Happy Jack Passage
We seem to have done this passage in at least three legs:
September 25, 2004:
Forest Road 211 to a road junction near Kenneth Tank.
September 16, 2006: Bergaman Park to Allan Lake
August 22, 2007: Bergaman Park to approximately Dave’s Tank.
I seem to remember hiking (scouting) the short section between Forest Road 211 and SR 87, though I didn’t document it.
Notes:
9/25/04 Sarah, Richard, Chris, me, Ranger
Relatively flat, 70-80 degrees, climb out of initial dirt road. Ponderosa pines, jeep road through Jack’s Canyon. Ponderosa pines in thickets above canyon.
No animals to see. Clear day. Nice country, easy hiking. Biggest adventure—trying to take jeep trails back to main forest road. Sarah got very frustrated and walked after a couple of miles. Richard knocked out his cruise control.
Saturday, August 22, 2007
Chris, Richard, Sarah, Ranger, me
Bergaman Park to approximately Dave’s Tank (changed route). Day was partly cloudy to cloudy, c. 70-80 degrees Farenheit. I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu when we got to the forst road junction east of Bergaman Park. I would have sworn that I’d been there before. Everything looked familiar, but nothing (like trail junctions) was where it “should have been.” That feeling persisted throughout the day, but I’ve checked my records—I’ve never hiked that area before. It must be similar to the scenery around Jack’s Canyon in 2004.
The route has changed from the old topo version of the trail route. I’ve marked where Richard and I thought it was. I love hiking these woods—the forest roads crisscross the area and it’s pretty flat. The Ponderosa woods are punctuated by great meadows (parks). It’s hard to tell if the springs in the area would sustain a through hike that didn’t use caches.
Wildlife we saw:
2 herds of elk, 1 King Snake, several horny toads (!) and domestic cows.
Ranger picked up a thorn or something that has infected his paw.
I-17 was blocked on the return journey, and we came home via Pine-Strawberry-Payson. We had supper at the Pine Mountain (?). I’ve now travelled the Stoneman Lake Road (busy) and the General Crook Trail (deserted).
9/16/06
Bergaman Park to Allan Lake.
Open Ponderosa Pine forest, mostly flat. Perfect weather—Blue sky, low humidity, 75-85 degrees.
Bergaman Park is a huge meadow (1/2 x ½ mile?).
Saw an elk, which we chased (unintentionally) down the trail.
Richard’s Birthday—beer and carrot cake in the woods.
(These pictures are all from the August 25, 2007 hike.)
(These pictures are all from the August 25, 2007 hike.)
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