Mazatzal Divide Trail - AZT Passage #23 Backpack

Come backpack the Mazatzal Divide Trail - the premier hike in the Mazatzal Wilderness. This trail stays on or near the crest for its entire run from Mt Peely TH to City CreeK. This also forms Passage #23 on the Arizona Trail!

When: March 27 Friday - March 29 Sunday. We will be leaving at 9:00 am from My Peeley TH. Shawn, Ambika, Dave will be camping at the TH.

Rating: Strenuous. Long miles (~ 28 miles) , sketchy sesaonal water, 3600ft elevation gain with rolling elevation profile.

Trip Leads: desertgirl & Shawn. This will be a loosely organized group of Solo Hikers... So you need to do your homework, know the details and assess your abilities before you sign up.

Details: This will be a shuttle hike with 2 nights on the trail. We will be camping at 6000ft + elevation. Water should be generally availaable along the trail at the different springs/seeps. 2 vehicles (Shawn/Ambika) will be staged at the City Creek TH for shuttle back to Mt Peeley TH.

Trail Information:
AZT Passage Info: http://www.aztrail.org/passages/pass_23.html

Dayhikes: There are options for some loop day hikes and for joining in partways. Access to the Divide trail is possible via Y Basin #44 (6 miles); Barnhardt #43 (6.2 miles); Rock Creek #42 (3.3 miles)

Hikngrl · Posted: 3/29/2009, 6:37 pm Post subject:

We are home! Have the pack emptied and dinner eaten... gonna chill out the rest of the evening. Had a great time! Boy did it feel good to get out there! Enjoyed working on the trail. As it sounds from reports from Shawn and Dave maybe we couldda all made it after all but the trail workers made it sound absolutely terrible beyond Bear Spring so helping with the trail work seemed like a decent alternative! Hope we made a difference!

There is a ton more to do and the trail steward said they would gladly accept any help any one was willing to offer! Perhaps one long weekend we could plan an AZH weekend out there and really make a differnce with a bunch of us. Any one think that sounds like a good idea?
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~~~Diane~~~

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desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

Shawn · Posted: 3/29/2009, 7:30 pm Post subject:

I'm game!
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The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

Hikngrl · Posted: 3/29/2009, 8:01 pm Post subject:

Whoa! Slow down! I am not talking about adopting a mile or anything so formal that requires a huge commitment from a lot of people. You all know how that goes.... Most people around here are not able to commit a huge amount of time that it would take to do something like that.

Terry said we were welcome to drop in and work anytime we wanted to and that if we were to give him the names and hours of people who worked it could go toward helping them get grant money. That and we would be doing a great thing for the hiking of AZ

I am not ruling out the idea of adopting a mile or something like that but I would not be the person to do that in the name of AZH. I believe that would take a discussion amongst our little online community and some input from Todd and the powers that be here at AZH...I am just suggesting something informal and fun.

I for one intend to go back. I do feel however, that it needs to be done with a long weekend cause it is a bit of a challenge of a hike and we wouldn't get much done if anything on hike days so that would only leave us Saturday to get actual work done. Terry and Joe (the two individuals out there working this weekend) say they start working at 0600 and quit at 1800. We would not be expected to work those hours but we would want to get as much done with our time out there as possible.
It would be my suggestion that we all take a tool and hike in and spend the day Saturday working. Joe showed us a couple of really light weight tools he carries in when he goes. The more the merrier and the more work that gets done!
_________________
~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

Shawn · Posted: 3/29/2009, 9:13 pm Post subject:

I thought the "adopt" a mile is the $100 deal on the AZT website, not that we are responsible to keep a mile maintained. It's pretty hard to get a committment for a mile that far in from a trail head.
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The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

Hikngrl · Posted: 3/30/2009, 5:42 am Post subject:

OK, that was just me being uninformed! I could participate in that type of an adoption of said mile! I would gladly contribute! Shall we start a thread to see if there are enough people interested in participating to make it comfortable for all? If we had 10 people donate $10.00 each we got a mile! Perhaps if we got enough interested we could do 2 miles! Guess I shouldn't get ahead of my self huh? Lets start with a goal of one mile and see what happens.
_________________
~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

I had to make a bad picture ( my little camera does not do time delay exposures correctly - they are over exposed!) good...and I loved the way this turned out. I think this may be my personal favourite for the trip!
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Tom Treks · Gear Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 3347

Cool pic Ambika.

Very cool area out there, but the Willow fire sure put a hurt on it. I really wasn't expecting such a strenuous trek. Glad that we decided to hang out for a day and help with some clean-up. I doubt I could have made the rest of miles.

Hats off to Shawn and WindyMesa who made the whole planned trek. You guys are impressive.

We passed a guy on the way out who claimed to be doing "the walk from Superior to Pine"... zoinks!! Just that first leg of 23 to Bear Spring and back nearly kicked my butt.

Feel pretty good today though.

desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

Now that we have trail beta -- we should plan on completing the passage ...Perhaps hike up Shake Tree and complete the rest of the trail Confused

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Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream!

Shawn · Posted: 3/30/2009, 1:53 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I like that picture! Good one.
_________________
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

MikeInFHAZ · Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1401 Location: location location

Shawn, any info on the Hopi spr. area?
Flowing, trough still there, or is it totally burned?

there is a very good chance that Im going in late morning Friday from passage #24, doing #23 and finishing at the end of #22 by Sunday. the only water source im unsure about is Hopi.
this will be a 3 day weekend trip, coming up soon. any body else wants in on it just speak up.
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Shawn · Posted: 3/30/2009, 5:22 pm Post subject:

Mike, there was water in just about every major drainage we crossed, you will never be more than a few miles from it. Can't say how much longer as the snow is about gone.

We did not go to Hopi Spring proper, but there was water flowing/seeping down the hill below it on the Divide Trail, so I'm sure there is water at the spring. I was there twice pre-fire. The first time the box was there, the second a few years later it wasn't. That area has been-forgive me-nuked! Nothing green is left, the trail off the Divide Trail up towards Hopi is barely visible, and the sign is gone. We risked it and went on to where the trail crosses the North Fork of Deadman creek and there was water flowing there. It was plenty but again, can't say how much longer.

As much of a change as the fire was, I wouldn't let it deter me from going into the Mazatzals, it's still impressive country. I'd love to get over to where Club Cabin used to be. And another trip on my mind is from Mt Peely south to Sunflower. Could drive up and come down it, ~16 miles but mostly down hill. Nice day hike if you start early and have a good mexican food feed afterwards.
_________________
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

gpsjoe · Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 535 Location: Mesa AZ

MikeInFHAZ · Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1401 Location: location location

im speaking strictly of spring water, not the small drainages that will surely be dry by May. Thanks for the info.
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http://www.arizonahikers.com/board/albums/albwb18/BRIDGE.sized.jpg
bridge hammock, quilts and tarp (all DIY)

what i do

Shawn · Posted: 3/30/2009, 6:25 pm Post subject: