Stanley B Loop - 6/4/22

Five Hikers on the Stanley B Saddle

Stanley B Mine (Lead) Area

West Canyon Springs

Climbing the Stanley B Wash

Looking for a short moderately strenuous type hike, five hikers arrived at the Stanley B Trailhead. It was early and a little cool. There is a new trail we had discovered late last summer and we wanted to see if it had stood the test of time. This trail is located on a scree slope with a lot of protruding rock outcrops. It is vulnerable to trail cutting. If hikers would stay the course and stick to the trail as it is laid out, I think the trail will live. Otherwise, the good work that someone did to build the trail in such a fragile environment, will be demolished without constant upkeep. We started up the Stanley B wash directly from the parking lot. This is a beautiful old wash trail leading up to cross the old mine road.

Trail in Stanley B Wash

Trail up to Campsite Area

Trail up to the Mine

Climbing the East Canyon

Normally, we turn onto the road but for this hike, we continued straight up the wash trail to an area used for camping. On the way, we scrambled just a little. At the camp, we ran into brush and crossed up to the right to join the mine road. A left turn and we were soon at the canyon fork. The fork to the right is the east canyon. It passes up by the mine entrances and climbs around 900' up to the ridge saddle. It is a good climb with a trail leading up a couple of scrambles, the pinwheel tree, the pine glade, the rock outcrop fork and other points of interest. This climb never ceases to challenge. The last bit climbs steeply up the top of the gulley onto the saddle where we stopped for a break in the shade of a large ponderosa pine.

East Canyon

A Scramble

Stanley B Saddle with Mummy's Toe

The Blue Hiker Group (I did not get the memo.)

On the other side of the ridge, we looked down to see the upper portions of Fletcher Canyon. Across from our ridge, we located the North Loop Trail stretching between Raintree and the Trail Canyon Saddle. Looking up, we saw the lower extremities of Mummy Mountain. Mummy's Toe was prominently watching over us. Our ridge extended out to the right and left. However, the left side climbed steeply up toward Cockscomb Peak. Some club members have taken to climbing this peak from the Stanley B Saddle. They say it is much easier.... That is really rough terrain up that way. Really rough. We took our break and photos then proceeded to descend. This is where our hike gets interesting!

Cockscomb Peak (L)

Traverse from Saddle to Trail

Arriving at Trail Junction

Ridge Descent on Trail

We started toward the gulley we had come up and, almost immediately, began a traverse to the west. A lot of the route is scree on the side of a steep hill. It is interesting that there is still some semblance of tracks to follow. Are they ours? Or, is there someone else following this route? In the future, I would really like to improve this section of the hike. Perhaps the "trail" will eventually improve from use. Or, we will find another way to go around this. The traverse dips past the next arroyo and follows along a rotting large fallen tree. The trajectory diagonally up from the tree takes you to a well-made trail that comes down from further up the ridge. We must learn from where! Once on the trail, we saw that there were footprints. Fantastic! The trail is in good shape!

Trail down to top of West Canyon

Starting down West Canyon Wash

A Double Ducker Tree

A Slippery Transition

The trail leads down the spine of the ridge then curves to the right to zigzag down through that lightweight scree I mentioned in the beginning. Once in the west canyon wash, the trail continues down past three spring pipes with running water. Although the trail was better maintained last year, it is still in good condition. We enjoyed the zigging and zagging in the trail and the moist west canyon. Down at the main fork again, Ralyn and I took a side trip up to an overlook rock then returned for our trip down the mine road. We stayed on the mine road until we junctioned with the Stanley B wash. A left turn here took us down the beautiful wash and back to the cars. This is a fun little hike with a great climbing workout. Just make sure you are ready for the uneven footing of the scree-filled traverse starting down from the ridge. A little more research is needed here. Stay tuned!

