Saddle Mountain: Passage 22 of Arizona Trail

Weather:  79º, sunny

About this Hike:  Still coming off the high from last week's enjoyable hike near Buckhorn Mountain, a thought hit me:  "What kind of hiking is there near Sunflower? Doesn't the AZT run down that way?"

A little research and planning later, and I had a hike in mind for this unseasonably warm weekend. Honestly, I probably could have gone up on the Mogollon Rim and been comfortable this weekend. Instead, I headed to lower elevation, knowing that the clock is fast running out for hiking weather down there.

All week I debated whether I should access Saddle Mountain - Passage 22 of the AZT from the Cross F Ranch Trailhead (McFarland TH on Google Maps) or the Mormon Grove Trailhead.  The point of contention was that Mormon Grove spits you out right at the namesake Saddle Mountain.  It also requires some dirt road driving.  Cross F has paved-road access but requires about five miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain to reach Saddle Mountain. I was uncertain if this five mile hike was going to be interesting or just traverse exposed high-desert grassland. 

I ultimately chose the easier access afforded by Cross F trailhead. The trail here is called Little Saddle Mountain.  Being part of the AZT, it is very well maintained.

Little Saddle ended up being a great choice. While I definitely felt the elevation gain, it was never overly steep nor treacherous.  The entire hike featured some colorful geology. Rocks of every hue—blue, grey, quartz, red, purple, etc. cover the landscape. 

And when I wasn't in rocky spots, I was traversing riparian areas. Some of the creeks had a little water in them, while others were dry. There were sycamore trees and granddaddy pinion pines. Unfortunately, being late winter / early spring, there were a ton of gnats in the riparian areas. 

A much nicer thing that spring brings out: desert wildflowers. These were all shades of orange, red, yellow, and purple. There was one particularly showy strawberry hedgehog cactus. The hillsides were covered in fragrant shrubs sporting tiny white flowers. I called these honeysuckle, although AI tells me they are cliffrose. One of the riparian areas even had a few golden columbines growing in it. I was shocked to see these at ~3,800 feet. They usually grow in the forests on the Mogollon Rim. 

After studying the topographical map of this hike, I wasn't certain what kind of views I would enjoy. I figured more than likely hills an shrubbery would hide most views. That said, I was aware that Bartlett Lake and the lower Verde River were just a few miles west as the crow flies.  

Upon cresting a ridge, the Verde River canyon came into view, although the water wasn't visible. The McDowell Mountains came into view, confirming that the rooftops I could see were in fact North Scottsdale. The Sierra Estrellas were even visible, poking up through the smog soup that is the Phoenix Valley. 

I pressed on to the namesake Saddle Mountain. Along the way I enjoyed views of a mountain that had pale white cliffs banded with a deep-red vein below it. It was even deeper red than the rocks of Sedona.

Eventually Saddle Mountain came into view. It is certainly a tall peak, although there really wasn't much else to see. The better views, in my opinion, were of the hills directly east. Views of Mount Ord and green rolling hills topped with fiery red-orange rock peaks. 

A chalky rock formation at Saddle Mountain was my turnaround point, this marking just over five miles from the start. There was a side trail with an AZT sign posted that indicated the side trail was not part of the main path. I decided to venture down this. Tall trees quickly came into view, indicating water was nearby. This short jaunt led to a flat, grassy meadow. I'd love to know more on the story surrounding this spot...

The weather had changed a bit since when I started. Gone was the hot, intense sun. A welcome cool breeze and some clouds had rolled in. The light was completely different on the way back down. I noticed Red Mountain, Superstition Mountain and Weaver's Needle down below along with some buildings in Mesa. Poking up through the smog was the unmistakable shape of Mt. Lemmon and the Catalinas all the way down in Tucson. 

Ultimately, I am glad I chose to do this route today. I did pass the junction for the Mormon Grove Trailhead.  I think I will come back and utilize that trailhead to hike further north on Passage 22. Eventually it reaches Mount Peeley, an area I am already quite familiar with exploring. 

Buckhorn Mountain via Four Peaks Trail 130

Weather:  79º, sunny

About this Hike:  Spring has sprung early this year. Last weekend I was on my kayak at Apache Lake. From the lake I saw a looming mountain with a green peak. Buckhorn Mountain is its name, and I had researched it about a year ago. I was even more intrigued by the fact there's a designated wildlife research area near the top. 

Buckhorn looked to be an achievable hike using Four Peaks Trail 130 / Arizona Trail from the Mills Ridge Trailhead. This hike was relatively short, but with significant elevation gain. The weather is only getting hotter this spring, so I figured today was the day to visit Buckhorn.

