It was a cold night to camp out. Sadie got me up early because she had to pee at 5am. We were parked behind the La Quinta Inn, next to a dog walk path and some State Trust Land. The early rise allowed me to get to the Watson Lake Park trailhead just before 7am to hike the 5-mile loop trail. It was still in the upper 30s when we started, and what an exhausting hike that was, due to the technical character of the trail. More than half of it was over exposed rock. The trail was marked by white dots along the way, but the dots weren't always easy to find. If I hadn't had a map with me, I would have panicked. The Watson Lake loop trail is a combination of several shorter trails around the lake. On the north end it joins the town's Peavine Trail, a wide, flat exposed dirt that continues for three miles. It's part of the city's Circle Trail.
Once I got past that first mile from the trail head (with the dogs on leashes), we were on our own, with no one else on the trail. Only a lone photographer was near the start, and we gave him his space. The northern section, including the Overhill and the Lakeshore trail, are demanding but secluded. The warmth came early and I looked out for snakes as we climbed up and around large granite boulders. The Peavine Trail connects on the northern end to finish off this scenic loop. We didn't see other hikers until that last hour. By then I was glad we had started early and beat the heat. That last section of the loop parallels the highway, so we had tractor trailers speeding above us. That was the worst part of the hike.
The parking lot was much fuller upon our return to the van. I was hot, tired and hungry. I'm sure the dogs were, too. They each got their can of food while I ate a delicious bean burrito at Alberto's in town, a highly-rated little Mexican restaurant next to a Circle K, where I had gone for a large Diet Coke. (The server there refused to let me have the hot dogs she had thrown away; I wanted to give them to the dogs but she must have wondered if I was a homeless gal, with the hiker's hair sticking out in every direction).
The town was alive now. It wasn't even 11am yet and I was not ready to call it a day. Too early for beer or relaxation, I decided to try a second trail, also on my hiking list: the Groom Creek Trail off Senator's Highway, a paved road for the first seven miles that meanders up to 7000' from town. It looked like it followed a creek-- great for the dogs! -- and was in the shaded high country. Boy, was I wrong!
There was no $5 fay use fee at the trail head so we parked and took off just before 1pm, going counter-clockwise to avoid a woman and her children going the other way. The trail started out nice enough, but when we crossed Groom Creek, it was barely flowing. The dogs drank from the water, and soon we were on our hike. Going uphill. And uphill, with no change in the scenery but dead or dying pine trees and blue Spruce, partial valley views, and more exposed sections as the single track just seemed to go on endlessly. It was uphill for over five miles before we reached the South Spruce Ridge. I rested briefly at the first remaining snow patch at a trail intersection, where I sat on a log and the dogs bit into the icy snow. I had water for them, but the dogs do better when they can drink for themselves; no sharing is needed.
This part of the trail has a lot of diseased pines and Spruce along the ridge, and the forest service has a two-mile stretch marked for cutting them down. The diseased trees are lying on the forest floor, slowly decomposing and providing a habitat for wood-eating insects that then attract the woodpeckers. In a few years I'm sure this mountain top, a high ridge, will be void of pines and instead be a wide summit to hike to.
We reached the Spruce Ridge lookout tower at the 6th-mile mark. That lifted my spirits. I knew by now that that meant it was downhill from here. This look-out tower is accessible via a well-graded dirt road, the Spruce Mountain Road, that ends and starts at Senator's Highway. There's a public vault bathroom and a picnic table here that are shaded by healthy Spruce. Icy snow was still available here on the northern side, which the dogs enjoyed. They spotted what looked like a bighorn sheep, or perhaps an antelope, grazing near the tower and took off after it. I never saw the animal again.
I climbed up to the closed look-out tower and enjoyed the views toward the north, respecting the "Watch for snakes" sign near the steps to the exposed tower. Snow-capped Humphrey's Peak is visible from here, as is Thumb Butte and Granite Mountain. Prescott spreads out across the lower hills. I rested here under the tower, took in the views, and started the descent down. This promised to be a much better part of the hike!
We were barely on the now much wider, shadier trail when the woman and the two children came up. This was the same woman from yesterday's Granite Mountain hike! What where the chances of meeting again? Yesterday she brought her Lab with us, today she had her two-year-old German Shepherd Dog with her, so we had an excuse to chat a bit. Her name is Terry and hails from Big Bear, CA. She came to Prescott when her grandparents moved here, and is much happier here with the schools. Her older girl is ten, the younger one six, and both girls have been hiking with her since both were able to walk. That is so cool, having a young parent teach her children to appreciate nature and exercise. Most kids today would rather stare in front of a seven-inch tablet or smartphone.
The trail going down was wider, shadier, and less steep. I should have hiked this loop trail clockwise for this reason. While there was no water in the creek on this side, either, even the dogs seemed happy to end this loop. What was posted as a 8.7 mile hike in the Prescott National Forest website, turned out to be 9.51 miles for me and I felt it. To be honest, it's better to just hike this clockwise to the tower and back (for the shade), or to start clock-wise and be prepared for hot, steep descents on the return loop. It's not a very pretty trail in the second half because of the many dead and dying trees.
http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/1379575007
It was 5:35pm when we got back to the van. We had now hiked 15 miles today. I was tired, and I'm sure the dogs were exhausted. I actually felt relieved to be back in town. I'm getting too old and arthritic to be hiking 15 miles in one day! Determined to find an affordable hotel (Terry recommended I try Prescott Valley instead), I followed Terry's advice but never found a Motel6 or other budget hotel. I drove ten miles down on AZ69, the same highway I drove coming into town yesterday, before I pulled over and got a $65 room at the Prescott Motel, an old, brick motel right off the road with car parking right in front of the rooms. I got the last single room, paid my $10 pet fee without bawlking, and rested the rest of the night. The room didn't have accessible WiFi so I shopped for chicken legs and beer at the nearby Safeway, then parked in front of the nearby McDonalds and surfed the internet until 9pm before heading back to the hotel room. The hotel was quiet and I spent the last few hours watching the Democratic debate on CNN, which was in part also in Spanish, and then I spent a few hours reading a book for review.
Both dogs stretched out on the bed with me for the night. The hotel room was a la 1970s but I didn't care. The bed was comfortable and I slept very well. It sure beats waking up to cold feet at 4am.
More to follow
No comments:
Post a Comment