Here is some more info on the Mazatzal sections;
Passage 22: It was well watered, all springs were running along with water in most major drainages (there was even water running in the culvert under hwy 84) but not sure how long it will last. The trail from McFarland canyon crossing to Thicket spring was very brushy and hard to see.
Passage 23: The trail from about 2 miles southwest of Bear spring (water) to Y Bar saddle is very brushy and there is a lot of dead and down timber from the fire that requires constant climbing over. The trail is difficult to follow but there are some reminants of orange flagging left over from last year that very intermittently shows up in some places but you can’t count on it. There are cairns also but the map helps out a lot.
From Y Bar ridge to Barnhardt to about a mile past Chilon spring, the trail is a little easier to see but still brushy with downed trees. The trail gets very brushy again with downed trees to Horse camp seep (water) and on to the high ridge above the Park. In this area, the trail is very hard to find but there are occasional cairns. Once again, the map is very helpful. From the ridge to the Park, the trail is easy to find but still brushy.
Passage 24: The ATA suggests staying on the Divide Trail after Hell’s Hole Canyon but I stayed on the old trail through upper Boardinghouse Canyon as shown in the guide book. Upper Boardinghouse is one of the few canyons that didn’t get burned and the trail through here is wonderful with huge cairns along the creek in a Ponderosa forest. Your call if you want to go that way. After you climb out of the canyon, the trail gets hard to see again to Brush spring because of the burn and I lost the trail several times before reaching Brush spring (water). From Brush Spring, the trail follows an old road to the East Verde river and there were no issues.
Passage 25: water at Polk spring, Whiterock Spring and all stock tanks were 1/2 to full. The cairns were a little hard to find above Whiterock ridge but somebody has flagged it. (The cairns look like stacked dinosour bones because of the nature of the white rock).
Passage 26: no issues, water at East tank and Oak spring.
Hope this helps. :cheers
Westbrook