The drive up Mills Ridge (FR-429) was easy. It's about five miles on good, packed dirt with only a few bumpy areas. At the trailhead I happened to run into a social media couple that posts about all things Arizona hiking. I said hello, but they didn't say much, seeming to be in a hurry to leave. Per their social media, they had camped up there the night before. 

At the start of the hike I was treated to desert wildflowers popping everywhere. From purple lupines, to desert marigolds, to Mexican poppies, and so many more—the ridges are a sea of color right now. This is testament to what has been a very warm, but somewhat wet winter in Arizona. 

Also testament to this winter's conditions, the gnats were awful on this hike. The worst were in a sandy, riparian flat area that appears to be popular for backpackers to set up camp. Otherwise, the trail was great, with this section receiving very regular maintenance. 

As I climbed higher, the wildflowers dissipated while gamble oak and manzanita took over. The views of Roosevelt Lake and the surrounding green, wrinkly mountains were breathtaking. Distant creeks formed lined with saguaro cacti drained toward Apache Lake. Sierra Ancha and Salome Wilderness areas were glowing a firey red hue under today's cloudless skies, although there was some haze in the air. What I believe to be Mount Graham was visible looking south beyond Globe. 

I reached Buckhorn Creek where the summit of Buckhorn Mountain comes into full view. It's rocky knob is studded with a few rugged ponderosa (or subspecies Apache) pine trees. These mostly line the ravines and washes that lead to the top. 

Peak baggers and hardier types than myself bushwhack to the Buckhorn summit, but I was content to view through my binoculars. I did wonder about views of Apache Lake from the summit, but other than that, the views weren't apt to get much better than what I was already enjoying. 

After about four miles in I returned to Mills Ridge. Today's hike truly was a desert-to-pines experience with plenty of stunning views and beautiful wildflowers in between.

Donahue Trail

Weather:  76º, sunny

About this Hike:  I didn't have lofty expectations for Donahue Trail. While it is a climb up to Milk Ranch Point on the Mogollon Rim, I also know this area is burned pretty badly from the Sept. 2024 West Fire. 

However, today was a half day of work, and with unseasonably beautiful temperatures, I knew I had to get out and do something. I think the last time I visited the Pine Trailhead we were still wearing masks and social distancing. 

From Pine TH the Arizona Trail, Highline, Pine Canyon, and a shorter jaunt called Pine View Trail all converge. In many places the trails run together. Despite well-signed junctions, it can make taking a precise route confusing. In fact, I made a wrong turn on Pine View, deviating from the AZT / Highline route I had planned. No worry though, Pine View looped around and hooked back onto the correct path. 

I reached a crossing at Pine Creek, which was flowing fairly strong—testament to the fact that just one week ago the area experienced measurable snowfall. And speaking of that precipitation, shortly after the creek crossing the trail began to get annoyingly muddy. My personal annoyance aside, I'm glad the area is still retaining moisture. 

Once I reached the junction with Donahue the mud let up. Donahue was more rocky, but it was a good trail. It was never too steep, and always in good condition. It does pass through some burn scar, although the vegetation in this area is mostly juniper and chaparral, with the occasional pinon pine mixed in. 

I reached the out cropping of Milk Ranch Point and found a shady juniper to take a break under. It had been a hot, exposed climb up. I enjoyed the views of the town of Pine, Bear Canyon, and Payson / Granite Dells to the south. 

The hike down Donahue wasn't too bad, taking about 20 minutes until I reached the junction at AZT / Highline. This time I followed the correct route back, not getting tangled up on Pine View. This afforded me two additional crossings of Pine Creek. At another junction Highline and AZT split, although the junction sign indicates they both return you to the Pine TH parking area. I opted for the AZT fork since this was on the GPS track. I watched the slightly longer Highline segment run parallel to the south and then go into a stand of ponderosa pines. Despite being slightly longer, I kind of wish I had picked the Highline track. Regardless, I finished the hike a few minutes earlier than anticipated. 

FR-67 to East Verde River

Weather:  59º, sunny

About this Hike:  This hike came together this morning. I was looking for something to do. Just 24 hours ago we had near an inch of snow on the ground, while the Mogollon Rim is still looking pretty white. I knew the best hiking opportunities would be found at lower, desert elevation.

I decided to check out the Graff Road Trailhead on the northwest side of Payson. I mapped out a hike primarily following FR-67. Of note is a hill called White Mountain and then a potential viewpoint into the Verde River.  The vegetation is definitely of the high desert variety with an abundance of juniper, pinion pine, and prickly pear cacti. 

The 67 road is a lot like all the other hikes I've been doing lately—rocky, steep in places, and an old ATV road. The hike started out with soft ground and some mud. I was wondering if I made a good decision. I passed thru the first of two cattle gates, and the ground began to improve. It seemed to get drier as I continued my descent toward the East Verde.

