen Spring.

Our hike was 5.5 miles total, counting the extra half mile added by returning along Allen Spring Road but not my side trip to check the faucet below Copper Chief Spring. The total elevation gain (lowest to highest point) was about 2000 feet

The GPS track is shown on the included map (below). Note that the section along Allen Spring Road is shown in yellow while the rest of the hike is in red. The short green line is my route to the water spigot.

The one-way distance from the parking lot to the top of Mingus, traveling along the old Jeep Trail, was 2.5 miles; the maximum elevation was 7638 feet and the total ascent was 2060 feet.

1 From: http:www.mindat.org/loc-48598.html

Robbers Roost with Diana

Having hiked 15 miles and climbed over 3200 feet on Mingus just two days before, Diana and I had decided to do something less-strenuous on Wednesday, our next scheduled hike for her week-long visit to Arizona. Diana wanted to do a hike in Red Rock Country and I wanted to test my gear for a scheduled overnight campout to visit Crack-in-Rock Pueblo this coming weekend.

After some discussion we decided that Robbers Roost met our requirements. We slept late and then dawdled around the house for awhile, finally leaving for Robbers Roost at about 1000 on 11 October 2012. 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 seven miles before turning right onto FR 9530, a very rough road, suitable only for four-wheel drive vehicles. We drove up the mountain on it for about 1.2 miles and parked across a wash from Robbers Roost, located about half a mile to the east. The road itself continues on up the mountain, once providing access to the now- abandoned quarries located there.

Diana said the short stretch of FR 9530 to the parking lot was so rough that her pedometer thought she was hiking and gave her several hundred steps for the trip. I suppose one could drive the road in any high-clearance vehicle; however, I was thankful for 4-wheel drive. There were no other vehicles in the parking area when we arrived, and we were grateful for the solitude.

The unmarked trail leaves the parking lot, descends sharply for a short distance to a wash, climbs out the other side, climbs at a moderate slope out the other side and then climbs sharply to the top of the red butte which contains Robbers Roost Cave. To access the cave proper, one turns to the east (actually more southeast) on a fainter, but still well-trod side trail just a few yards short of the rim of the butte.

The author on the side trail leading to the cave – photograph by Diana Price

After a few yards the trail ends abruptly at a sharply-slanting cliff face, along which one must travel to reach the cave, perhaps 100 yards ahead.

Cave seen across the slanting cliff face – photograph by Diana Price

A closer view of the cave – photograph by Diana Price

From inside the cave we had a clear view across Loy Butte and on into the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness.

Looking northeast to Loy Butte and beyond – photograph by Diana Price

Looking to the southeast through the round, porthole-like window in the cave wall (visible on previous page) we could see the Cockscomb, Bell Rock, Courthouse and Cathedral formations (photograph by the author at right).

While we were still in the cave, a bare-chested young man with long black hair, arrived with a guitar and what appeared to be a prayer rug. Seemingly under the influence of something, he mumbled something about it being, contrary to what he had been told, around four miles from where he his hike. We gathered that he had come across country from the Indian Ruins at Loy Butte which, as he put it, were “locked up by the United States of ...,” followed by some indistinguishable muttering. The muttering included the word “wasp,” but I did not feel that it was meant as “WASP” or in any pejorative manner at all. He declined to have his picture taken and, when he started to to unroll his prayer rug, we left him to his meditations, continued along the now even more steeply slanting cliff face until we found a suitable spot and climbed on up to the top of the butte.

The highest point on the butte is located at the southwest corner, and that is where we planned to eat lunch. However, when we arrived, another couple were busy taking pictures at that spot, so we sat down and waited for a few minutes until they left. They apparently dropped down to visit the cave afterward as the man later remarked to Diana that he had listened to the young man in the cave playing his guitar and that it was “magical and awesome.”

Of course, pictures are obligatory for an excursion such as this one, so Diana and I took photographs of one another. Diana is shown standing on top of Robbers Roost Butte with the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness in the background. The author is shown sitting on top of the butte with Black Mountain as a background.

Diana atop Robbers Roost Butte - Secret Mountain Wilderness is seen in 

the background background

The author atop Robbers Roost Butte - Black Mountain is seen in 

the background background

When we arrived back at our truck, there were now two other vehicles in the parking area: a pickup, driven by the couple we had seen on top of the butte, and a quad ATV driven by another couple. We all left at essentially the same time. Including the mystical (or, perhaps, just stoned) guitarist, there were at least seven visitors to Robbers Roost during a two-hour period on this middle-of-the week October day.