Stats: 3.8 miles; 1550' gain; 3.25 hours

Steeply Down for 20 Feet

Old Mine Road

Stanley B Wash Descent

5 Mile Campsite (North Loop) - 6/2/22

The Sun rises on the North Loop Ridge

Old Trough at Cave Spring

Down Kyle Canyon from North Loop

Morning on Trail Canyon Trail

Three pastel ladies set off from the Trail Canyon Trailhead early in the morning (around 7:20am). There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot so we knew we would be alone on the trail until later in the day. Our plan was to hike at a slow and steady pace all the way up to our destination. We started in the cold shade then, slowly, climbed into the morning sunshine. Trail Canyon is most beautiful at this time of day as the light filters into the canyon and the sun rises on the ridges above. We stayed together at our steady pace and arrived at the North Loop junction saddle about an hour and 10 minutes after our start below. A little slower than usual but we knew we had further to go and we needed to conserve a little bit of energy. We took a small break, the first of five, at the saddle having only passed one couple of hikers who were on their way down. They were the last hikers we would pass until we were almost all the way back down to the saddle on our descent. We had the mountain to ourselves this morning. It was beautiful! Returning to our slow and steady pace, we headed up to Cave Spring. We took a quick visit up the hillside to see the state of the spring then came back down to the old water trough. The spring is barely trickling up top but flowing into the trough just fine.

Waking up at the Saddle

Charleston Peak

A Visit to Cave Spring

Long Switchback through Aspens

This was our second small break. Onward, we climbed through the aspens on that very long switchback past the 3 mile log and the Wall Corner. We took a photo of the old M Tree carving and sat on the log near the Mummy Mountain junction. We were in no hurry. As we said, "The point today is not to get there fast ... but, to get there!" At 3.5 miles up from the trailhead, we were happy that the hardest part of the climb was behind us. The next half mile would be easier as we climbed above one large cliff band and at the base of another. Here, the views were tremendous! Kyle Canyon and the South Loop ridge are there to behold. We had passed through the brightly leafing aspens. Now, they lay out below us to add to the photos. As we gained elevation, we saw the bristlecones growing on the pines in early to later stages of development. We passed a bird's nest with 4 eggs inside and didn't notice it until we were on our way down. It was just off the trail below eye level. I hope the little birdies grow to be big and strong! We arrived at our next small break on the ~4 Mile Cliff Overlook. At each small break, we took the time to sit for just a minute. Our pace was still at the same steady slow speed. Upward from there, the next half mile was a bit more challenging. 

South Loop Ridge

Small Break at Mummy Junction

"M Tree," Baby Bristlecones, Nest with 4 Eggs

Cliffs next to North Loop

In the next half mile, we were either climbing a steeper grade or hiking a fine line of scree between the cliff bands and the very steep scree slope. All the snow was gone (with the exception of a nice big pile at the first campsite later) so the narrowness of the trail was still somewhat safe. We came to the ~4.5 mile mark and wandered down the slope for a look-see at the Big Falls Overlook. Way below, we saw Big Falls and it appeared there was absolutely no water ... but then, we were very far away. Above the waterfall, the rock in the cliff appeared scrunched and wiggly. This is evidence of the fault movements. Very interesting if you are into geology. So, we had arrived at our original destination ... however, it was decided that, since the next half mile was easy, we would go all the way out to the 5 Mile Campsite. It overlooks the Lee Canyon side of the ridge, whereas, we had had much the same view of Kyle Canyon up until this point.

Rita arrives at the ~4 Mile Overlook

Hiking at base of a large Cliff Band

Big Falls Overlook View

Switchbacks on Charleston Peak

While we plodded along, we took note of the North Loop Trail side of Charleston Peak where the daunting switchbacks reside. We also got a view of Lee Peak where we intend to climb in a couple of weeks. After passing the first campsite (with the weird pile of snow), we continued on to the 5 Mile Campsite. This is a large saddle area where you can view down to Lee Canyon and the west side of Mummy Mountain. We noted that we were exactly above (way above) Foxtail Spring. We took our big break, group photo and started our descent with Charleston Peak watching down on us. As expected, the down part of the hike was more challenging to the body. We kept our speed down and tried protecting our knees and feet as best we could. From experience, we know that how you treat the descent defines whether or not you will be hiking comfortably again in the next couple of days! The mountain was still quiet until we were descending Trail Canyon. It was then that other hikers appeared. We also passed the trail workers. Trail Canyon trail maintenance is a never ending job. We felt good that we got one step closer to the higher peaks today.

Stats: 10 miles; 3000' gain; 6.25 hours

Three Pastel Ladies

Steep Scree off of North Loop

The Descent