2/16 - Hiking Hidden Forest to the Hidden Cabin

A hike that has been on my bucket list for a long time is seeing the Hidden Cabin off of the Hidden Forest road in the Desert National Wildlife Range just north of Las Vegas. The cabin is originally dated back in the early 1900s but had been restored back in 2020 by an Eagle Scout project and supposedly had an outhouse as well. This is a longer hike but I was confident that I was up for the challenge after our recent success in hiking in New Zealand.

The trailhead of the hike is actually about 25 miles up a gravel road so the day really starts at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Center just off of Corn Creek road. This is a cool wildlife center that has a few exhibits on the history of the area and is a sanctuary for birds. Highly recommend checking that out if you ever have the chance. This is also the end of pavement so this is where I aired down before the 25 miles. I elected to go to 28 PSI but I should have lowered it to about 20. It was a bumpy ride! 

The 25 miles gravel road is groomed and well marked. AWD or 4WD is not required nor is high clearance but I would recommend a tire with a higher ply rating to prevent tears or slicing. The further up Alamo road you go, the less traffic you will see so prepare to be on your own for repairs. I brought, as always, a floor jack and tools just in case I had to swap out a tire. It took me 38 minutes from the Wildlife Center to the trailhead. I'd plan on at least an hour in a normal car.

Once I arrived at the trailhead, I noticed another vehicle so I knew I wouldn't be the only one on the trail today. After that, it was time to get loaded up and off I go! I always start my Gaia app, my Garmin watch, and the Garmin InReach so I can accurately capture the data. The InReach gives me piece of mind when I'm out by myself so that Nina can track my progress from home despite me having no cell phone service. Plus, she can reach me via text if something comes up.

The trail to the cabin is 5.5 miles up and 2,170 feet of ascent. This averages out to about 400 feet up per mile and it was a consistent climb the entire ascent. The trail was easy to follow and I encountered no scree rock nor any slippery terrain. However, I did encounter snow for the last two miles, about 1-2 inches deep around the 4 mile mark and about 3-4 inches for the last mile. I did the hike in normal hiking boots and that was fine; I did not need any snow specific gear. 

I came across the outhouse first and it was nice, clean, and had a good view. Next, was the cabin. It had 3 picnic tables outside and was complete with a table, windows, and a wood stove. Very cozy! This was the destination for my hike but this was where the turnoff for the summit push for Hayford Peak starts. It's another 2.5 miles up and 2,500 feet. It's on the bucket list for the spring but not today! After a short break at the cabin and a cliff bar, I was headed back.

The way down was a straight shot right down the hill just the way I came up. I was glad I had trekking poles to keep the pressure off my knees a little bit. On the descent, I noticed that the sun set behind the hill on one side at 2:45PM despite the official sunset time at 5:25PM. This was a friendly reminder to always start early and plan ahead when in mountainous regions, otherwise you may find yourself hiking when the temperature drops quickly and it gets dark rapidly. 

Once I was back to the car, the total hiking distance was 10.86 miles and 2,170 feet. It was about 2+30 up, 30 minutes at the cabin, and then another 2 hours back to the car totaling 5 hours on the trail plus an hour on either side for transit. My total time for the day was around 7 hours. Totally worth it to have a great hike with a cool destination that isn't crowded and somewhat close to the house. Stay tuned for a future endeavor up Hayford Peak! 

Files:

Drive to the Trailhead

Hike up Hidden Forest

1/27 - Wheeler's Pass

After many discussions with a few folks at work, we decided it was time to get out of the office and head out to get some dirt on the tires! Two of our friends were new to wheeling and had never been, so we picked an easy trail that was still enjoyable - Wheeler's Pass. I've done it at least 10 times before at this point so I was very familiar with it and able to spot our friends as needed. We had myself, another buddy and his wife in a Bronco, another buddy and her husband and brother in a stock Tacoma and another guy with his girlfriend in a stock Colorado. It was a good group and ready for a good day on the trail! 