The hike was only 0.8 miles round trip and the elevation gain was a little less than 200 feet.

Our GPS track is shown in red on the following map (below); the green track shows FR 9530 from FR 525C to the parking area at Robbers Roost.

Cottonwood to Jerome with Diana

Our daughter, Diana, arrived on Saturday, 6 October 2012 for a week-long visit. I picked her up at the Phoenix Airport and we visited Cabela's and Trader Joe's in Glendale to look at hiking/camping supplies and for me to purchase some items needed for a forthcoming hike to the Crack-in-Rock Ruins.

Sunday was spent just lying about and relaxing, but on Monday, 8 October, Diana and I arose very early and headed out for a hike up Mingus and on into Jerome. Rosemary would pick us up in Jerome when we finished our hike and we didn't want her to drive up there after dark, so we had planned several decision points along the way at which we would pause to assess our progress and make any necessary corrections to ensure we got to Jerome before dark.

We parked across the road from the Fire Training Facility on Mingus in Cottonwood and hiked up FR 493 toward Allen Spring Road, pausing frequently to rest, enjoy the view and observe wildlife. Our first wildlife sighting was a small group of mule deer almost hidden by the tall grass along the road just above the turnoff to Oxbow.

Mule deer peering at us through the tall grass – Photograph by Diana Price

As we photographed the deer, we were being carefully observed by a hawk perched in a nearby dead tree, no doubt on the lookout for his morning meal.

Hawk on the lookout for his morning meal – seen along FR 943 just 

above Oxbow turnoff – photograph by Diana Price

We continued on up the mountain at a leisurely pace, pausing often to take in the views ahead and back across Verde Valley. On reaching the small dip that marks the hairpin turn below Iron King Mine, we paused for a good long rest before resuming our climb. This is one of my favorite spots for taking a short trailside nap or just a good rest. There are a few cottonwood trees growing along the wash that crosses the road at the turn and Azurite Peak (an informal name for a small peak that has an abundant supply of that mineral scattered among the tailings from an old mine located at the very top of the peak) looms over it.

Refreshed by our rest, we continued on up FR 493 toward Iron King Mine (photograph by Diana at right), pausing again at the junction of the short road that leads to a lookout point on an outcropping from the mountain proper. This is also the spot where a mountain bike trail, a cutoff from Trail 106 above Allen Spring Road, ends at Fr 493 after having run straight down the mountain, crossing Allen Spring Road on the way.

A clump of tall grass glistened with a silver sheen in the morning sun along the side of the road Above the glistening stems, and across the foothills of the Black Hills, we had a view east all the way to the White Mountains in the distance.

Looking east to the White Mountains, seen dimly on the horizon 

– by Diana Price

We continued on past Iron King Mine to the single-iron-bar gate at the hairpin turn in the road at a wash running between Iron King and Copper Chief Mines. The iron gate, bars motor vehicle access to an old road that once ran up the mountain across Iron King Mine to connect with Allen Spring Road above. During mitigation of the mine a few years ago, part of the road was converted into a drainage ditch by digging it out, installing a liner and then refilling it with rocks. It now serves to divert runoff from above the mine into the main wash, thus keeping it from entering the mine area.

The old road is still a good hiker shortcut to Allen Spring Road and serves to shorten the distance by something like half a mile as compared to continuing on FR 493 and returning on the road to Iron King. It is quite handy for hikers taking Trail 106 to the top of Mingus or taking Allen Spring Road toward Jerome. Availing ourselves of this, we walked around the gate and, after a sharp half-mile climb, were on Allen Spring Road at the Trail 106 junction, above Iron King Mine. We had hiked 5.6 miles and climbed almost 2500 feet.

This was one of our designated decision points, so we stopped tor a good long rest and to decide which way to go from here. We could either head north on Allen Spring Road, or we could climb further up Mingus on Trail 106. After some thought we decided to take Trail 106 to its junction with Trail 105A and stop there for another reassessment.

The trail runs above but parallel to Allen Spring Road until the road turns to run northeast when it crosses the wash at a concrete bridge below Baltimore Spring. The trail, meanwhile, continues almost directly west, at first rising moderately, through the oak, pines and occasional maple, then becoming quite steep before it reaches the saddle between Mingus Mountain proper and a lower outcropping peak. Here it is joined by Trail 105A, a connector between Trails 106 and 105. From Allen Spring Road, we had hiked another 1.1 miles and climbed an additional 1770 feet to reach an elevation of 6740 feet.

