Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail

The Skyliners last hiked the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail last spring when I was unable to participate and I had since been determined to do it myself. By sending an e-mail to the rest of the hikers, I found a few others who, having never hiked the trail before, were anxious to join me.

Donna Goodman, David Beach and the author left Cottonwood and drove north on Hwy 89A to Flagstaff, took I-40 west to Exit 167 and turned south on Garland Prairie Road which soon became a well-graded dirt road (also titled Forest Road 141). We followed this road for nine miles to the signed junction with FR 56, turned onto FR 56 and followed it for 1.9 miles to the trailhead. One could, if not paying attention, miss the trailhead. Just look for the Forest Service sign at a small parking area on the left. Our track from I-40 to the trailhead is shown in green on the below map.

Showing the route from I-40 to The Sycamore Rim Trailhead

This is a loop hike and one can choose to hike it either clockwise or counterclockwise. We chose the counterclockwise option (see trail sign at right) because that would allow us to make the 530 foot climb to the top of K A Hill while we were still fresh. We had driven 100 miles to the trailhead and it was now almost 0900. We had between 11 and 12 miles to hike before driving back home, so we wasted no time before starting our hike. We crossed the road from where we were parked, picked up the trail on the other side and headed directly up K A Hill, traveling northwest. My two hiking companions are shown in the photograph below.

David Beach and Donna Goodman – photograph by the author

As the temperature was moderate and we had good cover on our hike up the hill, we arrived at the top in good condition, but were happy to now be heading downhill.

The next two miles went quickly, as the trail led us downhill through a forested slope, and we stopped alongside a forest road for a midmorning snack. We were very near the beginning of the Pomeroy Tanks. These naturally-formed tanks, not individually named, occur in the streambed, at this point the center of a broad meadow, of Isham Spring Canyon. The tanks are strung out along the canyon as it deepens and makes its way down to Sycamore Canyon. Isham Spring Canyon continues to the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness area, just above Willow Spring and Sycamore Canyon Falls, where it joins Big Spring Canyon and becomes the west fork of upper Sycamore Canyon (also still called Big Spring Canyon), the east fork being formed by Sycamore Creek.

Showing the upper part of Sycamore Canyon (east and west forks)

The trail, hiked counterclockwise, leads one down this western fork of the canyon until it joins with the eastern fork. Shown following (see next page) is one of the first of the Pomeroy Tanks we saw on our way down Isham Spring Canyon to join Big Spring Canyon.

One of the naturally-occurring Pomeroy Tanks

Near where we first entered Isham Spring Canyon, we crossed the old Overland Trail (or Road). This is only a fragment of the system of trails used for cross-country travel before the day of the railroads. The below quote from Wikipedia would seem to refer to this section of the trail.

In 1857, the United States Postal Department extended bids for mail service along what became known as the "southern route" from Memphis, Tennessee to San Francisco, California through New Mexico and Arizona. The contract was given to the Butterfield Overland Mail Company and service ran until the Civil War started in 1861. Wells Fargo was the primary lender to the company and took control when it suffered financial difficulties in 1859. After the southern route was disbanded the Overland Mail Company moved operations to the central line between Salt Lake City and Sacramento.¹

We had not seen many flowers prior to reaching the Pomeroy Tanks. Now, however, we found several gorgeous specimens along the way.

A field of sphaeralcea globemallows at tank in Islam Spring Canyon

Insofar as I can determine, this is a parry's aster

When we reached the Sycamore Canyon wilderness and came to the turnoff to Sycamore Canyon Falls, we chose to not turn off because we really couldn't expect to find water flowing there this time of year. We did pause at a convenient overlook to observe a rock climber making his way up the canyon wall.

Rock climber making his way slowly up the sheer canyon wall just below 

Sycamore Canyon Falls

leaving the rock climber behind, we continued in a southeast direction along the rim of the west fork of Sycamore Canyon (Big Spring Canyon). Except for one relatively short, fairly steep section the hiking was easy. We had great views all along the way, available by just stepping a few yards from the trail to the edge of the canyon.

