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Picketpost Mountain, outside of Superior, Arizona. 7 December 2019.

#Picketpost Mountain #Superstition Wilderness #Arizona

When I first arrived here at the Picketpost Mountain Trailhead I posted about hiking the trails. In the post Arizona Trails, I said that I would return to the Picketpost Trail and reach the summit. With a week left before my departure, the time to face my challenge was growing short. I woke up on Tuesday and decided it was the day.

Tuesdays at the trailhead are light days. Gayle and I discussed the plan. The weather was cool and I was as ready as I would be. I set out mid-morning to reach the top of Picketpost Mountain. My parting words were “I’ll be back around 2, well maybe 3.” Some of you may be experienced with hiking to a mountain top and cringing at theses last statements. Perhaps I hadn’t thought things out as thoroughly as I should have. Two minor mistakes which I realized about half way up the mountain. First, I was hiking alone. Not a great idea when hiking somewhere you have never been before. Second, it was a light day at the trailhead. This meant that there were few people with the same idea as me: to go to the top of the mountain. While I enjoy the solitude on a hike, later you will learn why I regretted not having a crowd n the mountain.

The first mile and a half was just like I remembered it, a gently upward climb on a well-defined trail mixed at times with loose rock. I made good progress and quickly arrived at the point where Aria and I had turned around on the first hike up Picketpost Mountain. I had seen nobody on the trail. At this point the gentle slope turned into a steep slope and I came to a point where it appeared the trail split in two different directions. I was sure I had seen previous hikers taking the left path up a rock, but the right path look well-travelled and had cairns and chalk makings. I chose the well-travelled path. It continued upward and closer to the edge of a cliff. Soon I hit a point where I could not see any way to continue, but could see about 15 feet above me and to my right what looked to be the trail with another cairn. Stumped at how I could get to it, I backtracked to where the trail split. I looked at the trail going up the rock. It appeared to be a climb, but I couldn’t see where it might lead. I thought I could go up, but wasn’t sure how I would get back down if I went up. I followed the other trail back again to see if there was something I missed. I was stumped. Neither trail offered up a solution for me. I returned to the junction to think. While I pondered and studied the trail on the rock, I noticed some people coming down from the mountain. I decided to wait and see which way they went and follow their path upwards. Down they came over the rock trail. As they came closer, I was amazed to see the trail that was invisible to me until they walked on it. I chatted a bit with them about the trail to learn what they could tell me. Having never been past this point, some of their descriptions made little sense to me. I filed away their trail descriptions for the near future and started my climb.

The slope was about a 60 degree angle and in order for me to reach the path at the top of the rock, I was on hands and knees scrambling up the rock with whatever hand/footholds I could find. I got to the path and discovered, it wasn’t much of a path. I walked along the path, every now and then seeing a chalk mark or cairn left from a previous hiker. I decided the hiking poles were going to be useless at this point, so I shortened them as much as possible and hooked them to the back of my pack. Throughout the rest of the hike, I was cursing them as they would get in the way at the most inopportune time.

Aria has a knack for always choosing the correct path to take; I don’t. I took one wrong turn and ended up about 10 feet higher than I should have been, on a dead-end trail. But I wasn’t the first, as it appeared others had made a path back to the first. Unfortunately, it was more like a slide of loose dirt. I slid down to the path on my butt. I went a bit faster than I expected and grabbed hold of a large rock to stop by descent. If the end of the slide was a nice wide space, I wouldn’t have worried. However, I stopped on the path with my feet somewhat dangling over a very steep drop. The drop wasn’t something I wanted to experience, as I am sure the result would have been many broken bones. As a kid, I had no fear of heights. I would dangle from tree limbs high above the ground without a thought. Today, hanging onto the rock, I wasn’t very brave. I clambered up and sat on the rock, which was secure and provided me a space to breathe and relax. I think I sat there contemplating how I was going to return to camp, but I was frozen to the rock and not about to move. After about 10 minutes, I heard voices coming up from below. I relaxed a bit more and waited hoping they would appear near me.

Two older gentleman came up the trail and greeted me. I thought about asking them to help me get back down, but decided instead to ask if I could join them. They had no issue. Dan (or Dave as I forgot his name exactly) was 75 and had been up to the top 4 times. His friend Toby was 72 and on his first trip up. The three of us continued the journey to the top.

The trail was confusing as the chalk markings and cairns contradicted each other at times. As a group we explored each avenue to determine which appeared to be the correct path. Gayle would not have liked this hike at all. I am not sure I would call it a hike, but rather a climb. The last mile of the trail to the top seems to be more rock climbing than anything else. The going was much slower than I anticipated. After many rocks, bumps & scrapes along with bashing my knee two times, we made it to the top. Or so I thought. There in front of me was a trail of rocks that somebody had laid out. This was no natural path. Whomever put this down, took time to create it. I wasn’t yet at the “top”. About 900 yards of this trail led us to the top. There sat a wrought iron, 2 person bench and a mailbox. The mailbox was stuffed full of items including a book which I signed. Near the mailbox is a geological survey plaque set in the rock.

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At this point, it was about 2:15 pm. My journey so far had taken all of my estimated time. Being on top of the mountain provided the best cell signal that I had in days, so I sent Gayle a text indicating I made it to the top, and wouldn’t be back until probably 5 pm. The views were spectacular and my pictures don’t do them justice. I have included two panoramic shots to give a 360 degree view of what I saw. I wanted to stay longer than the 30 minutes we did, to enjoy the views and partly because I wasn’t eager to face some of the downward challenges.

