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| Hiking | 32.55 Miles |
4,850 AEG |
| | Hiking | 32.55 Miles | 11 Hrs 5 Mns | | 3.44 mph |
| 4,850 ft AEG | 1 Hour 37 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Ever since I hiked the new section 16 of the AZT and looked into Martinez canyon I was a mission to check out the Martinez cabins/mill/mines.
I wanted to park at where Price road/Box canyon intersect, but I missed it and went up Box Canyon to right before the canyon narrows up.
I wanted to hike and not do much 4x4ing. I can hike faster that I can off-road/4x4 and it's less nerve racking (especially bouldering and steps!).
I started hiking a little after 8 and the box canyon was nice and cool. By 9 I was at the Martinez turnoff.
I got to the cabins and headed to off the mill and the mines. I explored for a while, looking at the mill mines and machinery. I then headed to the Columbia / Silver belle mines. There was twice I thought I took a wrong turn because there was no road, just a creek with big boulders. Then I saw a road. I climb up almost to the Belle Mine and had a good view of the area. I could now see the AZT section 16 where I was looking into this canyon last February!
Life is Good! 
I was tempted to check out the 'luge', but I wasn't sure on how long it would take to get to the Coke Ovens, so I turned around.
When I returned to the cabin there was about 6 ATVs there. Up until this point I hadn't seen one ATV or 4x4. I got down to the spring and there was about 5 ATVs there. One guy asked if it was crowded at the cabin. I replied that there was 6 ATVs. The Guy said "Oh so it's pretty empty". I replied "that's one perspective". The guys then said that that area gets very crowded.
I was under the impression that the Martinez Canyon was closed to ATVs, but I never saw a sign stating it.
One the way out from the cabin, there must have been 15 quads/ATVs and 5 Jeeps going in. I'm glad I brought my MP3 player to drown out the noise.
Next was the Coke Ovens. Along the way I saw two spots where there was windshield glass all over the road. I'm guessing it was a rollover. When I got to the loop section, there was 2 Jeeps and a trike sitting at the intersection. They asked me which way was better and I told them I was going to left because there was no vehicles coming out that way.
I was impressed when I first saw the Coke Ovens. The pictures don't do it justice. I was surprised at how much cooler it was in the ovens; it felt like it was 10 degrees cooler. A couple minutes later a set of ATVs pulled up. They said they left shortly after seeing me at the Martinez cabin. They were amazed at how fast I got there. Then the Jeeps and the trike pulled up. I beat then by 5 minutes. I guess this re-affirms my belief that you can hike faster than ATV's on rough roads.
I talked to folk and learned that the Gila was 3 feet deep. One guy told me that the house next to the cabins was pristine 15 years ago and over time 'idiots' stole the appliances, broke all the windows and trashed the place.
The Jeeps were worried about the trike, so they left to tow the trike across the Gila and drop it off at in Florence.
I took a nice lunch inside the Coke Oven. A sheriff's helicopter buzzed by the ovens and one point.
I had an hour to explore, so I went to validate a shortcut route I had though up. From looking at my topo's, it looked like there might be a way to hike back to Price road from the north side of the Gila. There was flat land on the North side of the Gila all the way until what looked like a wall. The train crosses the river here via a bridge. I was hoping that there might be a way to get to the bridge before the wall. I found a road going the direction of the bridge. By now I was in a mesquite forest that provided ample shade. I was getting very hopeful when I saw the bridge in the near distance and especially when the GPS showed the bridge being less than a 1,000 feet away! The road punched out of the woods right at the Gila. I saw the wall, a bunch of do-able rocks below it and nothing. It was a dead end with the Gila flowing that deep and fast. I backtracked to see if there was any way around the wall and there was nothing reasonable. So the only way to shortcut back to Price road is to cross the Gila when it low and follow the tracks back.
After 4 o'clock I didn't see another ATV. I returned to the Jeep via the roads just as it got dark.
The temps were perfect in the morning and the evening. The middle of the day was very warm. I went through 7 liters of fluids.
This is a cool place to explorer either by vehicle or hiking. |
| _____________________
"Everywhere is walking distance...If you have the time"
-Stephen Wright |
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