Meanwhile, spectacular views of the Mazatzals kept me company, the mountain tops dusted in snow. The Mogollon Rim was also visible to the north, while the red-banded cliffs of the Verde River canyon were straight ahead. 

I reached the White Mountain and found it to be an underwhelming little butte. I didn't think it worth my time to hike up it. I pressed on toward the river. 

The descent became very steep at this point. The soil changed from chalky and pale to deep reddish-purple. This is an ATV road, and past motorists have added wood blocks trying to offset the extreme erosion and steepness of the road down to the river. It was hard enough to hike, and I would not want to drive down this in any vehicle.

I ate lunch at the Verde River. The river had a descent flow to it with the rain and snow we enjoyed earlier this week. The water was light brown and very turgid. The un-submerged riverbed was surprisingly not muddy, and so I hiked up-river a bit. 

The road continues across the river, although the map indicates this may be private land. I didn't feel like risking a repeat of last weekend's adventure, and I also didn't feel like navigating a water crossing. The river was my turnaround point for a hike that totaled nearly 10 miles and ~1,400 of elevation change. 

FR-371 to Agate Mountain

Weather:  63º, sunny

About this Hike:  My home in Payson faces the Granite Dells which is known for Boulder Loop and Cypress Trail hiking areas.  Having a view of these mountains from my front yard, I was curious what lies on the other side of this pink granite range. 

Studying the maps, it looked like FR-371 would offer some views of the back side of the dells and possibly some views into an area I've been exploring all winter—Hellsgate Wilderness.  The access point was easy, just a few miles down the road in neighboring Star Valley.  The plan was to use FR-974 as a connector to FR-371 and follow this to a feature called Agate Mountain. 

The map indicated I would have to drive through neighborhoods to access FR-974. However, it also showed that the federal land boundary began immediately east of the neighborhood road. With a couple local businesses in the area, I believed the road to be a public right-of-way for residential and commercial use. 

I parked my truck in a large clearing near FR-974. A fence marked the beginning of 974 which was just a rough ATV road. The fence spanned the narrow roadway, but was otherwise accessible to walk around as a hiker. Interestingly, FR-974 exists only on the All Trails map...

After a brief riparian area near Houston Creek, FR-974 takes a steep climb. It ends at a junction with FR-371. While 371 has the Forest Service's brown stakes marking it, 974 has no such markers.

We followed 371 for a few miles, passing by some cow tanks and having a ubiquitous view of buzzy, high-tension utility lines above. In fact, the little butte known as Agate Mountain serves as an anchor point for a couple of those big, steel utility towers. 

The views on this hike were spectacular. From Agate we had 360º views of the Mogollon Rim, the backside of the Granite Dells, the Mazatzals, and into Hellsgate Wilderness. The dells have more prominence on this side due to being a few hundred feet lower than they are in Payson. The pink walls of the Houston Creek canyon also loomed close by. While there were some drop offs on the backside of Agate, these were more 'stepped' rock shelves covered in vegetation. In other words, no views into Houston Creek, although I could hear the water running. 

A beautiful afternoon hike ended up tainted a bit upon returning to the truck. An unhappy land owner let me know that I had trespassed on his land, despite what I thought was plenty of due diligence in mapping this out respective of private land boundaries.  He admitted his No Trespassing sign was sun-faded while an elk had plowed down the fence that used to mark the federal land boundary... I found it odd that neither the Forest Service nor this land owner bothered to mark the property boundary. In other areas where I've hiked adjacent to private land, boundaries are well-marked by both entities. I'm left to wonder if FR-974 is even an official road or an inaccuracy on All Trails. It exists on no other maps, nor does Tonto NF mention it on their website. 

The correct way to have done this hike would have been to drive in via FR-371, similar to how I accessed The Buttes area last month. I can't vouch for the condition of this section of 371, but I suspect it degrades quite a bit past the Star Valley brush pit. I'm just grateful I didn't get shot or have my truck towed...  

King Ridge - FR-1625

Weather:  70º, sunny

About this Hike:  I created a GSP track for today's hike after studying a topographical map. It looked like there was potential for this to lead to a good Hellsgate Wilderness viewpoint. 

I've done a lot of exploring of Hellsgate in the past few months. Most of my previous hikes had limited viewpoints and overlooks due to the topography (tapered drops / rock shelves versus sheer drops) and the vegetation. Today that changed.

I began my hike at the Hellsgate Trail 37 parking area. I followed what is actually FR-893 for a brief time, turning  a hard left at the junction with FR-1625. A cattle gate blocks 1625, but after a little fumbling with the barbed wire hook, I walked on thru, being sure to close the gate behind me. 

