As the day started bright and sunny, after yesterday’s intermittent rain, I heard the call of the trail loud and clear.  So, after a brief visit to the Winter Farmer’s Market, I headed to Mayer, and the northernmost segment of Black Canyon Trail.  Old Sycamore Sector stretches from just north of the culvert that goes under AZ Rte. 69, past Old Sycamore Road, to a series of rises and buttes some 3 1/2 miles to the north and east.

The first part of the trail heads up to old Sycamore Road, from Big Bug Wash, a distance of a half mile.

As with the lower elevated areas of Big Bug, the native lichen is a yellow sort.

The weather looked to be a bit challenging, but that doesn’t stop a true Westerner from going forth.

Here, one may see the far range of the Old Sycamore area.

I reached Old Sycamore Road, my northernmost attainment in the area, to date, in about 10 minutes.  The trail signs were clearly visible at this point, about two miles further east from where I had hiked previously.

The trail led over and around a series of ridges, perfect exercise on a cool and windy day!

Looking straight ahead, I was delighted to watch a parade of pronghorns, unfortunately not visible through the camera lens, but a joy to behold, nonetheless.

Heart rocks abounded here, including one embedded in the trail- a good sign for the road ahead.

About 3/4 mile from Old Sycamore Road, I found this neat little picnic spot. Here, I enjoyed an energy bar and a healthy portion of the trail mix that I put together from various items I purchased from my friends, the Kaurs- owners of The Honeyman.

A gate separates the BLM area from a private ranch, and on the BLM side, there was a unique trail marker.

The northern fork of Big Bug Creek offers the most heavily-wooded area on the trail.  Here there is an abundance of chaparral, mulberry and Gambel’s oak.

Once past the creek bed, I found a rare pyramid rock, in the middle of the trail.

The northernmost cairn on the trail had been knocked down, quite a while ago, from the looks of it.

From there, the trail was less clear, and came to an end atop a small butte, looking off towards I-17 and a series of power lines.

So, now my curiosity about the foothills segments of Black Canyon is satisfied.  Next, it’ll be time to gradually explore the trail from Antelope Creek Road, southwards to Carefree Highway, or vice versa.

Black Canyon National Recreation Trail is one of several such trails, for multiple non-motorized use, set aside by the Bureau of Land Management.  It runs about 85 miles, south to north, from Lake Pleasant Road, in north Phoenix, to an area north of Mayer, AZ.

I plan to explore the trail, a sector at a time, during the course of this year.  Careful following of a recent map led me to the south trailhead of Big Bug sector, west of the small community of Spring Valley, twenty-five miles southeast of Prescott.  The sector is 2.5 miles, one way, from Antelope Creek Road to Highway 69.

This sector is an easy hike, going through range land and some mild desert badlands, before crossing through an underpass at Hwy 69, and continuing on north, for a few miles.  I include all sectors in this series of hikes.  Some will be rather barren; others will bring out the grandeur of the Bradshaw Mountains, whose base the Trail navigates.

Here is Big Bug sector.  All trails start at the parking area, these days.  This one is about two miles west of Spring Valley, on Antelope Creek Road.  It’s a rather busy road, popular with ATV enthusiasts and those headed up into the Bradshaws.

The Black Canyon Trail, though, is sparsely used, at least on this end.  I only saw three other hikers, with their dogs.

I did have other company, though, on the rangeland.

Once past the herds, though, one could see forever.

The BLM restricts cattle to a point south of this gate.

When vegetation is sparse, one’s attention is caught by features such as lichen- which here is yellow.

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Some rocks have a glossy cover

Others are heart-shaped, letting me know I am being remembered in the Spirit World.

Up here, the village of Spring Valley is put into better perspective.

Big Bug Creek meanders in and out of the area, over five miles, east to west.  The creek bed has been dry since October.

