Summerhaven – Turkey Run – Aspen Draw – Radio Ridge – I wonder if the Forest Service or Arizona Historical Society have the brochure that matches the old markers along the trail – it would be fun to hike the trail and read the descriptions…
I had never done an out and back of the Wilderness of Rocks Trail from the Marshall Gulch Trailhead – beautiful, and more strenuous than I expected! There is flowing water – but as you head west towards the junction with the Lemmon Trail the flow has stopped and only pools remain.
Green ferns and shade on the Wilderness of Rocks Trail. April 2014.
I often avoid the Marshall Gulch Trailhead – often uncomfortably jammed with cars and sometimes an inspiring but overwhelming number of people – but it does quickly take you to an amazing area of the mountain – Aspen Trail up and back today.
A horned Lizard along the Aspen Trail. April 2014.
Antennas on Radio Ridge from the Aspen Trail. April 2014.
High on the trail there was snow hiding under some of the young pines – the storm the previous weekend had dropped the snow, I was surprised to still see it on the mountain. April 2014.
The Box Spring Trail appears on many maps – but it is fading back into the mountain. The sign that used to mark the junction with the Box Camp Trail is gone, the start of the trail has been obscured and the original track no longer exists.
The start of the Box Camp Trail – obscured – and with good reason, this ‘trail’ is now at best a rugged off-trail adventure. May 2014.
The first part of the Box Spring trail is very overgrown, but it is still somewhat reasonable up to a small (rather nice) saddle (where you leave the trail for Brinkley Point) – below the saddle you can follow a path and cairns, but the trail quickly becomes much more aggressively overgrown, the footing loose and the route obscure. Eventually the route starts to follow a rugged drainage.
Working down the drainage that takes you down to Sabino Canyon – not the original path of the trail, but now probably the best option… May 2014.
Sections of the drainage are filled with debris, part very overgrown and occasionally it is filled with Poison Ivy – barely a route except for the cairns I suppose… but the reward…
