Today we want to explore a remote trail near Prescott, the E Cross L Trail. It has a few caches that haven’t been found for some time and it seems like a great day hike based on the info online. We pass first through Mayer exploring the old cemetery and finding a few caches before continuing on towards the Senator Highway on a side road we didn’t try before.
The road is in reasonably good but there are no other cars after we pass the cemetery. However we meet a cow blockade right before climbing towards the Senator Highway. And we have to wait them out until they saunter out of the way before moving on.
We park near the empty ranger station at Palace Station, there is very limited parking but there is no one else around for miles likely. And then it is on we have to find the start of the trail.
Luckily it is marked with a new trail marker as the old one is barely legible. The trail seems usable and reasonably well defined so on we go exploring the beautiful mountains.
The trail goes up and up and we stop multiple times to catch our breath, find the trail and just enjoy the views.
There are flowers along the way and manzanita, lots of manzanita. However there are few birds or mammals, at least in this section of the trail.
As we get higher the views become more impressive, we can see far in the distance. It is a well earned view after a relatively difficult climb.
The trail has sections that are less well maintained but we can pass them with some difficulty before finally finding the caches, now it is time to return back to the car.
We choose a different route on the return trip, we hope it is better maintained and the distance, at least on trail, is similar. And at least in the beginning the trail is much better as we descend back towards the highway.
On this section we find a rare variety of Hedgehog Cactus the Yavapai Hedgehog Cactus, quite a find for us. The route is still well maintained until suddenly it isn’t as we approach the highway. But we are so close that we can just cut through the forest and that is what we do.
Arriving at the Senator Highway we walk back to the parking area passing the supposedly start of the trail where we should have descended where there is…nothing. No trail no anything. And then we are back at the car and it is time to drive back to Phoenix after a nice day out.
