Halloweekend Tradition Lives On

Weather:  81°, sunny, hot

About this Hike:  Haunted Canyon has been a Halloween-time tradition for a fourth year in a row now. My pattern is to alternate each year between the lower trailhead and the upper trailhead. This meant that 2023 was the year to visit from the steeper, tougher upper trailhead. My last visit here was in 2021.

I can't say much has changed in two years. The drive up is a little sketchy but not unbearable by any means. In past years I've done this in October. I opted to try it a little later this year to enjoy the brilliant yellow fall color of the sycamores that line creekbeds in this ecosystem. 

There is a segment of this trail that was full of overgrowth and bushwhacking. Despite getting some maintenance this spring, the bushes are growing back. While not impassable by any means, the bushwhack is annoying. I brought my clippers and did some trimming to try and make it a little less annoying. 

I saw plenty of friendly deer—some a little too friendly. Are other hikers feeding them? I also saw plenty of bear evidence, but thankfully no bears. 

The creeks are bone dry this year, although the several spring heads along this hike were dripping. Otherwise I had the parking area, the trail, and the canyon to myself. I never saw another vehicle or hiker on this exceptionally warm fall day. 

Haunted Canyon for Halloween Weekend

Weather:  75°, sunny

About this Hike:  Last year I first explored Haunted Canyon Trail #203, although I don't believe I ever blogged about it on here.  One of the highlights of Trail 203 is the historic site Tony's Ranch, found along a tricky side trail from the main path.  

Last year I took the 'easy' trailhead just past Pinto Valley Mine along FR 287.  The easier 'east end' has less elevation gain, but is also is about 5.5 miles to the ranch for an 11-mile out-and-back hike.  

This year I decided to brave the shorter, steeper, more challenging side.  We'll call this the 'west end' of Trail 203.  Not only is the trail more challenging, the road to get there is rough as well.  

Pass the parking area for the east trailhead and cross a one-lane iron bridge.  The bridge has signage warning of a 17-ton maximum weight limit.  One has to ask, how on earth would a vehicle weighing this much (i.e. a semi truck) ever get out there in the first place?  FR-287 starts off as graded, wide dirt in the Pinto Valley Mine, but quickly narrows and becomes rockier.  

I braved the bridge.  At just over 2-tons, my Tacoma was well within the bridge's weight limit.  There is no deck on the bridge, but rather two 'tire tracks' laid across the iron trusses.  The bridge clattered and banged as I drove across it.  I'd love to know the story of this bridge—when was it built?  By whom?  And for what purpose?  Who maintains it? 

One sharp left past the bridge, and I was now on FR 287A.  I reset my odometer, having measured about 4.2 miles to the trailhead.  My odometer read 3.8 miles when I finally reached the trailhead, so either my truck or Google Maps is need of calibration.  The trailhead parking is well-signed and has parking for maybe three vehicles, depending on size and how people park.  I should caution that FR 287A is rough in places.  It's also a narrow one-lane shelf road in spots.  Plan accordingly based on your vehicle type and comfort level.  

The west hike on Haunted Canyon 203 begins in beautiful forest.  Arizona cypress, juniper, and pinon pine mix with a lush variety of scrub.  The shaded forest gives way to a climb up a ridge.  Near the top, turn around.  You'll see the mountains directly north of Roosevelt Lake.  Depending on lake level, I'm wondering if the lake itself becomes visible. It's currently sitting below 70% full, and with the haze that was in the air, I'm not certain if I could see the water.  

After the initial ascent, this hikes begins a descent.  There's a cow tank, and beyond that the trail is overgrown and bush-whacky for a section.  From there, you drop into Haunted Canyon and the hike becomes really beautiful.  The forest quickly thickens again. 

Not too far into this section is the side trail to Tony Ranch.  The main 203 trails continues on, eventually ending at the easier, first trailhead.  It was at this point I opted to turn around, having covered just short of four miles.  The hike back up and out felt easier than going in, and I finished in considerably less time.  I wanted to be off the shelf road portion of 287A before dark, a goal I hit easily.

I can now say I've hiked the entire length of Haunted Canyon, and I couldn't think of a more appropriate weekend to have done so. 

Pinal Peak & Telephone Trail

Weather:  73º, sunny

About this Hike:  Just about a year ago to the day we parked at Icehouse CCC and hiked up Pinal Peak via Sixshooter Trail 197.  We enjoyed beautiful wildflowers, a flowing stream, and changing flora with the elevation gain.  This year we opted to drive FR 651 to the summit of Pinal Peak and work our way down. 

With the summit campgrounds being closed right now, we found minimal traffic on the winding, but well-maintained FR 651.  I parked the truck in the shaded pines at Pinal Campground, and we set out for an adventure. 

The thought was to do Telephone Trail 192 and then loop back up on Icehouse 198. This appeared possible on the USFS map. While the trails are well signed, at least one junction sign was uprooted and propped against a tree in the wrong location.  We ended up doing Telephone as an out and back.  At least I think it was Telephone.  It could have been one of the other aforementioned trails.  For next time, I have a map with GPS loaded to a hiking app on my phone for more accurate results.

And speaking of that map, it fell out of my pocket about halfway down the trail.  Thankfully with towers atop Pinal Peak, I had perfect cell reception and downloaded a new copy of the USFS map.  Even better, I found my paper map littering the trail on the way back up and grabbed it.  Leave no trace.

In addition to magnificent trees and cooler temps, we enjoyed views to the south of the Catalina's in not-so-distant Tucson.  There also is a small neighborhood of privately-owned cabins on Pinal Peak with some fascinating history 

The original plan for Pinal was to camp there.  We may try this again when one of the many area campgrounds re-open.  There are a lot of trails in the Pinals, and I'd also like to visit the fire lookout on neighboring Signal Peak.  Overall, this sky island just south of Globe delivered a better-than-expected day hiking in the pines.