The Knagge Trail has the perfect amount of soft snow – plenty to enjoy, but not enough to require anything more than trekking poles and a little care to navigate. The old Knagge cabin site and mine are high enough to still have a light blanket of snow from this year’s unusually wet winter – lower on the trail, in oaks and sun, the snow disappears long before the large old cairn on the ridge and the carsonite marker declaring the end of the maintained trail. Past the marker the ‘trail’ seems obvious, drawing you down along the ridge connecting sections of maybe-this-is-the-old-trail just good enough to go just a little farther… Too soon any illusion that I am still on the old trail disappears and it is time to head back up.
knagge cabin
Knagge Trail – 2/15/2018
Clouds cover the mountain, small waterfalls decorate highway road cuts and on the trail every small drainage is flowing – the variety on the mountain is infinite, what an interesting day to be on the Knagge ‘Trail’!
The Knagge Trail is still drawn onto maps of Santa Catalina Mountains, but like the Davis Spring and Brush Corral Trails, it disappears long before reaching it’s eastern terminus. You can, of course, still make your way down to the junction of the Knagge Trail and the Davis Spring Trail in Edgar Canyon, and even find occasional convincing pieces of old trails, but at this point it is an off-trail adventure.
From Look to the Mountains, p. 69:
In addition to their homestead and the pack train, The Knagges worked a mining claim in the Catalinas. It was located on the east side of Kellogg Mountain. From around 1916 into the 1930’s, the family spent time at the claim during the summer under very rustic conditions. A simple cabin provided shelter and a spring supplied them with fresh water. On occasion, a mountain lion stalked the camp, lured by their horses and burros.
Knagge Trail to the Cabin, Snow – 1/31/2015
Lower on the highway everything was wet – Seven Cataracts is roaring and all the usual road-cut waterfalls flowing – but somewhere around Barnum Rock the rain turned to big wet snow flakes!
The snow seems like a surprise after the rain – but it has been snowing long enough to cover Incinerator Ridge Road and put snow on the Incinerator Ridge Trail – a frozen sign greets me at the start of the Knagge Trail.
Clouds cover the mountain and snow covers the trail – there aren’t any footsteps to follow today but finding the trail isn’t a problem. I start to wonder about snow collecting on the highway – but surely there is time to make it to the old cabin site…
The snow has turned to rain by the time I finish the hike down to the cabin – out of time I head back up into the snow.
2.5 Miles, +/- 1100′ of elevation gain and loss.