Tag: Mazatzal Wilderness (page 3 of 3)

Bob, Janet, Allen, Nick, Linda, Marilyn, and I hiked the South Fork of Deer Creek on Sunday.  It had rained for on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We saw on many of the mountaintops on the drive up.  Both forks of Deer Creek are often dry, but the South Fork was definitely not dry on Sunday.  Flowing water made hiking somewhat more difficult because the trail crosses the creek a number of times.  In dry conditions, it is possible to hike up the creek bed in many places.

Marilyn took these shots of snow in the mountains at the start of the hike:

This photo, also from Marilyn, shows the wet and rocky conditions in the creek.  There were big rocks all the way up the creek.  We often stepped from rock to rock while fording the creek.  I was happy that I wore my Gortex lined boots.

Another photo from Marilyn showing the running creek:

A dead tree that we saw along the way.  The Willow Fire ravaged the area in 2004.  The trail was obliterated as a result of erosion that occurred after the fire.  The trail was in good shape when we hiked it on Sunday though.

Another view of the trail before it dipped down and zig-zagged across the creek:

Another view of the creek.  In many places, the creek bed was lined with those big rocks.  I  had difficulty hiking on the uneven terrain.

From time to time, the trail left the creek.  I was surprised to find this expanse of golden yellow grass.

These red seed pods in front of another dead tree caught my eye.

Linda’s colorful gaiters:

The white snow-capped peak in the photo below was visible for quite a long time as we hiked up the creek.  I thought it would continue to get larger and larger as we got closer.  It disappeared from view at some point though.  I don’t think we were able to see it again until we got far enough back on our return trip.

We saw several rapids, or perhaps miniature waterfalls, along the way.

I almost passed this one by, but everyone else was photographing it, so I did too.  I’m happy I stopped because I like this shot.

Linda hikes ahead of me, past a large red rock:

Janet, Linda, Marilyn, and Bob hike through one of many picturesque areas:

Marilyn readies her camera to take her own photos of this area:

Janet finds a way across the creek.  I lost count of the number of times we ended up crossing it.

Nick pretends to gnaw on a bone that he found.  Most of us stopped for lunch shortly thereafter.

I got this photo of some rapids as the rest ate lunch.

Janet hikes above another small waterfall.

The same waterfall with the Sun peeking through the vegetation:

I thought it was interesting to see stones intertwined with the roots of this fallen tree.

Nick rests by the creek while the rest of of catch up:

Linda, Marilyn, Nick, Janet, Bob, and Allen pose alongside and behind some cattails.  Apparently, the brim of my hat made it into the photo too.

Back in mid-May, Joe, Bob, Nancy, and I hiked the Little Saddle Mountain Trail.  On that very same morning, a man from Mesa shot an incendiary shotgun round into some brush probably not more than a mile from where we were hiking.  This turned into a massive fire, known as the Sunflower Fire, that would eventually burn 17,446 acres in the area.

Joe, Marilyn, and I attempted to hike some of the Little Saddle Mountain Trail on Sunday afternoon.

We could see that some of the hills had been burned from where we parked, but the initial quarter mile or so of trail hasn’t been much affected.

I saw a bee pollinating some flowers…

…and some more flowers growing amidst some prickly pear:

Marilyn took this picture of an Agave.  You can see some burned trees on the hillside to the right.

Marilyn also took this photo of me and Joe hiking past some burned trees.  There’s some new growth in the middle of the remnants of the shrub on the far left – I think it might be a Manzanita plant that had burned there.  My guess is that the new growth is Manzanita too.

Burned trees:

More burned trees:

We encountered a blooming Agave or Century Plant:

Here’s a close-up shot of the blooms…

…and another crop showing the very top of the plant.  I don’t think I had ever seen one in bloom before.  As I was editing it, I noticed some bees on these blooms.

The creek had only a little bit of water in it.  We ended up hiking in the creek for a while because the trail became very difficult to find and follow.  Either new growth has sprouted up where the trail is or rain has washed parts of it away.  This is not uncommon in areas that have been ravaged by fires.  We made it just slightly less than two miles along the trail before turning back.  We could have gone further, but I was outvoted.

A roll of rusty barbed wire hung up on a burned out tree.  I think I noticed this wire on a previous hike, but of course, the tree wasn’t burned then.

A view as we were hiking back through the creek:

A ridged and pocked rock perched on the bank of the creek near some burned trees.  Their proximity to the creek did not protect these trees.

Joe, hiking up a hill on the way back:

Another interesting looking boulder:

Fallen Prickly Pear fruit below a ridge line of burned trees.  Most of the Prickly Pear that we saw looked to be in reasonable condition.  Most of the Barrel Cacti that we saw though seemed to have been burned on the inside leaving only a yellow husk.