I left McDowell Mountain Regional Park on a Monday afternoon after riding the competitive track. My bike was seriously ailing after five different trips in eight days. This time it was the derailleurs (again!) and a new problem with the forks had popped up. Also, up to this point, with the exception of one overnighter in Death Valley, I hadn't loaded up the pack and gotten out into the backcountry for some real remote and pristine scenery. These things combined convinced me to head for a region in the middle of Tonto National Forest called Hells Gate. (Note: as I'm writing this entry, imagine my scene briefly. I'm in New Mexico at a campsite in Cibola National Park near the Withington Wilderness. It is about 60 degrees and the wind is blowing, cool and gentle like. I can hear a crow cawing and all I can see is a forest ravine, green and alive. Is this the best office or what?)
Back to your regular programming. I stopped in Payson which is NE of Phoenix to get some groceries and caught Hwy 260 east. A few miles down the road at Little Green Valley is an entry point for the north side of Hells Gate Wilderness. For those of you who are not familiar, in 1964 the U.S. passed the Wilderness Act creating a system to set aside millions of acres of unexploited land as forever protected. They are places man may travel but only as a visitor to explore and view, and not to remain. No new roads are allowed in U.S. Wilderness Areas and no mechanized vehicles of any sort may tread the land (including bikes). Once you find out where these areas exist, they become your playground. So beautiful are they, that mere words cannot describe them.....(in a hushed voice)....but I will try.
The first night I spent at a decent site near the trailhead but not actually inside of the wilderness. I was just
off of the forest road in the middle of a stand of high-mountain southwest pine. The elevation is about 6,000 feet here and as dusk moved in, the temperatures dipped. Lucky for me I was ready. I pulled the wood out the truck that I'd bought in Payson (BYOW, fool!), went sparky, and had a weenie roast. It had taken me maybe 2½ hours to get here from Phoenix and I was completely alone in my own forest. Arizona outback rules. Easily accessed public land like this is so vital. About 3 miles from where I camped, too, is nice fishing at Tonto Creek. Everyone has a reason to come out here.
The next morning I was up early to sort out and load up the pack for a planned two nighter. After I did that, I finished an LNT cleanup of the campsite which took an hour. Yes, I have become Forest Custodian Man. Notice the extreme size of the fire ring in the photo above which I ended up reducing in size by about half. When I was doing all this stuff I finally saw the first scorpion of my trip. It was under the tent groundcloth (yikes!) but was very small. I don't know how big they git but this one was only about the size of a quarter.
With Korn thumping out the hatchback, I slung on my pack. Are you readyyyy?! By the time I was actually hiking it was 1 o'clock. The trail goes almost entirely downhill right from the start. As I walked through the squat pine, brush and cacti that grow in the
reddish-brown, rocky soil I felt like I was being slowly sucked into Hells Gate. Hells Gate lies at the junction of Haigler Creek and Tonto Creek and is a calm oasis of life that sits at the bottom of a deep gorge chewed out of the rock. When you pass by the broken sign signaling the beginning of the wilderness (photo), the destination's maw comes into view. The hike from the north side is about 8 miles one-way and the last half mile drops steeply down the side (don't get caught slippin) and into the gorge with a sheer wall on one side. I was rockin' my rhymes all the way to Hells Gate.
Once I finally set foot at the bottom,
the show began. There is a sandy campsite around a corner on the stream that exists in one of the most serene places that I could ever imagine. Desert-type plants cling to the steep walls surrounding the water but a lush thatch of trees and plants thrives along the banks. When I got there and set up camp, I sat in awe and stared at the place until the sun went down and then I basically did the same thing the next day while mixing in a swim and some reading. About 10,000 of these sparrow-like cliff birds fed on insects in the sky at dusk, swooping and streaking in an impressive display of aerial force. Bright yellow birds buzzed around the joint during the day, lizards jammed on the rocks and, always, eternally, the water gurgled out its story.
While I was there, the weather was perfect the entire time. It was about 75° and sunny during the day and I ended up "riding free" most of the time. I am such a pale city boy. The sun on my sandals burned some nice strap marks into my feet in the shape of an S on the left and a Z on the right. Sweet Zebra, loser.