We met up at 0800 at the Lowe's parking lot before driving out to the trailhead, about 50 minutes away. Once we arrived, both Broncos aired down while the Tacoma was already a little low on PSI and the Colorado stayed at highway PSI since we were concerned about damaging his baby highway tires. Once we got rolling, it took about 2+30 hours to arrive at the top. There were a few instances where I stopped to spot others through a rougher patch but we all rolled through well. Thankfully, we came across no other groups! 

At the top, we got a quick group photo and decided to push on over the ridge and descend into Pahrump on the other side. It is always windy at the apex, so we didn't stay long. I did notice that the sign that's usually there was missing. Weird! 

Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we stopped for about an hour while I grilled up some brots and burgers. Winston, of course, got some food too. 

After we finished out the trail, we all met up at a local gas station to air up, hit the bathroom, get a few snacks and head home. Another great day on the trails in the books! 

Files:

Wheeler's Pass

9/13 - 9/15 - Off Roading and Camping in Flagstaff

After a little more than four years, Lou and I decided to head back to Flagstaff and enjoy a nice break from the heat of both Las Vegas and Phoenix. Last time we were in Flagstaff, we camped at a really nice overlook called "Edge of the World" but the experience was dampened when our dog Winston, who was only a puppy at the time, ate too many pinecones and had doggy diarrhea all night. We decided to go back (without Winston this time) and get redemption enjoying the scenery. You can read about that trip here: Flagstaff October 2020

Day 1 - Friday

Friday was a work day but I left work a little early to make the drive with my trailer Shelly over to Flagstaff where Lou met me at the Circle K in town. After getting gas, we made our way to the Edge of the World trailhead and proceeded on the trail. It is an easy 26 mile trail down graded dirt roads through a forest. The green was a welcome sight for both of us. We came across a few cows on the way as well. Unbeknownst to us at the time, but these would not be the last cows we saw this weekend. 

It took us about 90 minutes to get to the end of the trail where the overlook is. Last time we camped at the popular spot as labeled on Google maps but this time, I did some research on Google Earth and picked out 5 tentative spots that wouldn't be so crowded. My scouting paid off and we secured a great spot with an awesome overlook away from all the folks in their Subarus and sprinter vans. We could see them at night and that ridgeline sure did look crowded. 

Day 2 - Saturday

We woke the next morning and I captured some awesome shots with the drone. It was a bit tricky because of the trees in the area but I made it happen. Take a look below:

After that, we packed up and headed out the way we arrived. We stopped at this cool bridge for a quick photo op. This photo does show how easy the trail was. We made good time on the way out as well. 

Once complete with that trail, we did a 14 mile through trail entering the Cinder Hills through the back entrance. This was a cool little trail since the front entrance is bogged down with ATVs and side by sides. 

After Cinders, we checked out another nifty trail called S P Craters trail. One of the entrances was closed due to a forest fire but there was an alternate path way in. This trail was a little slower going initially but it sped up as we went. Even at high elevation in Flagstaff, it was a bit warm, so we stopped under the first tree we found for lunch. It happened to also be the only tree we found. It was here that we noticed Shelly took a little damage from all the vibrations and needed a repair on the pull out drawer. No problem! 

We kept rolling and the trail opened up to sweeping landscapes. However, our progress was halted but not by rocks. We encountered a few herds of cows very comfortably grazing and couldn't be bothered. One cow stood up as we approached, made eye contact, and started peeing in the middle of the road, marking his turf. Rude! We didn't want to blaze a new trail so we turned around in search for another path. We had to do that a few times before we eventually got by all the annoying cows. 

Once past the cows, we were able to circle around the craters. There was a hiking trail up to the top of one but we elected not to do that. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see the big craters.

After the craters, we started a new trail that Lou knew up a forest road in search for camp. We found a decent spot quickly and set up. It was tucked away in the trees and Lou whipped us up some steaks for dinner. Yum!

Day 3 - Sunday

Our plan today was to pick up Sophia from campus at Northern Arizona University and take her to lunch. Lou and I figured we could have a slow start to the morning since no one wants to wake a college student up too early on a Sunday morning. 

