Wet grass is not exactly what you expect to find in the Sonoran Desert. But it soaked the toes of our boots on this cloudy day in the Goldfields. Five adventurous hikers made their way from Willow Springs Trailhead: Roger Dickey, Chuck Parsons, Peter Yanover, Clara Tenny, and hike leader Ted Tenny.

We crossed Willow Springs Canyon with only a few puddles of water, then left the mining road and contoured our way up to the pass at 2264. Ted wanted to keep high and dry, so we were actually above the pass before we got there. Fine views of peak 3141 and the Golden Dome rewarded us. This is the Goldfields’ big sky country, once used for cattle ranching.

A game trail goes through the pass north of hill 2437. We followed it around the first butte, then got up on the ridge for a sweeping view of the mountains in all directions.

The ridge is alternately rocky and smooth. We walked on down to an idyllic stream with lots of wet grass. The stream runs beside a bright golden valley of Tertiary rhyolite, eroded into fantastic shapes.

Our route out of the valley is up and over one of the passes at the top of the slickrock. But which one? Ted found a route that looked like the one taken on a hike last fall – going the other way – but when we got to the top there wasn’t a good way to climb down on the other side. So the others waited at the pass while Peter and Ted climbed higher, going westward to find a good way down. There were several routes, each farther west than the one before. Finally we climbed down into the canyon east of hill 2365.

Our lunch stop was by eroded cliffs with a lot of desert varnish. From there we fought our way downstream through the brush until we reached Packsaddle Road, a quarter mile south of the original route. Wet bushwhacking. When we got all the way down we found a cairn beside the road. Clara spotted a tarantula who wanted to have his picture taken.

A friendly tarantula crosses the trail.

The road swings by Blue Ridge, site of the Bulldog Mine which gave its name to many local geographic features. A quarter mile from the Hackamore Trailhead we left the road and followed a horse trail on in.

We had the Goldfield Mountains to ourselves all the way from Willow Springs Trailhead to Packsaddle Road. But then there were Jeeps, pickup trucks, ATVs, rangers and tourists for the rest of the hike.

It had taken us 6 hours to hike those 7 miles, mostly off trail.