Hellsgate Introduction - Bear Flat

Weather:  75º, sunny

About this Hike:  The Hellsgate Wilderness has been in my backyard for a couple years now since moving to Payson, yet I've never given this area much consideration. 

We decided to change that this weekend. After considerable research, we opted to take the Bear Flat Trail from its namesake neighborhood up to Mescal Ridge. If Mescal was nothing special, the plan was to continue down Bear Trail toward Horse Mountain and Big Ridge. 

We wasted probably about half an hour looking for the trail after crossing Tonto Creek at the trailhead. My GPS map indicated the trail paralleled the private land that makes up the Bear Flat neighborhood. 

We followed the fence to a gate with a sign that admonished 'Watch for Snakes.' This is where we took a wrong turn. While faint, the trail quickly becomes a steep old Jeep road. Instead we went wandering up the steep hillside clinging to trees and following game trails. Spying a saddle near the top, we aimed for that. Upon breaking through the trees, we were on the Jeep road. I asked how the hell did we miss this at the beginning? 

Regardless, now on the correct path, we quickly reached the Mescal Ridge junction. The signpost is there, but the sign is long gone. I was hoping for some good views into the Hellsgate Wilderness. There were some good viewpoints. Through my binoculars I spied a large green meadow with a faint two-track running through it. I'm thinking this is Big Ridge Trail? I could also see homes on a ridge, a reminder this area is more developed that one might think.

Otherwise, many of the would-be viewpoints were obscured by vegetation. And about that vegetation...Mescal Ridge feels very deserty. There's plenty of the namesake agave plants, hedgehog cacti, desert spoons, etc. to remind you that this hot, exposed ridge is in a desert climate. Yet there's also plenty of juniper and pinon pine to remind you this is high-desert forest. 

The ground along Mescal is rocky with deep rust-colored boulders that I assume to be granite. There were also occasional white quartz stones and even some reddish-purple rocks that reminded me of Mazatzal quartzite.  That same ground is also absolutely littered with cow pies.  There are three cattle tanks along Mescal, and this is definitely open-range country. We encountered just one small herd of bessies, but they ran away before we got close. 

I'll be honest that I didn't love Mescal, yet I'm still glad to have experienced it. Upon reaching the Bear Flat junction , and with only about an hour of daylight remaining, we did a short jaunt down Bear Flat. Immediately we were surrounded by thicker forest. The trail was easier on the feet with crushed gravel instead of the rockiness of Mescal. I found myself wishing we had done this segment today instead. 

Regardless, now my interest in Hellsgate is piqued. I plan to return via the FR-200 and experience Bear Flat from the south end to see Horse Mountain and Big Ridge.