Hike Log

Dry Run – 6P1-SoCA

Trailhead:

Chantry Flats

Type of Hike:

Day hike

Trail Conditions:

Trail in good condition

ROAD:

Road suitable for all vehicles

Bugs:

Bugs were an annoyance

Snow:

Snow free

This was are first of the SoCA 6 pack for us and definitely an eye opener about the differences from hiking in AZ or New England.  We were fortunate to be able to hike this on a Wednesday which provided us a lot of solitude on the trail.  We were surprised just how few people we actually saw.  The weather was fantastic with very clear skies and a temperature around 70 degrees.  We had made a previous attempt to bag this summit about 6 weeks earlier but had gotten caught off guard with heavy rains and only went to the falls and back.  We considered the previous trip a dry run but actually got our “dry” run on this trip.  The air was fantastic and the trail soft under foot.

Our route took us out of the lot down the paved road then along the Sturtevant trail.  Since we hit the falls on our previous trip we opted to skip the falls this time.  This was also the spot where we hit our first bit of trail confusion.  The trail sign is off the trail to the left, I would have expected it to be directly on the edge of the trail but it is set back to the left quite a bit.   When we went to the falls on the last trip we didn't even notice it but fortunately on this day there were some hikers right at the sign that were familiar with the trail and we were able to get some clarity from them.  They also pointed out that the majority of the elevation gain would be after the campground of which our legs confer.  We stopped at the campground, swung on the swing, rang the bell and then proceeded the climb to the top.  The last mile or so of the climb is a nice mix of beautiful wooded trail with brief opening to look out at your achievement and the surrounding mountains.

Once at the summit we found it just about as quite as the trail with very few people.  We filled our water at the water station adjacent to the pavilion. Nice clean good tasting water.  This is where we hit our 2nd point of confusion.  From what we read on this site we were prepared to have a little trouble with locating the trail down.  What we ended up doing was going out the main gait then taking the fire road.  My GPS indicated we were off the mapped trail at one point along the fire road but we stuck to the fire road as it turned back towards the left until we got to a very distinct left offshoot which ultimately got us to a trail sign confirming our location.  We made good pace going down the trail despite some significant trail obstacles in the form of fallen trees.  Once at the Winter creek junction we chose to take the Upper Winter Creek Trail back to Chantry Flats.  We could see the creek at the junction but once we left along the Upper trail that was the last of any significant water.  We chose the upper winter creek in anticipation of being tired and not wanting to do the climb back up the road we started down.  We were very happy with our choice to drop down into the Chantry Flats Trail head at the end of the long solid hike.

In short, for us from AZ the wooded trails were a nice change but the bugs were something we don't get much of on the desert trails so some repellent will be brought on the next SoCA peak.  The trail could have been marked better.  Definitely familiarize yourself with the trail beforehand if you've never been and follow the comments of others.  Enjoyed!

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

AZ Winter 20% off early-bird rate ends in

:
:
: