Highline Trail 10/19-10/22

[Javelina Scotty]

Hello all, don't post much but have enjoyed all the info I have gotten from your website. I did the Highline trail a couple weeks ago with a buddy and thought I would share a little of our trip. I have done portions of this trail in the past but never the entire trip in one go. We had a limited amount of time but now I can at least say that I have done it.

Started a little late on Friday afternoon and hiked from the Pine TH to the Geronimo TH (7.7 mi) and camped there for the night. Had a good day of weather and the trail was also pretty good. That night and early Sat morning we had elk bugling just above camp. Saturday we left at about 8 a.m. and planned on having lunch at Washington Park (9.5 mi). I did this section earlier in the year and new what to expect. Weather again was good and the trail was good until we started hitting some of the bigger creek beds coming off of the rim. The summer storms that the rim got must have been amazing. Some of the creeks looked like they had some serious water running thru them. The dead trees, brush and boulders that were piled up was unbelievable. Made finding the trail and crossing it a little difficult but not to bad. Saw a lot of big elk rubs and heard a little bugling in the a.m. Got into Washington Park a little behind schedule but was able to eat a good lunch and fill up on water. We planned on walking a couple more hours that day and not sure of the available water sources ahead so we filtered some water to carry for camp that night and headed towards Dude Creek. Camped just above the creek on a high spot and had a good first part of the night. We were able to get cell phone service almost everywhere on the trail, thus, we were able to get updates on the college football scores (Go Ducks). The wind started to come up later that night and started blowing pretty good. Our camp was situated on a little knoll and the wind whipped a lot of the dirt into the tents. Didn’t really sleep much after that started. We got up Sunday morning with the plan to make it to the fish hatchery. I have also done this portion of the trail and knew that this would be our longest and hardest day. From where we camped it would be about 14 miles to the Fish Hatchery TH. This, in my opinion was the toughest part of the trail. It was rough going with a few newly blown down trees across the trail to fight through. We made it about 5 p.m. to Tonto Creek and felt tired but in pretty good shape. At this point we had about 17 miles to go. We really wanted to be done on Monday night and any hopes of doing that we knew we would have to walk a little farther. So, we filtered water and ate dinner and then decided to do a little night hiking with our headlamps. Our destination would be Horton Springs for camp. But realizing that is was 4.3 miles and we had already walked about 14, we really weren't sure how far we would go. The moon was pretty bright so the trail walking was good. This portion is pretty popular so the trail finding for the first couple of miles was easy. About an hour into it we lost the trail. Backtracked just a little and found it and kept on going. We arrived at Horton Springs about 8 p.m. Much easier walking. So, we covered about 18 miles that Sunday and feeling pretty tired. As I mentioned, the wind had been blowing since Saturday night. Now on Sunday night it was really blowing. We set up camp as fast as we could and fell asleep. That sleep lasted for me for about an hour. As a stiff breeze came into the tent, I smelled something pretty nasty. My first thought was “Is that me?” but I new that it was more like a skunky smell (skunk, javelina, bear, etc…?). It was hard to hear anything moving around camp as the wind was blowing so hard. At times you could hear tree branches breaking and hitting the ground. I pretty much laid awake until 3 a.m. wondering if a tree was going to fall on us and what the heck was sniffing around camp. I just kept looking for shadows outside my tent but never saw anything. Just as I would tell myself it is just my imagination then I would hear sniffing or grunting (I thought). Well, I think I dozed off for a couple hours until the alarm went of at 5 a.m. We woke up to about 30 degrees Monday morning and wind still blowing like crazy. Drank a little coffee and talked about the nights events. We both agreed that there was something hanging in camp and around both of our tents but neither one of us was sure what it exactly was. Pretty funny now looking back on it. Anyway, broke camp about 8 a.m. with 13.6 miles left to go. The wind still blew hard and the trail would normally have been easy but again, we spent a lot of energy crossing newly fallen trees. The going was slow but we made it to the See Canyon TH for lunch and water about 12:45 p.m. Relaxed for an hour and a half with only 6.3 miles to go. From here the trail truly is the easiest. A couple gradual hill climbs but many more flat trail areas. We covered this section fairly quickly and arrived at the truck just before 6 p.m. to a cooler of ice cold beers. It was really nice to sit in the truck out of the wind and just relax. We had a couple drinks and then went down to Christopher Creek (Creekside Tavern) to eat dinner. Great way to finish off the trip.

[gpsjoe]

Nice trek. You guys covered a lot of ground in 4 days carrying a backpacking load. Having day hiked on most all of that trail I know you had a fair amount of fallen stuff blocking sections of the trail as well. Good job!!

