Ash Creek in the Pinalenos

Distance: 9.4m
Elevation: 3400-5500
Time: 6.5 hours

This was meant to be a fall foliage hike. Although we saw some colors, I'd say the peak hasn't hit this mountain range yet.

Weather was in the 70s. A beautful day to hike.

There are several Ash Creeks in southeastern Arizona. Most people go to the one in the Galieros, where there are red maples that add reds to the color scheme. Several hiking groups had trips planned to the other Ash Creek. Our venture to this more isolated Ash creek proved to be ideal as we had the long trail to ourselves and weren't bothered by other peoples' chatter. It's hard to enjoy the wilderness with the cacophony of human voices in the background.

We drove through Safford, then west on Thatcher and turned south in the Mormon community of Pima, where cottonfields were waiting to be harvested. I never knew we had cottonfields in this part of the state. The last time I was in this area was in March 2009 when we spent a long weekend on the San Carlos Apache reservation.

The only thing not so good about the hike is that we parked too far from the actual trail. It wasn't our fault (the forest road to the trail head is badly eroded and not recommended for vehicles). We hiked 2.87 miles on the exposed road, all uphill, before we hit the forest boundary. That was more than half the entire hike. What saved us was the mild weather and a slight breeze. After an hour of climbing we could see far into the Safford Valley.

And then we missed the actual trail turn-off! Who would have thought to look more into the intersection to see the sign. The sign was too far inset to see it well, and that is how we ended up exploring along the creekbed, walking through thorns and stubborn vines. We came across some beautiful swimming holes that were off the beaten track, Sadie got her water, and I took, by the end of the day, 457 photos.

Today's hike was both a photo op and a hike for me. It was the perfect hiking group because Steve and Rod are both explorers at heart and don't mind exploring off the beaten path. I would not have felt comfortable doing this exploration with anyone else in the hiking group as there are some people who are strictly old school about hiking and everything has to be perfect. Today we were an intimate group that hiked at the same moderate pace. I was the slowest one because I stopped to take photos.

None of us had been up this trail which made the exploration even more fun. The colors hadn't peaked yet though. We still were among a lot of green, some yellow and that was about it. Once we found the real trail we continued up the trail for another hour but rested and then turned around at the 4.75-mile mark, where we ate a late lunch in the shade and returned the same way, staying on the trail.

Had we stayed on the trail and continued uphill, we would have hit the Swift Trail near Mount Graham, nine miles uphill. Most people who come to this Ash Creek explore from the upper elevation and don't go too far downhill. It was tempting to continue uphill as the forest aroma was so invigorating, but my body and the limited sunlight kept me from going on.

Our hike took us 6.5 hours. We stopped at the Salsa Fiesta in Willcox for dinner, dropped Rod off in Benson and we were both home by almost 8pm, making it a long day. Sadie was whining from thirst, I downloaded and looked at all the photographs (I was pleased with most) and felt good to have had a day off from studies to explore a new mountain range. I'd definitely go back to those peaks and explore some more. As mild as a fall as we have had, there will probably still be color in the trees two weeks from now.