August GHOTM- 6th Annual West Fork Wade Aug 22-24th

Saturday August 23rd will be the 6th Annual West Fork Wade.
Here are some links to the past threads about the hike: 2007 Hike , 2006 Hike

Most of you know by now that this is not your ordinary 14 mile hike. There is water, creeks, wet slippery boulder hopping, mud and some swimming involved on this one. Plan on hiking from 6 to 12+ hours on this one. If you haven't done a 14 mile hike before don't choose this as your first. If your unsure of your abilities I would recommend doing your own hike from the Call of the Canyon TH, it's about 2-3 miles to get down to the creek and you can go up creek as long and you want and then turn around and head back.

There is a pretty long car shuttle involved in this one as it's a one way hike. In previous years we were lucky enough to have some wonderfull people volunteer to drop people off, then hang out hours later and go pick them back up and the other side and drive back to the campsite from there. Well that plan backfired last year when there weren't enough shuttle drivers and some people couldn't do the hike and had to play shuttle driver. I don't want that to happen this year, nor do I want to rely on someone to drive for us. There is a pretty simple fix, just have groups start at opposite ends and swap keys in the middle, then drive each others cars back around to camp. So thats the plan we'll try for this year.

Campsite: Just North of I40 and exit 190. Directions: From Flagstaff, take I-40 W west about 5 miles to exit 190, A-1 Mountain Road. Go right at the stop sign onto FR 506. You'll pass by a to-be-built subdivision on the left. From where the road turns to dirt at a cattle guard (about 1/4 mile from the interstate), go 0.9 miles to a turnoff for the camping area on the left. The road is fine for low-clearance vehicles.

Directions to Call o' the Canyon - Take 89A south 17.5 miles south from Flagstaff or north 9.5 miles from Sedona to about halfway between milepost 385 and 384. Located on West side of 89A.

Directions to hike drop off - Take I-40 to exit 191 (Bus 40). Take a right and head East to Woody Mountain road (FR 231). Take that South about 15 miles to the bridge spanning Oak Creek. There is room to park a few vehicles if necessary. Mainly a gravel road, and low-clearance okay.

What to bring?: Pack light and waterproof everything the best you can. It may be wet in a few spots, and will definitely be a full day, so pack accordingly.

I plan on camping both Friday and Saturday nights on this one, with the hike being on Saturday.

Lets plan on having a potluck Saturday night and let Friday night be on our own. If you plan on camping Saturday night let me know what you want to bring to the potluck and I will keep this post updated.

Saturday Night Potluck:
Tim- Grilled Shrimp Appetizer and a fruit salad-- Plates, Forks, Spoons, Knifes as well
Paintninaz- Chili, Cornbread and some bowls and world famous chips and salsa!!
Jdahling- Brats / Mets, buns and condiments
Hnak- pie for dessert.... or an appetizer
Outside1- rice side dish and Muffins for Breakfast Saturday or Sunday
Wanderingsoul- some corn on cob.

Tom Treks · Gear Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 3347