[MikeInFHAZ]

I did that trip with Fairweather in 2 days. Not recommended!
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[fairweather8588]

Oh yeah not recommended. I'd recommend you do the Zane Grey Ultra-Marathon instead!
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But let the mind beware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious


Kerouac

[ldsdoc]

I'm thinking about backpacking our Boy Scout troop on the Highline trail (50 mile) in mid June -- spending Monday through Saturday doing it.

The boys range from 11 years (with fathers accompanying) to 16 yrs old and all are in pretty good shape. We've been doing smaller hikes to build up to it, but will only have about 4 under our belts before then. The adult leaders are experienced hikers and the boys are all well equipped.

My question is if this is a recommended hike for that age group? Some sites list it as a 5 and some just say "more difficult" but in both cases, I'm wondering if the listing is because of the distance alone, or if the hike is really hilly and rocky.

Can you help me out?

Thanks!
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Brian

[MikeInFHAZ]

the hike is strenuous in sections, there are places where the dude fire made the trail hard to find, there are pud's a-plenty and your boys may get bored of the area after 6 days.

My personal suggestions: hike west starting at the 260 trailhead and camp for the night at Christopher Creek (7 miles)
day 2, hike west until you reach Tonto Creek and then come home. After the Tonto section you encounter miles of the dude fire area and although there are water sources and campsites, nothing really to see until you get to Washington Park, 17 miles away. From there the trail loses its luster and the nicest part is the first 10 miles (or so).

plus, June will be HOT. little shade past Tonto ck. area and temps will be 90° in direct sunlight - the equivalent of 110°

id rather recommend the Blue Range/White Mountains area. much more to see, and you apparently have the time. Let us know what you choose!
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bridge hammock, quilts and tarp (all DIY)

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[ldsdoc]

Thanks, that's good advice! The boys would probably go nuts with 40 miles of nothingness. They're pretty tough so minor hills wouldn't be a problem, just if they were going from peak to valley for any real long stretches. Also, as you know, terrain makes a big difference. We hiked 10 miles of straight up and down with constant rocks last week and I think the rocks were much more challenging than the vertical distances.

We're trying to get the boys the backpacking and camping merit badges, so a 50 miler is required. Do you know of any other trails that may be more suited for them during mid June?

Thanks
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Brian

[gpsjoe]

I agree with Mike's assessment of the Highline trail.

I addition to the White Mountains you might look into passages 39, 40 and 41 of the Arizona trail. It goes from highway 89A a few miles before Jacob's Lake to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Basically it stays at around 8,000 feet all the way. The total distance wiil be a little over 50 miles. The June temperatures are perfect there for what you want to do.
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[MikeInFHAZ]

good call Joe! AZT has many scenic sections that will put you well in the 50 mile range. My tip is to stay above the rim on June and these 3 sections are very close to the Highline. You'll end at the Pine T/H if you do something like this, in a downhill fashion :

section 29 Happy Jack 31 miles
" 28 Blue Ridge 16 miles
" 27 Highline 19 miles
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[Shawn]

I'll third the recommendation for the AZT north of the canyon. I did about 15 miles of that once and it's a nice choice for that time of year.
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The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

[azbackpackr]

I stopped at 260 trailhead both going and coming from San Diego this past week. I was also thinking of hiking the whole thing. Thanks for the info, guys. Maybe will choose something else. (Besides, Blue Primitive Area is closer to my home, and wilder! )

[gpsjoe]

[Shawn]

Now there's an idea for a hiking book, 100 loop hikes in AZ.
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The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

[MikeInFHAZ]

mmm. the Drew Trail. Love it.
another one of my favorite rimtop hikes is Babe Haught to Knoll lake. Its a short 5 miles, and you can fly fish the lake - return to your vehicle - then have a chocolate malt from the Beeline Cafe. ahh, now we're living!
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bridge hammock, quilts and tarp (all DIY)

what i do

[sirena]

I wouldn't do the Happy Jack passage- it's a lot of road walking and the scenery is not too varied. The Kaibab 101 trail is easy to follow and goes through a lot of pretty areas. So my vote would be for north of the Grand Canyon. Something to think about, though- I think the AZT is still closed for 10 miles north of Crane Lake to FR 205 because of the Warm Fire- last year I had to detour onto the highway. I don't know if it will be closed again this year.
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Sirena

Sirena's Wanderings
http://www.desertsirena.wordpress.com

Arizona Trail for Fibromyalgia
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