After almost 3 days there, I reluctantly had to leave.
The hike out was strenuous and left me cramping and exhausted back at the car. When it hurts so bad, why's it feel so goooooood. (Last line to be sung in sultry R&B voice.) I leave you with one departing shot of the Hells Gate Wilderness.
Back to your regular programming. I stopped in Payson which is NE of Phoenix to get some groceries and caught Hwy 260 east. A few miles down the road at Little Green Valley is an entry point for the north side of Hells Gate Wilderness. For those of you who are not familiar, in 1964 the U.S. passed the Wilderness Act creating a system to set aside millions of acres of unexploited land as forever protected. They are places man may travel but only as a visitor to explore and view, and not to remain. No new roads are allowed in U.S. Wilderness Areas and no mechanized vehicles of any sort may tread the land (including bikes). Once you find out where these areas exist, they become your playground. So beautiful are they, that mere words cannot describe them.....(in a hushed voice)....but I will try.
The first night I spent at a decent site near the trailhead but not actually inside of the wilderness. I was just
off of the forest road in the middle of a stand of high-mountain southwest pine. The elevation is about 6,000 feet here and as dusk moved in, the temperatures dipped. Lucky for me I was ready. I pulled the wood out the truck that I'd bought in Payson (BYOW, fool!), went sparky, and had a weenie roast. It had taken me maybe 2½ hours to get here from Phoenix and I was completely alone in my own forest. Arizona outback rules. Easily accessed public land like this is so vital. About 3 miles from where I camped, too, is nice fishing at Tonto Creek. Everyone has a reason to come out here.The next morning I was up early to sort out and load up the pack for a planned two nighter. After I did that, I finished an LNT cleanup of the campsite which took an hour. Yes, I have become Forest Custodian Man. Notice the extreme size of the fire ring in the photo above which I ended up reducing in size by about half. When I was doing all this stuff I finally saw the first scorpion of my trip. It was under the tent groundcloth (yikes!) but was very small. I don't know how big they git but this one was only about the size of a quarter.
With Korn thumping out the hatchback, I slung on my pack. Are you readyyyy?! By the time I was actually hiking it was 1 o'clock. The trail goes almost entirely downhill right from the start. As I walked through the squat pine, brush and cacti that grow in the
reddish-brown, rocky soil I felt like I was being slowly sucked into Hells Gate. Hells Gate lies at the junction of Haigler Creek and Tonto Creek and is a calm oasis of life that sits at the bottom of a deep gorge chewed out of the rock. When you pass by the broken sign signaling the beginning of the wilderness (photo), the destination's maw comes into view. The hike from the north side is about 8 miles one-way and the last half mile drops steeply down the side (don't get caught slippin) and into the gorge with a sheer wall on one side. I was rockin' my rhymes all the way to Hells Gate. Once I finally set foot at the bottom,
the show began. There is a sandy campsite around a corner on the stream that exists in one of the most serene places that I could ever imagine. Desert-type plants cling to the steep walls surrounding the water but a lush thatch of trees and plants thrives along the banks. When I got there and set up camp, I sat in awe and stared at the place until the sun went down and then I basically did the same thing the next day while mixing in a swim and some reading. About 10,000 of these sparrow-like cliff birds fed on insects in the sky at dusk, swooping and streaking in an impressive display of aerial force. Bright yellow birds buzzed around the joint during the day, lizards jammed on the rocks and, always, eternally, the water gurgled out its story.While I was there, the weather was perfect the entire time. It was about 75° and sunny during the day and I ended up "riding free" most of the time. I am such a pale city boy. The sun on my sandals burned some nice strap marks into my feet in the shape of an S on the left and a Z on the right. Sweet Zebra, loser.
After almost 3 days there, I reluctantly had to leave.
The hike out was strenuous and left me cramping and exhausted back at the car. When it hurts so bad, why's it feel so goooooood. (Last line to be sung in sultry R&B voice.) I leave you with one departing shot of the Hells Gate Wilderness.
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