When we came to Sycamore Canyon Vista, where the east and west forks join, we had a particularity good view far into the wilderness area (below). Again, the west fork is really Big Spring Canyon.

Looking into the wilderness from Sycamore Canyon Vista

This viewpoint is also accessible via a short hike from the end of FR 56, the very road that we took to the trailhead.

The trail forks at the viewpoint with one branch, the left, leading back to FR 56 and the other continuing on along the rim, now heading northeast along the canyon formed by Sycamore Creek. We very nearly came to grief here, the trail sign directing travelers to the rim trail was missing. The remaining sign just provided an arrow pointing to Sycamore Canyon Vista Trailhead. At first, we had no idea whether that trailhead might be located on the rim trail. But we did have the track on our GPS and by zooming in very close we knew, after traveling just a few yards along the right fork, that we were on the correct path.

For about two miles along Sycamore Creek from the viewpoint we were still following along the rim of a deep canyon. But it became ever more shallow along the way as the streambed rose to meet the trail. Eventually, we found ourselves hiking along a shallow stream with naturally-occurring tanks along the way. The tank shown below is covered with lily pads.

Lily pad-covered tank along upper Sycamore Creek

A little further along we came to ruins of an old cabin (left). Some other similar cabin ruins were also to be seen at the location. A nearby sign said that we were at another crossing of the Overland Road Trail. Dow Spring is located nearby and this was apparently a watering stop for those traveling the Overland Trail. Dow Spring, for a brief period, even had its own post office.

We continued along our way, the naturally-occurring tanks of upper Sycamore Creek now on our left, and passed the site of an old sawmill. A Forest Service sign erected nearby indicates that the mill operated in the early 1900s. Nothing is visible now and the site would surely not be noted by passers by were it not for the sign.

As we approached the trailhead we found that we must cross a wetland, the very upper reaches of Sycamore Creek, to reach it. We got a little mud on our shoes but didn't get our feet wet.

Back at the trailhead, we used the posted sign to review our hike.

Sign at FR 56 Sycamore Rim Trailhead

This hike, as shown below (below), was an 11-mile loop, the maximum elevation was 7266 feet and the total ascent was 1346 feet.

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

Arizona Trail From FR 751 to 3.6 Miles South

Having decided to hike a section of the Arizona Trail south from FR 751, we left Cottonwood shortly after 0700 on 3 August 2013. We drove through Camp Verde on Hwy 260 and continued on to the junction with Hwy 87 just below the Mogollon Rim. The mile marking system used on Hwy 260 is rather quirky. The road starts in Cottonwood and less than a mile ahead has mile marker 207 posted, the approximate distance by highway to the western state border by way of Hwy 89A, US 89, Cr 71, US 60 and I-10. The marking system is then consistent for 46 miles to the junction with Hwy 87 which it reaches at approximately mile marker 251.9. Highways 260 and 87 then run south together for 26 miles to Payson where Hwy 260 continues east with mile marker 252. This means, of course, that all remaining mile markers on Hwy 260 are off by 26 miles.

But, for purposes of this hike, we turned north on Hwy 87 and drove 16.6 miles to the junction with FR 751, turned south on that road and drove another 2.1 miles to reach the Arizona Trail crossing to start our hike. We paused for a group photograph before starting our hike.

Left to right: Ellis Price, Miriam Sterling, Lila Wright, Dave Beach and 

Kwi Johnson - photograph by name withheld

A sign showing the layout of the Arizona Trail was posted at the trailhead.

Arizona Trail – our starting position was near the middle of the trail, just above the Blue Ridge 

Reservoir – see red arrow

As soon as we disembarked, the mosquitoes attacked with a vengeance. One person had applied repellent before leaving home and another had a small amount with him. The rest of us just covered up as much as possible. I donned a pair of gloves to protect my hands and used a technique that seems to work for me – breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I don't know why, but it seems to repel insects.