What I was hiking on was the backbone of King Ridge. I explored a side path that led down to aptly named King Ridge Tank. For the first half of the hike there hadn't been many cow pies. This began to change on the second half of the hike. 

The terrain also changed a bit on the second half. Typical of the Hellsgate Wilderness, the actual trails are ATV roads. The first half was mostly packed dirt, but the second half became more of a rollercoaster. The trail would take a steep descent on large, slippery scree. Then it would level out in a flat area. The flat would have a big old juniper tree providing shade, and the soil would be a turgid mixture of hoof prints and cow pies. Then the cycle would repeat as the trail would climb steeply. The final portion of the hike was almost all descent. 

FR-1625 ends on the narrowing backbone of King Ridge. It is here that I got some of the best views yet into Hellsgate Wilderness. It was a breathtaking 360º panorama. The Mogollon Rim and Promontory Butte were visible to the north. The distant mountains and ridges within Hellsgate were visible to the south. The point of the peninsula is formed by the convergence of Salt Lick Canyon and Tonto Creek. And speaking of Tonto Creek—there is an excellent viewpoint. It is something of a horseshoe bend in the creek, although the crux of it is hidden both by topography and a big pinon pine. Regardless, the turquoise waters of Tonto were flowing strong. In the calm and stillness atop King Ridge, I could even hear the roar of the creek. My binoculars revealed deep pools, being drained by small waterfalls. 

I ate lunch and spent considerable time enjoying the views at the end of FR-1625. While a knocked over post marked the end of the road, a footpath continued on. I left my pack on a rocky knob that had been my lunch spot, grabbed my binoculars, and opted to explore. I hiked another 12-15 minutes along old cattle paths, dodging cow pies everywhere. My goal was to get to the very end of the peninsula to see if there were any other interesting viewpoints. There weren't. In fact, it looks like the peninsula drops down steeply into a green meadow. It was steeper than I was willing to explore. Someone's been there though, as the map shows Ripper Tank being in that meadow. 

Across the narrow canyon formed by Tonto Creek, other flat, pale green meadows were visible. I believe these are accessible via Big Ridge Trail 177, although this is an area I've yet to explore. Through my binoculars I could also see a large white square of infrastructure on one of the meadows. I studied satellite imagery and believe this to be some sort of water catchment. It makes sense with all the cow tanks and cattle ranching in the area. 

It was now past 2:30pm and I had a 5.5 mile hike back to the truck. I anticipated the scree would slow me down as it did on the inbound hike. Shortly after departing the overlook, I began to hear loud moos. I soon encountered a bull that was making his way down the path. I stepped off the path and down a hill. A cattle path seemed to parallel the main road, so I followed it until mister bull was long past me. I then hiked back up to FR-1625. 

While more tiring on the body, hiking up the scree hills wasn't nearly as bad. The rocks hurt my feet some, but at least it wasn't as slippery as the hike down was. I arrived back to the truck around 4:30pm. 

The views of the wilderness area and of Tonto Creek were exactly the Hellsgate experience I've been wanting to have these past few months. 

Jack's Canyon, Hot Loop, & Horse Mesa

Weather:  69º, sunny

About this Hike:  I am intrigued by Munds Mountain near Sedona. However, hiking Munds appears to involve many miles of hiking to the trail via Jack's Canyon, or a drive over some challenging forest roads that likely aren't suitable for my truck. 

I opted to explore Jack's Canyon / Hot Loop to Horse Mesa instead, thinking this might be a similar alternative. 

The trail starts in typical Sedona red rock. It offers some interesting canyon views while the drainages along the trail still had some standing water. This year is an interesting conundrum in that Sedona is downright hot for January, yet there is still a lot of mud and standing water as we come off a very wet holiday season. Last year at this time Sedona was cooler, but drier too. 

Eventually red rocks give way to the black rocks that define the tops of many of the mesas around Sedona. The foliage changed to high desert. By the time we were on top of Horse Mesa there was a lot of juniper, yucca, and scrubby pinon pines. The soil on the mesa was dry, yet was muddy and stuck to our boots at the same time. 

We visited an overlook and got some views of the immediate area around Horse Mesa. Bell Rock, Cockscomb, and other Sedona landmarks were in full view. Otherwise, local neighborhoods were all that loomed below. 

This was just over the two-mile point. I originally intended to go about four miles, but the map indicated the trail would move to the center of the mesa and away from any viewpoints. It was boring desert scenery, so we opted to turn around and return the way we came. 

Someday with some further research I may check out Munds Mountain. I gather the scenery is better up there, and if there's one thing I've learned, you never run out of new things to explore in Sedona.