The below photograph, taken below the 106/105A junction, shows the moon visible above Mingus and a section of the trail ahead.

Trail below Mingus with the moon above – photograph by Diana Price

From here we could continue to the top of Mingus on Trail 106 and then return. However, it was now noon and, if we did that, we would not be able to hike on into Jerome, but would have to return to Cottonwood the way we came. We decided to turn back from here and hike on along Allen Spring Road to Jerome.

After having decided to turn back, we didn't stay very long at the junction. We wanted to get back to Allen Spring Road for a late lunch and a nap. We had spotted an excellent spot for that on the way up the trail. It had a soft patch of grass and a fantastic view looking out over Verde Valley.

From the Trail 106 Trailhead at Allen Spring Road 

– photograph by Diana Price

On arriving back at Allen Spring Road, we each found a comfortable spot amid the grass and settled down for a mid-hike nap. The next two photographs (see next page) show our napping arrangements.

Diana napping in the grass – photograph by the author

Ellis napping in the grass – photograph by Diana Price

After our extended nap, we paused for one last photograph from our prime location.

Clouds and sky from the bottom of Trail 106 Trailhead 

– photograph by Diana Price

Much refreshed by our nap, we headed north on Allen Springs Road to Jerome. We still had to decide where in Jerome we would meet Rosemary. We could be picked up at the hairpin turn at Deception Gulch, or we could continue along Gulch Road and Hwy 89A to Grapes Restaurant, our original plan. We had discussed both possibilities with Rosemary, and had arranged to call her when we had made a decided. We would make that decision when we stopped at the spring in Mesquite Gulch.

We crossed the concrete bridge below Baltimore Spring and continued on our way, weaving in and out around the ridges and washes that make up the slope of Mingus. Along here one has clear views looking northeast across the valley below to the haze-shrouded San Francisco Peaks in the distance.

Looking across Verde Valley to the San Francisco Peaks 

– photograph by Diana Price

When I hike this road, I always keep looking for the first sight of Jerome, and that always seems to be just around the next bend. Finally, however, we did see Jerome and a few bends later came to the edge of Mescal Gulch near where the Jerome waterline, which has closely followed along the road until now, makes a near-vertical plunge into the Gulch, crosses and climbs out the other side. From here to where the road emerges from the gulch on the other side, it is a mere 0.4 miles as the crow flies. However, reaching that point requires a 2.5 mile trip, to descend into the gulch and travel along the other side. The spring where we would make a rest stop and decide where to be picked up was deep in the gulch.

When we reached the spring, I gathered a handful of watercress to eat with my banana and dried blueberries. After eating our snacks, we checked the time and determined that it would be near dark by the time we reached Deception Gulch at the hairpin turn below Jerome. We would call Rosemary and have he pick us up there. Unfortunately, we were out of cellphone range while in Mescal Gulch, so were unable to contact her until we were near where the road turns out of the gulch. By then she had begun to wonder whether we had had an accident.

We did, however, finally make contact and arranged for the pickup.

When we reached the last ridge before the descent into Deception Gulch, we chose to take the shortcut that runs through the old mining area. This enabled us to save a little distance and also to pass by the large manzanita (left) that grows alongside the road on the way.

We reached the pickup point just as Rosemary was pulling up.

The hike, shown by GPS track on the included map (below) was 15 miles, the maximum elevation was 6740 feet and the total ascent was 3417 feet. We spent a lot of time resting and taking naps, so the total time on the trail was around 12 hours.

Harding Springs-Cookstove Loop

On 6 October 2012, for the first regularly scheduled hike of the fall season, nine Skyliners hiked on the Harding Springs and Cookstove Trails. The author was absent from this hike and this report is written from notes provided by hike leader Lila Wright.

The hikers drove to Harding Springs Trailhead on Hwy 89A, parked at the lot located just right of the entrance to Cave Springs Campground and ascended Harding Trail. Most of the hikers were a little out of shape for this first hike of the season, so they headed up Cookstove at a reasonable pace, taking an hour to make the 0.7 mile, 900 foot ascent to the eastern rim of Oak Creek Canyon.