The trail in this area leads through the forest and is mostly shaded, good for the mosquitoes, but did have some open spots where the trees were widely spaced. All along the way, we found flowers in bloom.

Golden tickseed flowers taking advantage of an old roadway 

- http://www.delange.org/TickseedGolden/TickseedGolden.htm

The trail led almost directly south for a little over half a mile, then turned west to follow closely along the rim of East Clear Creek Canyon. Knowing that Blue Ridge Reservoir was located in the canyon, we kept looking for water below. After about another half a mile, the trail began a fairly gentle downslope and then turned back to the south and descended the steep canyon wall, falling about 400 feet in 0.6 miles.

Some of the flowers we saw along the way are shown below.

Lindley's silverpuffs

Wild dwarf morning-glory

Parry's aster

Pineywoods geranium

When we arrived at the bottom of the canyon, we found it completely dry. Although the reservoir does apparently extend this far up the canyon when filled, it was at only 68% of capacity on the day of our visit.¹

Blue Ridge Reservoir, constructed by Phelps-Dodge, was completed in 1965 at a cost of 7.2 million dollars. It was constructed as part of an agreement between the company and Salt River Project to allow Phelps Dodge to use water from the Black River at its Morenci facility. A 187-foot-tall concrete dam was erected to create a 15000 acre-foot reservoir in the East Clear Creek Canyon. East Clear Creek is a part of the Little Colorado River watershed, outside the SRP's service area. Water from this reservoir would then be supplied to SRP to compensate for the water taken by Phelps dodge from the Black River. The water was routed through a tunnel and then pumped up a 435-foot shaft to a pipeline which carried it 10 or 11 miles to the East Verde River. A hydroelectric generating station was installed at the lower end of the pipeline to generate power to drive the electric motors which lifted the water from the reservoir.

In 2005, pursuant to a clause in the agreement that allowed SRP to purchase the reservoir should Phelps Dodge decided to sell it, SRP purchased it to add to their system's resources. The reservoir was also renamed C.C Cragin Reservoir in honor of an early 20^th century SRP general superintendent. However, it is still generally known as Blue Ridge Reservoir.²

Under a separate agreement, SRP will provide and Payson with a 3000 acre-foot annual allocation of water from the reservoir. To make use of this water allocation Payson is installing a 13.5 mile long, 18-inch diameter pipeline from the tailrace (discharge) of SRP's existing hydroelectric facility to a new 234 Kilowatt hydroelectric facility which will generate power to operate a new water treatment plant. This project is scheduled to be completed in late 2016.

When we arrived at the dry bed of East Clear Creek, we found that we had left the mosquitoes behind, so we stopped for a midmorning snack. We then started the steep climb out of the canyon on the south side. This seemed even steeper than the descent from the north rim had been. However, a look at a topographic map discloses that the south rim is actually 200 to 300 feet lower.

We came out on the south rim just west of the site of the Battle of Big Dry Wash, the last battle fought between the Apaches and army regulars.³

At the south rim, we came to a fence with a pedestrian pass-through. After that the rest of our hike, until we turned back, was along an old, level roadbed.

Arriving at the south rim of Clear Creek Canyon

We saw the below plants while ascending to or hiking on the south rim.

Pine drops

Silene (orange)/Parry's aster ( light blue)

After returning to the trailhead, some of our group were still intent on seeing water, so we drove on down FR 751 until it ended at the reservoir, before heading back home.

Blue Ridge Reservoir from the parking lot at the end of FR 751

This hike was 7.6 miles round trip, the highest elevation was 7377 feet total ascent was 722 feet.

Our track is shown in red on the included map (below). The yellow tracks are part of the Arizona Trail that we did not hike.