Off we went to work our way down. Somehow we ended up on an easier trail down that followed a dried up water fall. The rock was smooth, but it meant we didn’t need to climb down as many of the rocks we had clambered over on the way up. The trek down went much faster than I expected. At the spots on the upward journey where I clung to the rock for my life, it seemed much less daunting. Perhaps the perspective coming down changes the difficulty of the challenge? All I know is that when you can see the path before you, it is much easier and less challenging then when you are unsure of where your next step or handhold will be. I’m not saying that I still didn’t cling to the rock at times when the cliff was on one side of me with only inches to place my feet, but I was confident that I could do it without and problem.

Would I do this again? My original answer was no. But now as I write this, I would say – maybe. If I go again, it will be with a group and without my hiking poles. Perhaps a better pair of shoes also. The rocks were a bit hard on my shoes, and they are a bit ripped on the sides. Challenge yourself and you will gain confidence in yourself.

To the top and back…. When I first arrived here at the Picketpost Mountain Trailhead I posted about hiking the trails. In the post…

#Arizona #Hiking #Nature #Picketpost Mountain #Pictures #Plan

Today we hiked to a new area around Picketpost Mountain. We headed to Arnett Canyon. The only way to get to the canyon is to park and hike in. Luckily for me, I can get to the canyon via a short trail off of segment 17 of the Arizona Trail.

The trail is used often by horse riders and cattle. Aria loved the trail with all the horse apples, but she ignored cow pies. It led us through mesquite and tall grass that the cattle appear to have neglected. On each side of us rock formations grew from ancient magma flows beneath the surface. Every now and then I was able to see the summit of Picketpost Mountain, but not often. We didn’t hike the entire canyon as we got a late start.

On our return to the RV, we passed rocks with moss of various shades of green. Some appeared to be fluorescent as if a kid had painted the rocks with a bright yellow/green highlighter.

As we rounded the last turn we had a view of the mountains with Wheeler’s Needle appearing prominently. I attempted to take a picture, but the iPhone just doesn’t capture what beauty the eye can see. Therefore, I have blown up the section where Wheeler’s Needle is, so perhaps you can pick it out of the landscape shot.

Arnett Canyon Today we hiked to a new area around Picketpost Mountain. We headed to Arnett Canyon. The only way to get to the canyon is to park and hike in.

#Arizona #Arnett Canyon #Hiking #Nature #Picketpost Mountain #Pictures #Trails #Wheeler&039;s Needle #Wildlife

Since arriving in Arizona, Aria and I have been slowly increasing the distance we hike on the trails. There are two segments of the Arizona Trail that we hike and then there is the trail to the top of Picketpost Mountain. We started off with heading out a half mile south on the Arizona Trail segment 17. This brought us to the start of the trail to the top of Picketpost Mountain. Since one of my tasks is to pick up trash along the trail a mile each way from the trailhead, I decided to find the mile mark on each segment. Aria and I set out on the Arizona Trail heading north on Segment 18. After a pleasant stroll and following a cow path instead of trail, we arrived at a point a little further than a mile along the trail. Along this route there are many signs of civilization like power lines and ranches. On this hike, I learned that Aria likes the scent of cows better than man. We came to a point where the trail split into two directions. I have learned that usually Aria is able to pick the correct trail to follow. So I followed her along a well used path that was easy on her paws. Soon we came upon the end of the path at a windmill and water basin along with a corral for the cows. I consulted the trail app (Hiking Project by REI) on my phone to see where the trail actually went. We were not far off the trail and the wash we crossed would lead us back to the trail. Along the wash, we came upon one cow that never made it to the water source. Based on the bleached bones, I would say the it had been there for quite some time. Once back on the trail, we needed to go through a couple of gates and tunnels that took us under US 60. This was designed so hikers would not need to cross the busy highway. I guess the gates were there to keep the cattle from crossing. During the hike I decided to get Aria some boots for hiking. We stopped many times to remove the cheat grass and buckthorn from her paws. I will write more about dog hiking boots in another post.

After a couple of days, Aria and I ventured south to find the mile mark. Segment 17 of the Arizona Trail winds its way around the base of Picketpost Mountain. There are no signs of civilization along this section. The trail rolls up and down and provides views of various cacti and valleys. It is quite scenic, but very little shade. A.bout a week later, Aria and I extended our hiking on this segment to the 2 mile mark.

Officially, the trail that leads up to the summit of Picketpost Mountain, is not a maintained trail. Aria and I journeyed about 1.5 miles up the trail until it got to a point where I would need to start carrying Aria down the rocks. She wanted to keep going up and in her mountain goat style would hop from rock to rock. But I decided that we would turn back. The route at times is not defined. I made a couple turns that led to dead ends. Hiking poles are and advantage as the trail has many spots with loose gravel/rocks that are easy to slip on. For me, this means moving at a slower pace. I think I moved slower going downhill than I did on the upward climb. At some point in the future, I will hike up to the summit.

Arizona Trails Since arriving in Arizona, Aria and I have been slowly increasing the distance we hike on the trails.

#Arizona #Arizona Trail #Hiking #Nature #Picketpost Mountain #Pictures #Trails