Reaching the rim a bit winded, the hikers paused to enjoy a snack along with the great view available from an overlook located on the rim about 100 yards southwest of the trailhead. The Baby Carriage, seen on the horizon just above, and slightly right of, the hiker wearing the red baseball cap in the photograph (right).

Refreshed by the short break and their snack, the hikers retraced their steps to Harding Springs Trailhead and picked up the trail leading north along the rim to Cookstove Trail. This 1.4 mile section of trail led them through meadows carpeted a golden yellow by blossoms from an unidentified member of the sunflower family.

Beckoned by the flowers, they paused for a group photograph.

Left to right: Donna Goodman, Donna Davis, Dolly Yapp, Miriam Sterling, 

Daisy Williams, George Everman, Betty Wolters and Lila Wright 

– photograph by Name Withheld

As they continued along the rim, the hikers found an area where a smokey looking, reddish plant (Bush mulahy grass) was advancing into a sunflower-carpeted meadow (left).

The trail they were following led them east, then north and finally west to skirt the head of a side canyon that dumps into Oak Creek Canyon. The trail then continues north along the rim until it reaches Cookstove.

Finding a clump of poison ivy along the trail, its leaves now painted yellow for fall, George Everman, ever the daredevil, demonstrated his lack of fear (or was it foolhardiness?) by rubbing the leaves on his hand. He explained that when the ivy started to itch in a few hours, he would run very hot water over it and that endorphins produced by the hot water would take away the itch of the ivy. It is not recorded that anyone else tried this experiment.

George rubbing poison ivy on his hand

Upon reaching Cookstove, the hikers continued a few yards north and perched for lunch on a rocky overhang, overlooking the switchbacks of Hwy 89A as it wends its way up Oak Creek Canyon on the way to Flagstaff.

Cookstove trail has some large steps and one interesting segment that includes a ridge the width of a hiker's foot. In the photograph below Miriam is shown carefully navigating that very narrow segment. Donna Goodman and Daisy have already crossed it and are now on the safer, wider steps below.

Navigation the narrow section of trail

Lila reported that as they started down Cookstove after lunch, they could look straight across the canyon to a “volcanic outcropping or plug surrounded by sandstone canyon walls.”

Looking across Oak Creek Canyon from near the top of Cookstove Trail

At the bottom of Cookstove, the trailhead at Hwy 89A, the group stopped briefly to rest at Pine Flat campground and then proceeded south through a small cluster of houses. There they found the most colorful tree of the entire hike.

Fall foliage in all its glory

Lila describes the hike from Cookstove back to the Harding Springs Trailhead as follows, “We followed a power line south over a saddle that led us back to Oak Creek near our cars.”

The following quotation from a September 2011 hike is included to provide additional details about the route between the Cookstove and Harding Springs Trailheads at Hwy 89A:

We were about 1.1 miles north along Hwy 89A from where we had parked at the Harding Springs Trailhead, and because there is hardly enough room to walk alongside Hwy 89A in places, we took a slightly longer (1.2 miles) route: we hiked through Pine Flat Campground to emerge at the south exit, walked along Hwy 89A for about 100 yards and then entered the Pine Flats community, crossed Oak Creek on a low concrete bridge and continued straight on Bear Howard Road which soon became a dirt road.

About 0.1 miles after leaving Hwy 89A we turned left (south) onto a trail (apparently unnamed) that starts in the edge of a private driveway and follows a power line across a saddle behind a hump that separates it from Hwy 89A. Our trail then crossed back to the east side of Oak Creek about 0.3 miles from Bear Howard Road. After crossing back over the creek, we continued straight toward the highway for about 40 yards, turned right onto another trail and followed it for about 50 yards before turning left on still another trail which we followed only 30 yards or so before turning right on a straight, open trail which led us directly to our parked vehicles about 0.1 miles ahead.

Following this route between the trailheads does require crossing Oak Creek twice. As noted in the above quotation, the first crossing is by way of a concrete bridge; however the second crossing requires rock hopping. It probably should not be attempted during high water conditions.

Concerning the second creek crossing on the present hike, Lila reported that, “floating leaves dammed up against the rocks required us to concentrate carefully as we crossed.” She also provided the below photograph of the crossing.

Dolly Yapp and Donna Davis crossing Oak Creek

A failed GPS battery left the hikers without a specific distance for this hike, but I measured the GPS-recorded track from the September 2011 hike and found it to be 4 miles.

The GPS track shown on the included map (below) is the one from the September 2011 hike. Harding Springs is shown in blue, the trail along the rim in red, Cookstove in green and the trail between Cookstove and Harding Springs Trailheads at Hwy 89A in yellow.

Hike to Elden Lookout Tower

On 29 September, the last Saturday before the start of the regular Skyliner Hiking season, George Everman and I set out to hike on Sunset Trail to the lookout tower on Mount Elden.

Three weeks previously, the Skyliners had hiked from Buffalo Park in Flagstaff to Elden Lookout Road on Oldham Trail; a week later a few of us had returned to the area to hike on Brookbank Trail from Elden Lookout Road to Sunset Trail and then followed Sunset Trail to the junction with Little Bear before returning to Elden Lookout Road by way of a social trail that leaves Sunset about 100 yards southeast of the junction with Little Bear and leads down the mountain to the road.

We wanted to hike to the lookout tower on Sunset Trail and return by way of Upper Oldham Trail. To do this we would follow the social trail mentioned in the previous paragraph from Elden Lookout Road to Sunset trail, follow Sunset Trail to the tower and then return by way of Elden Lookout Road to the Upper Oldham Trailhead. By following Upper Oldham Trail from there we would emerge onto the lookout road about 0.5 miles (perhaps a bit less if one follows a trail up the wash instead of the road) below where we left it on the social trail.

We followed US 180 W about 3.2 miles from the I-40 (Business)/Humphreys Street Interchange in Flagstaff to Schultz Pass Road. Turning right onto Schultz Pass Road, we followed it for about half a mile before continuing straight ahead to take FR 557 (Eldon Lookout Road). After traveling another 2.7 miles, we passed the Oldham Trailhead and, 0.2 miles farther on, the Brookbank Trailhead. A half-mile beyond Brookbank (3.4 miles from Schultz Pass Road), we came to the Upper Oldham Trailhead on the right. We decided to park here and start our hike by taking the trail that runs up the wash below the road to the beginning of the social trail we intended to take to join Sunset Trail at the Little Bear junction.

Parking was readily available in two separate areas alongside the road just across from the Upper Oldham Trailhead. We started our hike by following a trail running alongside the road on the opposite side from the trailhead. However, the road soon turned sharply left to navigate around a deep wash and we crossed over at that point to remain in the wash that we intended to follow instead of the road. At this point we lost our way by following a biker's trail directly across the road and continuing up the mountain. We should, instead have followed the road a few yards before turning on a less distinct trail … the one we had intended to follow.

It soon became apparent that we had gone wrong; rather than following along the wash as planned, we were headed up the mountain on a well-built biker's trail. However, we knew it would have to intersect with Elden Lookout Road somewhere above where we intended to take the social trail, so we continued on. The trail was, as already noted, well-built. The turns were banked and numerous ramps were constructed along the way. Wherever a log had fallen across the path, it was simply left in place and the uphill side filled in with dirt to form a ramp for speeding bikers. We were exceedingly careful to keep a lookout ahead for any bikers heading downhill, but met only two along the way. After hiking on the biker trail for eight-tenths of a mile we emerged onto the road seven-tenths of a mile above our goal. We had added one mile to what should have been a one-half mile trip between the Upper Oldham Trailhead and the social trail that would take us to Sunset.

We were really not concerned about the extra mile or the additional time on the trail, as we planned to have dinner in Flagstaff on the way home and we had all day for our hike. The dinner in Flagstaff was my idea; if left to my own devices, when hiking above Flagstaff I would always leave home early and eat breakfast on the way through or leave a bit later and have dinner on the way back. Unfortunately, most of the Skyliners prefer eating at home and I am usually outvoted. This time it was only George and me and he agreed to my plan.

The easy seven-tenths of a mile down the road to the beginning of the social trail went fast and we were soon following as it headed up the gentle slope toward Sunset Trail. The section of trail shown in the photograph below well-exemplifies it all the way to Sunset.

Showing the gentle slope of the social trail between Sunset/Little Bear and 

Elden Lookout Road

The distance from Eldon Lookout Road to Sunset at the junction with Little Bear along the very pleasant trail shown above is only one-half mile and we were soon taking a break at the junction in what I consider one of the most beautiful meadows anywhere. The area is covered with grass seemingly designed for stretching out and taking a nap, a gentle breeze is usually blowing, and ponderosa pines are scattered all about.

