Backpacking the Amazing Arizona Trail – Pine Mountain (Passage 21), FR 422 to Pigeon Spring Trailhead

In the land of Arizona
Through desert heat or snow
Winds a trail for folks to follow
From Utah to Old Mexico

It’s the Arizona Trail
A pathway through the great Southwest
A diverse track through wood and stone
Your spirit it will test

Oh, sure you’ll sweat and blister
You’ll feel the miles every day
You’ll shiver at the loneliness
Your feet and seat will pay

But you’ll see moonlight on the borderlands
You’ll see stars on the Mogollon
You’ll feel the warmth of winter sun
And be thrilled straight through to bone

The aches and pains will fade away
You’ll feel renewed and whole
You’ll never be the same again
With Arizona in your soul

Along the Arizona Trail
A reverence and peace you’ll know
Through deserts, canyons, and mountains
From Utah to Old Mexico

“The Arizona Trail,” Dale R Shewalter

Cresting the climb up Boulder Creek, the Arizona Trail emerges onto FR 422 and begins to roll through the south-central Mazatzal Mountains. The vast majority of the route is in shrubland and allows magnificent views of the Mazatzals as well as Tonto Basin and the Sierra Ancha to the west. Sandstone spires rise above the trail, reminiscent of the landscape of Joshua Tree (albeit without the namesake trees). The rock seems to glow somewhat. The trail rolls through a basin and then the legendary, magnificent Four Peaks emerge over the ridgeline ahead. As the trail winds along the crest, the whole mountains appear, and one can look down off the mountains to the west into the Valley of the Sun and Phoenix, and to the east into Tonto Basin. I reach Pigeon Spring trailhead and encounter a couple from Phoenix out camping for the night. They refill my water to get me to Roosevelt Lake and invite me to eat with them while sharing stories from the trail. As night falls, I head partway back and find a pull off along the trail to sleep for the night. It’s striking how exceptionally dark the sky on the mountains and the Tonto Basin side remains despite how bright the light in the Phoenix sky is and how sprawling the development in the Valley is. I’m guessing that in addition to the topography helping block the light pollution, the lack of humidity in the air helps contain it as well (clouds tend to absorb and reflect/reemit light pollution, which is why light pollution is worse on cloudy nights than clear nights). Going to be great to see the views as the trail wraps around the Four Peaks themselves tomorrow.

Metro Phoenix can be accessed off of FR 422 and provides the main resupply option on this passage, though there’s also a way to cut across to AZ-188 as well on the northern segment of the passage, which provides the potential opportunity to cut to Tonto Basin as well. Water supplies is limited on the crest along 422; especially in the fall it’s probably best to assume it will not be available. There are quite a few spots to camp along 422 as well, though.

(If you missed my description of the Mazatzal Mountains, you can find that as well as logistics and ecology reports for the passage after the photos.)

The Mazatzal Mountains, themselves are an incredible place. The origin of the name “Mazatzal” is unclear, though one possible meaning is a Nahuatl term meaning “place of the deer.” Formed during an orogeny (a term referring to the process that creates mountains) when Arizona was a coastal region on the margin of what became North America, the Mazatzals gained their rugged nature as tectonic collisions compressed rock, lifting it and thrusting it above other rocks (overthrust). We’ll see the resulting folding in the next entry during a short side hike on the Barnhardt Trail. Mazatzal Peak, the highest point of the Northern Mazatzals, towers 1700 ft above the trail with a jagged west face that makes it appear as though half the mountain was simply cut away. This passage passes through the northern half of the full range. Unfortunately the area was greatly impacted by the Willow & Sunflower Fires, which burned much (though not all, as we will see) of the old ponderosa forest that had made the mountains one of the most popular long-distance stretches of the Arizona Trail. Yet the incredible geology, solitude, sunsets, and views remain for the hardy and prepared souls who venture into this special place. Bagworms spin magnificent webs here, and temperatures are relatively tolerable outside of winter, when snow can make stretches impassable for those without adequate preparation.

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