Return to Bear Flat

Weather:  65º, mostly cloudy

About this Hike:  We've wanted to return to Bear Flat since first visiting in early November of last year. Today was finally our chance. 

After parking at the trailhead outside the private Bear Flat neighborhood, we carefully crossed Tonto Creek. In general, flow was lower today than it was in November. The water crossings on FR-405 were mostly dry today.

Despite having learned a lesson about how to follow the main Bear Flat trail last time, we still managed to get a little off course at the start. We stayed parallel to the fence that marks the land boundary. We kept paralleling it, even as it got steeper and steeper. Finally, I realized this was wrong. A quick check of hiking GPS and we were able to get back on course relatively quick. Even on the correct trail, the hike out of Tonto Creek and Bear Flat is no picnic...it's extremely steep. 

We continued past Mescal Ridge, picking up were we left off last time. The pine forest only got thicker. And it stayed that way. I was amazed at the density of healthy ponderosa pine and fir trees in this area. It feels like this should be up on the Mogollon Rim. 

Last November we also visited the southern end of the Bear Flat trail near Haigler Creek. I observed the same dense pine forest down there. I just didn't realize that it extended all the way north along Bear Flat Trail, especially with so much of Hellsgate Wilderness being more high desert vegetation. 

During that southern Bear  Flat hike, I also mentioned wanting to reach Horse Mountain. Today we made it to Horse Mountain, but it was nothing distinct. Rather the trail (more like the typical Hellsgate ATV road) wrapped around the side of Horse Mountain. I could look up the steep hill and see dense pine forest. 

At the 5.5 mile mark from Bear Flat is where the vegetation finally opened up. We got some views to the south with Tonto Basin, Sierra Ancha Wilderness, and Four Peaks coming into view. The ridgeline of Christopher Mountain to the northeast was also a distinct feature. Otherwise, the vegetation on this hike often obscured any potential viewpoints. The trail was going to begin a steep drop beyond this point. We opted to make this our turnaround. 

Since last fall we've done a lot of day hikes around Hellsgate. I would like to see a part of Hellsgate called Salt Canyon. In that area I've observed a large, white piece of infrastructure thru binoculars. It may be some type of water catchment device. I'm definitely intrigued. However, unless I get into overnight backpacking, some of the deeper parts of Hellsgate may not be easily accessible via a day hike. 

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.