1http://www.watershedmonitor.com/siteDetail.aspx?dbNm=usgs&statn_id=09398300&kw=WW_LwrVerde

2http://www.srpnet.com/water/dams/cragin.aspx

3http://www.paysonrimcountry.com/MountainRecreation/InterpretiveCenters/BattleofBigDryWash.aspx   

Bismarck Lake Loop and Walker Lake

Despite a predicted 60% chance of rain, we set out on 27 July 2013 to make a loop hike around Bismarck Lake. To do this we planned to start at the Bismarck Lake Trailhead, hike on that trail past the lake and join with the AZ Trail. We would then follow the AZ Trail north until we came to an old road that would take us to Little Spring. From Little Spring, we planned to bushwhack our way back across a ridge that separated it from Bismarck Lake.

We left Cottonwood a bit after 0700, but I had to stop for gas and it was about 0730 when we left Cornville after picking Lila up there. We took I-17 to Flagstaff, continued straight on Milton when the freeway ended, passed under the railroad overpass, took the sharp right turn and turned left onto US Hwy 180 (Humphreys Street). We drove 12.2 miles from the end of I-17, passing the turnoff to Snowbowl along the way, to turn right onto FR 151 just after passing mile marker 235. About 6.4 miles along FR 151, we came to the Bismarck Lake turnoff. We turned right onto that road and drove 0.6 miles to the Bismark Trailhead. We donned our gear and paused for a group photograph.

Left to right: Betty Wolters, Miriam Sterling, Kwi Johnson, Lila Wright and 

Ellis Price – photograph taken by the sixth hiker using the authors camera

We found an informative sign, providing distances and other pertinent information, posted at the beginning of the trail.

Bismarck Trailhead sign

A short distance ahead we started to see pinedrop plants (right) along the way. This plant lives in a parasitic relationship with, and derives all its carbon from, a fungus which itself colonizes a host plant's roots.

The trail rose at a gentle slope along an old road, now blocked by a fence and several mounds of earth to prevent vehicular traffic. It passed at first through a heavily forested area and then skirted a verdant meadow with a few trees scattered about.

The meadow is shown in the following photograph (below) taken on the way back down the trail.

Meadow between the trailhead and Bismarck Lake – taken on the way back

There were several flowers scattered alongside the trail. Predominate among these were blue to purple flowers that I at first took to all be lupines. However, I later found that they were mostly loco weed.

Lupine

Locoweed

Above, the leaves of the lupine are arranged around the stem in clusters while the locoweed has a fern-like arrangement.

About eight-tenths of a mile from the trailhead, we arrived at a fork in the trail. By bearing left, we could go directly to Bismarck Lake, continuing straight ahead would take us to the Arizona Trail. We continued straight and were soon at another sign. Both signs are shown below.

Bismarck Lake is 0.2 miles to the left

We arrived at the Arizona Trail

We turned north on the Arizona Trail, going toward Forest Road 418, and were soon traveling through a cool forested area along the bottom slope of Humphreys Mountain just outside the Kachina Wilderness area.

On the Arizona Trail – note the unique trail sign on tree in center

Lila had recently hiked this section of trail and had noted a hand-written sign pointing out the way to Little Spring. That observation led to this hike and our plan to loop around Bismarck Lake. However, when I laid out the hike and plotted a proposed GPS track, I used the route of an old road shown on my map that left the Arizona Trail at a closer spot. When we came to the old road, we had not reached the sign Lila had seen, so we continued along the trail for a short distance farther before stopping for a snack and to decide whether to return to our plotted track. One member of the group went ahead for about another quarter of a mile and returned to say that he had not reached the sign. Also, it was now threatening to rain, so we decided to return to the plotted track.

Shortly after we started down the old road, the rain started to fall and we stopped to don ponchos.

In our ponchos we were indeed a colorful lot.

Now protected from the rain, we continued on our way along the well-defined trail. The rain was intermittent and between showers the butterflies came out to play on the locoweed (left) growing in the old roadbed.

