Strawberry to Fossil Creek June 16-18

[tonyp]

This is part of the Desperate End Guidebook Tour.
Yes, this is Monday - Wednesday. That's where my window opened.
I want to hike down to the confluence of Fossil Creek and the Verde via Deadman Mesa, and then return via the Verde River Trail #11.
There is no reliable documentation that I could find on where and if these trails actually meet, but it would be a fairly straightforward bushwhack if they don't.
That's our project for the 17th, besides just splashing around.
It is possible to follow the power lines (with some bush-whacking) from Twin Butte TH back to Deadman Mesa, but that's an extra 3-4 miles that could be easily eliminated with an easy car shuttle.
Obviously, this could be done as an overnight, and I'm all for that if it makes a car shuttle possible.
I'm going to be in Strawberry anyway on the 15th, so I'll just camp somewhere near the TH Sunday night. So don't figure me in carpool plans.
I am open do doing this trip in the other direction, or in+out on the Verde Trail.

Deadman Mesa is 7-8 miles depending on how far you get your vehicle in, and the flow of Fossil Creek. The road across Deadman in 4WD all the way.
Verde River to the E Verde Confluence is 10 miles. The Twin Buttes TH can be reached by normal vehicles.
Note that either hike drops or gains up to 2500' from top of the mesa to river's edge.

I'm on the road by 6/12, so we need to know by then, or depend a awful lot on coincidence. (Hey, funny meeting you at the trailhead...)

[joebartels]

There is no reliable documentation that I could find on where and if these trails actually meet, but it would be a fairly straightforward bushwhack if they don't.

I'd prepare for the worst. Somewhere in that area I've heard horror stories of bushwhacking

[te_wa]

you can see the trip in detail (sort of) by googling desert lavender deadman mesa
ive been looking at this trip, but with a canyoneering adventure using the E. Verde to tie the 2 trails together.

[tonyp]

That's why I left an extra day to recon the route between the two trails. Worst case scenario is that we don't find it, and have to go out te way we came. We will see.
The theory is that if the canyon is impassable, we can climb the ridgeline that separates Fossil Creek and the East Verde, and find the Verde Trail. Of course, that's just lines on paper...
If I lose that day for whatever reason, I'll probably just out and back on the Verde Trail, which seems the safer bet from a Buick's perspective.

Thanks.
Tony

[tonyp]

So, I leave tomorrow and can't guarantee I'll see the web between now and hike time.
I am going to park my car at the Twin Buttes trailhead Monday morning. I will probably do this as a straight overnighter, going in and out on the Verde trail. Making a loop hike adds 8 miles of bushwhacking on top of the ridge, plus whatever has to happen down by the river. I only need one hike description, so we'll save that mystery for my second edition.
(Unless someone shows up with the means to car-shuttle).

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Tony