Following a short rest, we took up our packs and headed southeast on Sunset Trail toward the lookout tower. The trail is at first essentially level, but soon starts up a fairly steep slope with large rocks along the way. We had our first really good look at fall foliage along this section.

Aspen clone showing fall colors along Sunset trail on Mount Elden

Neither George nor I had hiked this way before, so each turn of the trail was a completely new experience for us. I do love to hike old, familiar trails; however, there is something special about hiking a new trail. One never knows just with to expect around the next bend or over the next hill. Although we did, given the location and season, expect to see fall colors during this hike, we did not know in advance when or where that might be.

After a few switchbacks along the western slope of Little Elden Mountain the trail brought us out on top of a north-south running ridge that forms a saddle between Little Elden and Elden Mountains. Just at the foot of Little Elden, Heart Trail leaves the saddle and heads down the mountain in an easterly direction. As an aside, an unmarked bike trail leaves Sunset Trail about 150 yards north of the Heart Trailhead and leads west down the mountain to connect with Elden Lookout Road just over a hundred yards from where we had ended our hike up the bike trail from the lower end of the Upper Oldham Trail.

We stopped for a rest and to take in the view from the heart trail junction. We were on the east slope of the saddle and our view to the west was blocked. However, we had an unobstructed view to the south and the towers clustered on top of Mount Eldon.

Looking south to the lookout tower on top of Mount Eldon

Turning east could see across US Hwy 89 as it wound its way north Cameron to the Indian Reservations beyond.

Looking across US Hwy 89 to the Indian Reservation beyond

On the slopes below us, groves of aspen defiantly strutted their fall colors as the forest continued its slow to recovery from a devastating 1977 fire.

Recovering aspen groves along the mountain slope

We continued on along the ridge, passing on the east side of Sunset Park, crossed the crest of the ridge and hiked along the west slope for a short distance, passing through the beautiful grove seen below.

Aspen grove on the west slope of the ridge between Little Elden and Elden

The trail then crossed the crest again, continued along the east side for a distance and finally came to Elden Lookout Road at the crest about 0.5 miles below the tower and 1.2 miles from the Heart Trail intersection.

One map I referenced indicated that Sunset Trail continues from this point parallel to and along the east side of the road for a short distance and then veers off to pass just north of and below the lookout tower. However, our goal was the tower itself and we really didn't look for the existence of a trail; we just continued along the road toward the tower.

We found the following flowers along the road between the intersection of Sunset Trail and the road to the lookout. One is an aster; the other is an unidentified, five-petaled, yellow beauty that I decided to include even though we were unable to identify it.

Aster

Unidentified flower

I took a number of photographs when we reached the vicinity of the towers (actually towers, because there are a number of communications towers installed around the lookout tower). My favorite photograph is shown below.

Looking east from Elden Lookout

It was now around 1400 and we hadn't eaten yet, so we decided to stop for lunch before heading back. I chose to forego my usual nap in favor of the view.

Before starting back, I photographed the peaks from the top of Elden. We were high enough now that we could actually a bit of Mount Humphreys peeking up on the horizon beyond Mount Agassiz.

The three most prominent peaks shown here are, from left to right, Agassiz, 

Fremont and Doyle. Look closely to see the tip of Mount Humphreys Peak 

on the horizon between Agassiz and Fremont

It is a short 1.3 miles from the lookout tower back down the road to Upper Oldham Trail. It is a very easy hike along the road, all downhill except for a short climb to the Turkey Park turnoff. At Oldham Park where the trail leaves the road, the Sunset Trail is just about 60 yards away. In fact, Upper Oldham Trail actually just crosses the road at this point and ends at Sunset Trail.

Below is my favorite view along the road between the tower and Oldham Park. It shows Mount Doyle in the distance, framed by the sky above, aspens below and pines alongside.

Mount Doyle in the distance

The distance of our hike was 7.1 miles, the maximum elevation was 9314 feet and the total ascent was 2315 feet.

On the included map (below), this hike is shown in red, a previous hike on Brookbank, Sunset and the social trail is shown in green, Oldham Trail from Buffalo Park to Elden Lookout Road is shown in blue, a connector between Oldham and Rocky Ridge Trails is shown in gray, a portion of Rocky Ridge Trail is shown in magenta and a connector between Rocky Ridge and Oldham Trails is shown in yellow. Note that there is an overlap of red and green on the short social trail between Sunset Trail and Elden Lookout Road.