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| Backpack | 5.60 Miles |
612 AEG |
| | Backpack | 5.60 Miles | | | |
| 612 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I have a high clearance vehicle but not 4WD so we made it fine using the directions from https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/prescot ... &actid=104 We opted to hike in on FR 95A which just added 1 mile to the trip.
Originally Lois and I were thinking of backpacking to Hutch's Pools near Sabino Canyon, Az. After reading some reviews we weren't super thrilled about it so we chose Apache Creek Wilderness. I'd never heard of Apache Creek Wilderness and it butts against the Prescott National Forest. I looked at Alltrails/RouteScout/Gaia maps, reviews, reports and The Prescott National Forest website. OK, feeling good about this choice! I download every map I find. Originally our plan was to do a loop. This isn't going to be a hard hike. Not a lot of AEG and only about 12 miles for a 3 day 2 night trip. Easy. After Lois and Cindy meet at my house, we decide to change our plan from a loop to, more of a base camp and and explore the creek, and then back out the same way. An out-n-back. Better option for sure! Temps were predicted to be 78/49 all days.
I love hiking with these girls. We stop often to look at plants, rocks or just anything interesting. It's not a rushed point to point trip. It's laid back and look around you kind of trip! And Apache Creek did not disappoint! It's a hidden flourishing, beautiful riparian area. Perennial water source and wildlife. No one else around this little treasure! We set up camp just up away from the creek. We expect rain on Saturday but hiking in on Friday after setting up camp, we got drizzled on. It was welcome and cooling. I'd forgotten that the full moon  is coming up so after dinner we were just admiring the sky. Not only was this close to the full moon, but also a meteor shower! Lois saw 2! 
Saturday after breakfast we hike down the creek. Trail #9905 is the only maintained trail in the Apache Creek Wilderness area. But you must watch for the cairns! There is some overgrowth and areas of bushwacking but nothing we couldn't handle. The creek is beautiful and we stop and look around on this cliff admiring a waterfall. Lois says "A bear! A bear!" I look and see it's butt hightailing it out of there! HOW COOL (and yet scary at the same time)!  Later on down the trail Cindy sees a Javalina across the way. Just watching us. We boogie on down the trail.  After lunch on the creek we head back to camp. We know there will be afternoon rains so we want to beat it. Once back at camp we huddle under an attempt of a shade/rain tarp. These trees SUCK! The ground was too soft for tent stakes so we attempted to hang it from tree branches. We rigged something up but none of us trusted it if a wind came up!  Back to Scouts camp for us!  We stayed there until the wind came up and then ran to our tents! Thunder is a beautiful sound as long as lightning isn't anywhere near you. It was nice. We don't experience a lot of rain in the desert, so this was fine. It cleared up pretty quick and we mirrored the evening before. It felt colder but we figured it was really just all the dampness that makes it feel colder.
Sunday we take our time and slowly break down camp. We hit the trail and the hike back to the vehicle was easy and cool in the shaded areas. We stop in Chino Valley for lunch and a celebratory drink! Cheers to another great backpacking trip! |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Just starting to turn colors. |
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Apache Creek Seep |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | Plenty of water in the entire creek. | | _____________________
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Route Editor
Route Scout
is coming up so after dinner we were just admiring the sky. Not only was this close to the full moon, but also a meteor shower! Lois saw 2! 
Later on down the trail Cindy sees a Javalina across the way. Just watching us. We boogie on down the trail. 
After lunch on the creek we head back to camp. We know there will be afternoon rains so we want to beat it. Once back at camp we huddle under an attempt of a shade/rain tarp. These trees SUCK! The ground was too soft for tent stakes so we attempted to hang it from tree branches. We rigged something up but none of us trusted it if a wind came up! 
Back to Scouts camp for us! 
We stayed there until the wind came up and then ran to our tents! 