We drove to campus and I illegally parked in the parking lot while we checked out her new home. It was pretty nice! She boasted about having a sink in the room and her and her roommate were even growing bonsai trees outside! Jury is still out if the trees survived the winter though since they get snow there.

As we drove off campus for lunch, I spotted the automatic delivery robots called Starships driving around campus. I knew about them and was excited to see one in person! We also spotted one of apparently two big statues of the campus mascot, Louie the lumberjack. He was in fact chopping wood. 

We arrived in downtown Flagstaff to a kind of hipster place called Proper Meats + Provisions. We all had a nice lunch before dropping Soph back off at her dorm. It was great to see her and rumors are she did very well on her first semester! 

Lou and I send our goodbyes and I started the 4+30 hour journey home ready to see Nina and fluffy Winston! 

Files:

Edge of the World to Camp

Cinders

S P Craters

Trail to Camp

2/8 - 2/11 - Off Roading and Camping by Backway to Crown King

Lou and I wanted to put a trip together and realized we haven't done Backway to Crown King in awhile so decided to plan a trip around that. Lou picked out and sent me about 10 trails that I sifted through to put together a good flow. Once we had a weekend picked out, we invited our dad and other brother John to come along. Pa would make it but sadly John could not. We didn't invite anyone else since we wanted to keep it just as a boy's trip.

Day 0 - Thursday

Pa flew in to Vegas on Wednesday evening which gave us a little time to hang out before we departed for the trip. Nina had dinner ready for us which was great! We woke up early Thursday morning, grocery shopped, packed up, and departed around lunch with the intent to make it to Lou's place by dinner. We rolled in about 15 minutes late but Lou didn't seem to mind as he made us salmon and steak filets for dinner. Yum! Don't tell Winston but I snuggled up with Denali on the couch for a bit after dinner. 

Day 1 - Friday

Since the trailhead was close to the house, we had a slower start Friday morning. Lou made Pa and I eggs sunny side up with toast while he finished packing up the Jeep. We all took one last shower for the weekend and headed out to get gas before driving the 20 minutes to the trailhead of Castle Hot Springs. This trailhead is right near the Lake Pleasant fee area but just outside of it thankfully. Even with our later start and stopping to take a selfie, we were aired down rolling out by 10:30. 

The plan was to run Castle Hot Springs southwest to Tribly Wash north to Anderson Mill south over to the highway north to Box Trail going east back into Lake Pleasant to camp at the start of Backway to Crown King so we'd be ready in the morning. As we started our day on Castle Hot Springs, we enjoyed some beautiful Arizona scenery home to many saguaros. Not long after, we passed the Castle Hot Springs all-inclusive resort complete with their own green house and garden. Talk about Farm to Table! Nina said she didn't want to go though. 

As we continued, the clouds looked like they were going to rain but thankfully didn't. It had been raining all week leading up to the trip so the trail was already muddy in some sections and I was hoping it wouldn't get worse. About halfway through Castle Hot Springs, we approached the northly turn off for Trilby Wash. However, the trail was blocked by a barbed wire fence so with thoughts of Pucker Pass still on my mind, we skipped both Trilby Wash and Anderson Mill and continue on.

We stopped for lunch near the end of Castle Hot Springs. Pa and I had some Greek yogurt with peanut butter and granola. Very nutritious! Lou had an avocado sandwich. We all washed it down with some Coca Cola that Lou brought. During lunch, we took a few minutes to look at the PowerPoint to go over the plan for the rest of the day. Once we all had a shared mental model, we knocked out the last few miles, drove 25 minutes on the highway and arrived at the start to Box Canyon.

Box Canyon was a cool trail with many river crossings. Thanks for the recent rain, the river level was high giving us a chance to play in the water. However, it also made it hard to follow the trail since the water covered the banks. Fear not, we had our GPX tracks up and made it work. We took a hidden offshoot underneath low hanging trees to find the actual Box Canyon. It also had a great camp site tucked away under the shade of a huge tree. If we didn't already have a planned area, we could have definitely camped here. So, we parked the cars and journeyed the 100 yards or so and found the actual canyon. I'd hate to be there when it rained but it was neat to check out. 

After a few more water crossings, we came out of the box canyon and started winding through a more hilly terrain. The route we had planned was a longer route to Lake Pleasant but we found ourselves at a decision point where we could either continue the longer path or take a more direct route to camp. After a brief discussion, we decided to take the shorter route and get to camp a little earlier. It ended up being the right decision as we were able to find a good spot on the start of the trail to Crown King. 

Day 2 - Saturday

We woke up Saturday morning after a long night of rain. We've done this trail before and we camped at the start of the trail so we felt comfortable sleeping in a little bit before pushing off. We noticed there was cloud coverage over the mountain and looked like some snow had fallen overnight. We didn't think much of it at the point but it ended up being a big factor for us later that day. 

The trail started off winding through a little town before a slow ascent up to the town of Crown King where we intended to have lunch then find camp before doing some trails up north the next day. As we started ascending, the trails became slightly snow covered. It was a good chance to pause, get some snacks, and break out the drone for some cool footage. 

From there, we started to hit the obstacles portion of the trail. There was nothing too concerning until we were about 5 miles from the end. At this point, the trail was completely snow packed and I was having flashbacks to Pucker Pass just a few months prior. 

Thankfully, I had switched to Lou's KM3s that he replaced when he got new tires. These new tires, although old, gripped just fine and gave me a bit more confidence in the snow. 

As we approached a snow covered obstacle, there was a Jeep on 35s pulled off to the side and a line of ATVs munching up the trail as they were going up. We chatted with the owner of the Jeep, a guy named Brandon, and he said that he made it up the obstacle but started sliding in the snow and reversed back down the obstacle. Of note, he was rolling on 35 inch Bronco takeoffs (the same tires I had when I slipped at Pucker Pass). After much discussion and watching a Toyota group attempt the obstacle and fail, we made the tough decision to turn back. Our rationale was that even if we made the obstacle, we would struggle on the hill. Ultimately, our new friend Brandon who was abandoned by his group, didn't know the way back so we decided to turn back, take him with us, and camp at our same spot from the night before. 

Morale was low as we trekked the 25 miles back down the hill. But, once we got back, Brandon split off as we turned towards camp and set up in the exact same spot we were in just hours earlier. 

Since we didn't have any trails scouted out for the next day, we all decided to sleep in a bit. Pa and I were tired and ended up sleeping 11 hours that night. We must have really needed it!

Day 3 - Sunday

After our slow start, we packed up and decided to go to Rock Springs Cafe for lunch. Rumor had it they had good pie! So, we headed out, went to the cafe, and I can confirm they had good pie! After lunch, Pa went home with Lou, spent a few days with them before flying back home to Florida. 

Files:

Castle Hot Springs

Box Canyon to Camp

Backway to Crown King and Back

1/27 - Hiking the Anniversary Narrows by Lake Mead

Our friends Alex and Erin reached out to hike a trail that has been on his bucket list a long time - the Anniversary Narrows by Lake Mead. It is in the National Park so about an hour away from the house. The weather this time of year was a bit chilly in the morning so we decided to meet at 1PM at the trailhead. 

We let Winston and Koa say hi then drove the two miles on a dirt road to get closer to the actual narrows part. There was a decent sized ledge so we decided to park the trucks and do the rest on foot. After a couple hundred feet, we arrived at the start of the narrows. I've been to the narrows by Mt Charleston but this one was much longer and deeper. 

This trail had some scrambling to do where we had to pick up the dogs and put them on top of the ledge. But, there were a couple spots where there was a human path and a dog path. Winston loved going under or around the rocks on his own little trail. 

Once we crossed the narrows, we had a quick snack and turned back and went back through. Our total distance was just over 4 miles and took us an hour and 51 minutes. It was a short trail but worth it! 

Files:

Anniversary Narrows