I feel comforted by cairns.  Besides providing direction, they hearken back to roots which I sometimes overlook, in my day-to-day progress.  This one was carefully placed, resembling a saucy cat.

Where the water is not far underground, the chaparral and other bushes keep a green eminence.

Early wildflowers have started to grace the land.

Underpass tunnels always cast an eerie glow.

This one took me under Highway 69, to the beginning of the Old Sycamore sector, which I will more properly investigate, soon.

An early dinner, at LeffT’s, one of my favourite spots in the Dewey-Humboldt area, also proferred some wisdom to me.  “Old Men Rule” shared this:  “The older I get, the better I was.”  Of course, this was right next to a sign offering Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey.  That’d be quite a taste test, were I still the imbibing sort.

Hope this week turns out a sight better for all up north and east- not to mention the Deep South, which doesn’t seem either deep, or south, right around now.

I made my first visit to the wilderness, northwest of Scottsdale, AZ, known as Cave Creek Regional Park, on Saturday.  Actually, the park is the southern tip of a region which will be featured frequently in my posts this year.  I began my exploration of the Cave Creek area by hiking Go John Trail, a loop which takes in the eastern two-thirds of the park.

No one seems to know the origin of the name “GoJohn”, but my guess is that it had something to do with the gold miners who thronged in this area, during the 1870’s.  At any rate, GoJohn Trail goes from the Cave Creek Nature Center’s picnic grounds, north as far as the boundary with a parcel of State Trust Land, then loops around to the east, goes  around  GoJohn Mountain ( a mild ascent) and down through a canyon, cut by a branch of Cave Creek, and southward, back to the parking lot.

Here are some views of the trail.

Once at the junction with Overton Trail, which straddles the west side of the park, GoJohn heads north to the State Trust Land, which will lead any hiker with a permit to Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, a distance of 4.3 miles.

From a ridge on the northeast end of GoJohn, one spots Elephant Mountain, the centerpiece of Spur Cross Ranch.

The granite and basalt of Cave Creek Regional Park are most prominent on the east side of GoJohn.

The riparian character of the area is most pronounced, as the GoJohn heads back southward.

Heart rocks greet me everywhere, and this trail is no exception.

The trail turns into a Pink Carpet, of sorts, as the homestretch begins.

GoJohn meets up with two eastward-bound trails, the Quartz and the Jasper, along its last mile.

Lastly, the sunsets in the area do not disappoint.

Much more remains to be seen, in the area drained by Cave Creek.

The past two hiking excursions have been to the Big Bug Canyon area, between Mayer and Spring Valley, AZ.  It is drained and informed by Big Bug Wash, which flows out of the Bradshaw Mountains, southeast of Prescott.  I have been in search of the most ill-defined section of Black Canyon National Recreation Trail, which starts in north Phoenix and goes to Big Bug Canyon- a distance of some 85 miles.  This section is the trail from the crags on the north side of Big Bug Canyon to Dripping Snake Spring.  I focused, the past two hikes, on  Big Bug Wash and on the ridge which is cut by Old Sycamore Road, north of the wash.

I may well have found the elusive, and seldom-used, trail sector.  Here is the creekbed of Big Bug Wash, just below the remnants of Granite Dells Trading Post.

At the end of this segment of wash, lies Big Bug Dam, now little more than a retaining wall.

This was the scene last Tuesday, at what had been Granite Dells Trading Post.

This afternoon, I set out in search of the actual trailhead.  Walking along the north rim of Big Bug Canyon was one ploy.

The rim road goes as far as this ranch, whose owner may or may not let hikers on the premises.

This road has lots of heart-shaped rocks, including  this little pink granite.

Here is the apparent trail, between Old Sycamore Road and the tunnel under Highway 69.

Here is the tunnel.

On the south side of the tunnel, the climb down to, and past, the meandering Big Bug Wash awaits, for another day.

On the other side of the canyon, the ridges to the north are yet another beckoning site.

Next up:  A day in Cave Creek.