Hike Name: Agua Fria River Gorge Hike
Location: South of Cordes Junction
When: Sunday, April 21, 2002
Difficulty: Moderate (scrambling, wading)
Distance (round trip): 10.5 miles
Elevation Change: 3,100 to 2,500 feet
Time Estimate (round trip): 8 hours hiking
According to the book Canyoneering Arizona, this trip involves scrambling and wading and thus is rated moderate for canyoneering. That does not mean this trip will be as easy as a moderate hike! Scrambling and wading is more difficult than hiking on a trail. The book author, Tyler Williams, says, "Hiking ends and scrambling begins when one must use his hands, not just his feet, to get through the terrain."
We will be doing an in and out hike so that some new people can get a taste of real easy canyoneering. I didn't really enjoy hiking out at "Sunset Point Canyon" as much hiking in the gorge anyway. We will have no trail, but we won't be doing any rappelling or serious rock-climbing. Be prepared for a long day of hiking, scrambling, and wading, but I'm not planning to make this a long day.
Last time, no swimming was required. I don't expect any this year, but you never know on canyoneering trips! Realistically, if anything, I'm expecting to find lots of dry riverbed in places where we found water last time, since Phoenix has been so dry lately.
Since we're doing this as an in and out hike, you don't have to do the whole hike. However, no one should hike back alone unless they have a really good sense of direction and are absolutely sure they won't miss the side canyon from which we hiked! Just wait for the rest of the group to return and hike back with them.
Everyone hikes at their own risk.
I'll just give you the whole description from Canyoneering Arizona:
The Agua Fria is a gem of a desert canyon. It is hard to believe that the interstate is only one air mile away when you are standing in the sandy river bottom of this quiet canyon.Note that canyon water levels can make a canyoneering trip totally different from one year to the next. Here's some information from a past trip so you can make water-level deductions:From your parking spot near Badger Springs exit, walk down Badger Springs Wash to the Agua Fria River. The bottom of this canyon is granite, sitting below rocky saguaro-studded slopes beneath a basalt rim. The river may dry up in severe droughts, but there is usually water in this canyon section. Proceeding downstream, you will be scrambling around, over, and under polished gray and white boulders that surround lovely pools. The water temperature is relatively warm, making wading and splashing in the creek delightful. In places you'll want to walk across the huge beaches of sand and driftwood, evidence of the floods that sometimes rage through this canyon. About 2.5 miles down from Badger Springs Wash, the canyon begins to narrow, and only some creative scrambling will keep your feet out of the water. Just below Perry Tank Creek, where the river makes a 90-degree turn to the right, there is a pool that is a mandatory wade, as the canyon walls rise straight out of the riverbed. Below this it is again a babbling brook amongst large boulders until an unnamed side canyon enters from the west, which we'll call Sunset Point Canyon, because its origin is at the Sunset Point Overlook.
Below Sunset Point Canyon, the Agua Fria Canyon widens and much of the water goes under the sand. This is a good turnaround spot. Or, if you've set up a shuttle, hike up Sunset Point Canyon to your vehicle.
Also, to get an idea of the Agua Fria River water flow, I checked the "Arizona Current Streamflow Conditions" web page (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/current?type=flow) in the morning before our hike. At Mayer, which is upstream from where we were, the flow was 5.2 cubic feet per second. At Rock Springs, which is downstream from where we were, the flow was 2.6 cubic feet per second. I thought the water level for our hike was quite nice. At one point we saw flash flood debris above our heads in a tree; I didn't expect to see that at such a wide point in the canyon.
Regarding flash floods, this canyon didn't look very dangerous. Last year, most of the time we could easily climb the canyon sides. This canyon doesn't have the huge vertical cliffs we see on most of our canyoneering trips.
Bring maps of the area if you have them (USGS: Joes Hill 7.5, USFS: Prescott N.F.).
If you have a water filter, bring it.
You never know what will happen. Bring your headlamp or flashlight.
Bring some dry clothes and shoes to change into after the hike.
See below the list of REQUIRED hiking supplies we use for all day hikes.
We're getting an early start so we can spend a long day in the canyon if we want to.
AG Communication Systems is on the northeast corner of the intersection of I-17 and Yorkshire (alias Utopia Road), between Union Hills and Beardsley. Take the Yorkshire exit off I-17, go east on Yorkshire/Utopia, take your first left, and you'll be in the AG parking lot.
The book Canyoneering Arizona gives the following directions to access the canyon:
Take the Badger Springs Exit 256 off I-17. Drive to the southeast towards the canyon, which you can see about a mile away. There are many dirt roads here, but they all head towards Badger Springs Wash. Four wheel drives can make it all the way to the wash, two wheel drives will have to park about 0.3 miles short of the wash.
I've planned the trip without a shuttle.
If you can bring a 4WD or high-clearance vehicle, please do.
I would like for us all to caravan to and from the trailhead together if possible so that no one can get stranded with car problems along the way. With multiple vehicles going on a trip, we have no excuse for letting anyone get stranded.
The hard copy will have a copy of a trail map and hike description from a book.
Everyone who goes on the hike must carry these.
On the day of the hike, I'll hand out the hard copy to the people who signed up for the hike.
I hope to see you on this hike (if you feel up to it)!
If you would like to go on any of the PEAC Hikers (AG hiking club) hikes you should join the club. See the PEAC Hikers Web page on the AG internal Web for instructions on how to join the club.
The Web page may have some more information about this hike and the area. The Web page is also where I will put updates, if any, to this hike description.
We encourage anyone who goes on one of the club hikes to write a trip report. You can write anything you like and as little or as much as you like. We really need some new authors! Just e-mail your report to the hiking club officers.
Our "official" ham (amateur radio) hiking frequency is 147.500 MHz. (Before we leave from AG, we may monitor 147.240.) CB people can use channel 40 as a default for driving between AG and the trailhead... if more than one person has a CB radio. For TalkAbout radios, we use channel 4 code 1. (My CB is broken and I usually just bring a TalkAbout unless hikers say they're bringing ham radios.)
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