A little over half a mile from the Arizona Trail we came to a junction with what was once FR 418B, but was now long unused as a road. We turned west on it and continued toward Little Spring. Then, about 0.5 miles ahead we turned off of old 418B and followed another road for about 100 yards to arrive at Little Spring.

From here we intended to bushwhack our way back to Bismarck Lake. However, we noted a fairly well-worn trail leading up the mountain in the general direction we wished to go and decided to give it a try. As we started up the trail, I saw a beautiful berry-laden bush (right) growing alongside the trail. Luckily, no one tried eating the berries, as I later learned it was poisonous red baneberry, sometimes called snakeberry.¹

The trail we were following led sharply up the mountain for a distance before leveling off a bit. Not far from Little Spring, we found an ancient tree with many dead branches. An attached Forest Service sign (left) proclaimed it to be a Wildlife Tree, not to be cut.

The trail became a bit obscure at one point where it detoured around a fallen tree. Other than that one spot, it was clear and easy to follow. Additionally, a quick peek at my GPS showed that we were following closely along the track I had plotted to guide what we had thought would be a bushwhacking trip from Little Spring to Bismarck Lake.

Along the way we saw numerous old carvings, such as were left by Basque sheepherders, on the aspen trees. One tree had both what appeared to be a cross and a spaceship (or rocket).

Cross

Spaceship (or rocket)

Once we had topped the ridge, the trail sloped gently down and the going was easy.

Section of Little Spring-Bismarck Lake Trail sloping gently down to the lake

We stopped at the lake for lunch and, having long since removed them, now used our ponchos to protect us from the wet grass. We had a great view across the lake to the cloud-shrouded slopes of Mount Humphreys.

Looking across Bismarck Lake to Mount Humphreys-Agassiz

From here it was just a mile back to the trailhead and we were soon approaching the end of this trail.

Approaching the Lake Bismarck Trailhead

Our track is shown in red on the included map (below). The dark green track is the road from FR 151 to the Bismarck Lake Trailhead. The light green track shows the continuation of FR 151 toward its junction with FR 418. A section of the Arizona Trail is shown in yellow.

The Bismarck Lake Loop hike was exactly 5.0 miles according to my GPS. That is the trailhead to trailhead distance and excludes the extra distance we hiked on the Arizona Trail before turning back to follow our plotted track. The elevation gain was 555 feet and the maximum elevation was 8875 feet.

Bismark Lake Loop

Having finished the Bismarck Lake Loop in good time, we decided that we would drive the short distance, only 3.1 miles, to Walker Lake and do that hike too. We would then return to US 180 by way of the north end of the FR 151 loop.

To reach the Walker Lake Trailhead, we returned to FR 151 and drove north, passing the Little Spring settlement on the way, until we reached FR 418. We turned right (east) on FR 418 and drove about 0.2 miles to the first road on the left. According to my map the road is numbered 9004S. It turns to the right after almost 0.3 miles and continues for just over another tenth of a mile, for a total of 0.4 miles from FR 418. I later checked the Coconino National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map and found that this road is not listed. However, it appears to be well-used.

After traveling 0.4 miles from FR 418 we came to the Walker Lake Trailhead. From here the road is definitely closed to all vehicular traffic.

View of sign and the trail ahead

It is just a short hike up the gently-sloping old road to the rim of the volcanic crater in which the lake is located. I was hiking ahead of the others and, just as I rounded a curve where the road turns to cross the rim of the crater, a large doe jumped up right in front of me. She, even more startled than I, lost no time in departing the area. By the time I had traversed the few remaining yards to the rim, she was just a fleeting figure far down the old road that once led down to the lake.

If you look very carefully, you can see the deer between the two dead trees

As shown below, the lake is laid out with a mixture of woods and grassland as a backdrop.

Walker Lake

The Hochderffer Fire of 1996 swept down into the bowl on the western slope and destroyed the forest in patches.

Looking along the western slope from inside the crater

The included map (below) shows the short Walker Lake hike in blue. The green track is the route we drove to the trailhead. The magenta track is part FR 151 leading to US 180, only about two miles away.

