Pink Goblin Pass (aka Kraft Saddle) - 4/3/24

Pink Goblins?

About 180 degree view at the Point

Turtlehead Peak from Pink Goblin Pass

Road Runner

We heard a cry, kind of like a small puppy, as we walked along the Calico Basin Trail. Coyote pups? Lost puppy? Nope. We think it was a road runner! Are we wrong? A hiker looked over to the right down from the Calico Hills base and saw the magnificent but ferocious bird sitting on a rock. When we stopped to look, the cry ceased. We took the photo and continued around Cannibal's Crag to the slabby part of the sandstone. There were only a handful of rock climbers doing their thing at the early hour of 8am but this included 3 on the famous Big Bad Wolf climb above us. We dropped down to cross the waters of Calico Spring where a decent pool had gathered. A little further into the first canyon, we stopped at the large Girl Scout Trail sign. Here, we took a sharp right to follow that trail along the base of the next bulge of the Calico Hills. The next canyon indentation isn't hiked a lot but we followed the small trail that led there just to get a closer look!

Calico Spring Pool

Girl Scout Trail

Cantilevered Boulder

Passing a Canyon

It was a new small route for most of the ten club members on the trail today. Our trail switchbacked us to the official Girl Scout Trail and we continued all the way down to Ash Meadow. There are several ash trees growing in this area where Ash Spring and Ash Creek bubbles up. It is a beautiful area during the seasonal changes with the backdrop of red and white sandstone peaks. We turned to the right on the Ash Creek Trail, crossed the small creek and climbed up onto the high embankment. The trail, here, has caved into the creek about 20 feet below so it was wise to stay away from the edge as we followed the trail along the hill and dipped down and up to start a climb up to the Point saddle. The trail was slabby and fun to hike. It is one of my favorite trails in the Calico Basin. When we reached the saddle that crosses just below an overlook Point, we took a breath and dipped into the 5 Stop Hill ascent. Most of the moderate hikers stayed together as they tackled the slow climb. There were a few stragglers but this wasn't a race. Eventually, all but two hikers made it up to Pink Goblin Pass where we sat for a break. We saw them sitting in the dip at the bottom of 5 Stop. They had already climbed over half of the elevation gain of the day.

Ash Creek

Slabby trail (right) up to Point Saddle

5 Stop Hill to Pink Goblin Pass

Pink Goblin Pass (aka Kraft Saddle)

After enjoying our accomplishment for a few minutes, we started back down toward the Point saddle picking up the two hikers in the dip of the hill. We took our group photo at the saddle and climbed up to the tip of a ridge that holds the remnants of an old road. This should be called the Point Overlook as you can see the colorful hills all around you. A 360 degree camera would have been nice! Next, we turned to follow the old messy dirt rock road all the way down to cross a gravel road where we jogged to the right and left to catch a trail that runs along Ash Creek. A horse, rider and dog passed us as we continued along the wash. Soon, we dropped down into the wash and continued until we crossed another gravel road. Straight across from here, we followed a trail all the way to the Red Spring parking lot. A very enjoyable hike. Short in distance but long in interest. Good group and warm beautiful day!

Stats: 3.6 miles; 850' gain; 2.5 hours

5 Stop Hill Descent

Ten hikers on Point Saddle

Using Ash Creek Wash on Return