Carr Canyon Road

All efforts to hike up to Carr Peak were in vain as the Forest Service had closed the road at the bridge near the Carr House. "Ice on Road" was the excuse. So instead of hiking a snowy peak the dogs and I walked up the deserted road to the lower campground and explored the area where paragliders take off. I had never been up on this high plateau studded with manzanitas, but it's clearly visible from Carr Peak.

This hike was was another "first." Grey rippled cirrus clouds strayed in from the South. It felt colder than forecasted, and my initial plan once I got started, was to walk as high as the snowline. I ended up hiking quite a bit!

The dogs had fun. It was a cool walk, but the higher we got the warmer it got as the grey clouds gave way to blue skies and sunshine. There was no breeze. What little ice there was was just below the campground and after the waterfall. It certainly wasn't much to close the road, though, and a few other cyclists and motorcross riders came up after me. One careless turn, however, could land a driver in a slide and roll downhill, I suppose, but with careful maneuvering one could stay as close to the cliffs where there was dry spots and be fine.

I had always wanted to walk up this road and enjoy the vistas more, but drivers tend to hog the road or come close to the edge; when cars face each other one of them has to stop or slow down and wait at the edge. As a driver on this switch-backing road one is more concerned with staying on the road that gawking at the views. This time I could take in the vistas, note the many trees along the road that were precariously coming uprooted from hill slide erosion, see beer bottles and can strewn in the gutter and not have to worry about vehicular traffic.

Sara loved the ice once we got to the campground. When she got done she looked like she had rolled around in a puddle. What little there was was in the shaded north slopes of the trees. The dogs bit into the slush, Sara rolled around in it and Sadie sat with her butt right on the ice. I rested in the sun while the dogs frolicked. It took us almost another hour to make it to the cliffs once we got to the campground.

Carr Peak was just too far to get to with such a slow start. Perhaps on a summer morning I could have started this hike from the lower parking lot at 7am and made it to the peak five hours later, but with today being the shortest day of the year and with the possibility of ice at the peak, it was best to change plans. From the base this would have a 16-mile hike. I know people who walk this road to train for marathons or the Grand Canyon.

We hadn't started the hike until 10:40am and didn't get to the lower campsite until noon. We loitered up here for over an hour as I admired the view (especially the tall crags I have always seen from below). This was a perfect nesting area for raptors, although I only saw one falcon. I could see the trails up Miller and Hunter Canyon from my vantage point. I could even see our neighborhood behind the towering cliffs. I was standing on the spot that I see from my front yard.

I could have lingered longer here but the dogs were tired and we had to get back down. They lay on the warm rocks as I snacked on sourdough pretzel sticks with the dogs. (Sara doesn't like those.) We descended at 2:05pm and got back to the truck non-stop by 3:40pm. I picked up all the trash along the road, returning with a full bag of mostly Bud Lite bottles. All this will go with me when I do my recycling in
Tuscon later this week.

A few other vehicles were near mine when we got back; people had come to walk the lower trail to the waterfall (something I could do next time as that is also a new hike for me). The dogs behaved around them, although they were very interested in the chicken they were eating.

I left my GPS at home so I don't know how high we were. The snow looked like it barely made it to the 8000'. Another storm is due in late Tuesday and with it come the colder temps and wind. From from the mileage on the road signs we walked up at least 3.5 miles on the road and another two miles on that rocky forest road to the cliffs..