February 19, 2014
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Drinking Snake and Dripping Spring
I again parked at Spring Valley’s Antelope Creek Road lot, and headed south, along the Drinking Snake segment of the Black Canyon, a distance of 4.2 miles one way. Here’s the north trailhead of Drinking Snake.
The trail is a bit more rugged than the Big Bug, at the outset. There is more volcanic debris in this area.
The views are just as sweeping here, as they are further north.
The hearts were both mineral and vegetable.
I arrived at an abandoned corral, water tank and windmill, near Dripping Spring, after an hour’s walk.
The canyon called Dripping Spring is the north end of a longer system that runs along to Crown King Road, another 1.7 miles to the south.
The hike from here is an easy rim walk, past a cow or two. The view, though, is exhilarating.
Next on this trail system is the Antelope Creek segment.
After making the hike back to Spring Valley, I stopped briefly at Cordes, the northernmost of four “ghost’ towns between Prescott and Black Canyon City. It was Sunday evening, so the place was closed.
My life will be topsy-turvy, in a good way, for the next five weeks, so while hiking will take a backseat to some other activities, I’m a happy blogger.
Comments (6)
Topsy-turvy or not, the hiking seems a great way to regain equilibrium and to be in touch with the beauty of life and living. Hope the next couple weeks are bearable.
I wondered if the windmill was working and providing water to passing hikers? Happy is Good Gary!
Val, believe me, if I could get away with it, I'd hop on a trail and stay on it.
The windmill didn't appear to be working. The pond at the station was covered with algae and the troughs were rusted and empty.
are you alone while you hike? The terrain is so daunting, and I wonder how much you must love it to do that so often.
Exhilarating. That is exactly what I need.
Looks like lonely country. I wonder if the cows find enough to eat and drink? Do they use the windmills to pump water for them? Full of questions today.
About the Boca Chica, it seems like it would be easy to cross over either way but I'm sure the place is highly watched in a thousand ways.
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