This hike, as shown on the map, is only 0.6 miles round trip. The elevation gain is 140 feet and the highest elevation is 8345 feet.

Hike at Walker Lake

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

Lower Black Canyon Trail

This was an unanticipated hike. Still recovering from surgery, I had not planned to hike for another month. However, Lila Wright, the Skyliner hike leader had proposed a hike at Bismarck Lake, northwest of the San Francisco Peaks, for Saturday, 27 July 2013 and I dearly wanted to go. To make sure I was up to that hike, I decided to do a trial hike on Thursday, two days before the Bismarck hike.

If no one else was available to hike with me on the proposed date, I planned to park at the intersection of Old Hwy 279 and Ogden Ranch Road. I would then hike up Ogden Ranch Road (a dirt road) to the Black Canyon Trailhead and return. I figured that would be a little over five miles round trip. But luck was with me, and another Skyliner hiker agreed to hike with me. Since there were now two of us, we decided to drive on to the Black Canyon Trailhead and hike up the actual trail instead of on the dirt road.

When we arrived at the trailhead, we found that Ogden Ranch Road has now been blocked off 0.7 miles short of where it previously ended, and a new trailhead with ample parking has been built. A sign clearly marks the new start of Black Canyon Trail and clearly prohibits all motorized vehicles.

Sign at start of Black Canyon Trail

Leaving the trailhead, the trail follows for about 0.2 miles along a track previously used by ATVs and then passes through a gate (the first of two).

Trail between trailhead and first gate

First gate located at lower end of new section of Black Canyon Trail

Just a few yards beyond the gate, the trail dips into a wash (actually more a canyon) downstream from Quail Spring. Looking across the wash we could see the trail climbing out on the other side.

The trail can be seen (center) climbing out of the wash on the other side

The below photograph, taken from the other side of the wash, shows the section of trail on which we descended.

Looking back the way we had come

The trail wound its way up the mountain, zigzagging in and out as it made its way around the shoulders carved in the mountain slope. Soon we were abreast of the arroya which can be seen just up the street (Arroya Vista Drive) from my house. I am convinced that the street must have been named after the wash (arroya or arroyo).

Wash (arroyo or arroya) visible from Arroya Vista Drive near my house

Approximately 0.7 miles after we had passed through the first one, we came to a second gate.

Second, upper, gate on new section of trail

About 0.3 miles beyond the second gate, we came to the end of the new section of Black Canyon Trail. It was, according to my GPS track, 2.2 miles in length. We had now hiked 2.2 miles and I wanted to go for 2.5, so we continued on for another 0.2 miles. I stopped there because the reading on my GPS was actually 2.5 miles and because there was a nice shady spot in which to rest. However, when I later downloaded and measured the track, it was only 2.4 miles. That was close enough.

While I settled in for my rest (actually a short nap) my companion hiked around the next shoulder to see what was ahead. He soon returned to report that only more shoulders were visible ahead and took this picture of the author (see photograph at right by hiker using my camera) resting in the shade. Unfortunately, I had left my camera in video mode and had to cut the picture from a video clip.

Since this was my first after surgery hike, I knew that Rosemary would be worried, so I used my cellphone to call home and let her know that we had made the planned distance and were now headed back.

We met two other hikers on the trail as we neared the second gate. They were a couple trying out new hiking boots in preparation for a forthcoming expedition to Nepal.

When I returned home and downloaded the GPS data, I found that (as noted above) we had hiked 2.4 miles one way, or 4.8 miles round trip. Again, close enough to my goal of 5-miles. According to my GPS track, the elevation gain was 860 feet and the highest elevation was 4770 feet.

Our GPS track is shown on the two included maps (below). The new section of trail is shown in red and the replaced section in yellow on the first map. The second map shows the entire 8-mile length of Black Canyon Trail, including the mile added by the new section of trail.

Lower Black Canyon Trail

Entire Black Canyon Trail