Grandpa Does the Arizona Trail: Passage 18

February 2, 2023 with Chris

Continuing with my project to fill the gaps hiking the trail, Chris and I hiked out-and-back from the Picketpost Trailhead south of U.S. 60, to an Arizona Trail gate about 4 miles from the trailhead. We were less than 1/2 mile from the spot we started from in 2005. It was a perfect Arizona day, with no snakes, unlike last time (too cold). This stretch of the passage trends uphill toward Whitford Canyon, with about 2 miles on a ridgeline that allows great views of Picketpost Mountain (pictured above), the Dripping Springs Mountains, and (unfortunately) what looks like a tailings field, perhaps from the new Resolution mine. About 2 miles into the hike, the trail crosses the (f-ing) slurry pipe that will service the new mine; at least the pipe runs parallel to an existing railroad track. The flowers are just beginning to bloom on a few cacti, and we saw some quail, deer, and rabbits (plus some hawks in the air).

Queen Creek is running at the crossing, and things look lush and green. We stopped at mile 4.71 of the hike (according to RouteScout), at an AZT gate that is clearly marked on the AZT passage maps.

Going under U.S. 60 from the Picketpost trailhead, we may have passed the oldest AZT gate on the trail (pictured). Who can tell?

April 10, 2005 with Chris, Richard, Sarah, Ranger

On this day, we hiked approximately one third of this passage, north of U.S. 60, primarily in Whitford Canyon, from the first junction with FR 650 to about a mile and a half before the trail intersects the road into the Rogers Trough Trailhead (a total of about 3 miles away).

Here is the original text concerning the day:

AZT--Whitford Canyon

Purple hedgehog cactus blooms, lupine, orange poppies (a few), blooming burdock, yellow and white daisy-like flowers.

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I notice that I didn't mention probably the outstanding feature of the trip, which was the number of rattlesnakes we saw on the trip:  3.  We saw one on the road from the car, and two while on the trail, including one at our lunch stop, coiled in a dead pine about 2 feet from where Chris was eating lunch.  Thankfully, the dog didn't notice, being intent on her sandwich.  After I warned them away from the striking area, we realized that we needed to get the dog snake-trained, which we did later in the spring.

Here's the passage map:  https://aztrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/18_ReavisCanyon.pdf