Water from Oracle to Picketpost, Jan 12 to 17

imported
#1

I started with water at American Flag TH, so I didn’t look at anything in that area.

Yellowjacket tank is DRY and the well looks pretty disabled. Maybe it’s run once a year to fill up the tank, but it looks like it’s been a while. No cattle in the area.

Beehive tank is full to the brim with dirty water. The windmill is disconnected from the pump, so no fresh water. Maybe won’t be any for a while.

Antelope Tank likewise is full with muddy water, surrounded by cattle.

Freeman Road cache–20 gallons, in good shape. I verified this by car before hiking and left a couple gallons, since I was depending on this one.

I didn’t see any water in Ripsey Wash. I bushwhacked here and was pretty much out of the wash before I was sure I was on the trail, so I didn’t check out anything in the area. I didn’t see any cattle in the area, maybe indicating no water.

Gila River had strong flow, but after seeing miles of copper mines upstream from the Tortilla Mts, I didn’t take any. Didn’t look very appetizing, pretty muddy.

Walnut Canyon had good flow, great water. The artesian well, likewise. Surprisingly warm water.

There are some seeps in Section 8, far NE corner, after leaving White Canyon. Looked like good water, probably very temporary.

I hiked the old route down Alamo Canyon and found the windmill and tank DRY. The windmill was connected to to the pump rod and it was working, but it was pumping only air. But there were a few puddles in the wash both up and downstream of the windmill and they looked pretty good, probably temporary.

I hiked a mile or so down the new route in Telegraph Canyon and saw some wet seep spots so there are probably pools farther down that way. But I got a little confused and turned around to hike Alamo Canyon and that worked fine for me.

Garlic

#2

Thanks for the update.

Bummer about Yellowjacket.

Any water in the troughs within the corral at Beehive? Or you can detour 3 mi east down Putnam Wash to reliable Putnam Spring.

It sounds like you did not visit the corral with windmill and tank at Old Ripsey Ranch. And you didn’t mention the 100 gallon stock trough west of Ripsey Wash.

The cistern and trough in Ripsey Wash is south of the cairned trail crossing by about a quarter mile. Cattle or no, it’s fairly reliable. Or go to the spring source in the cliff above.

You can get water in Kelvin at Wilson’s Trailer Court, half a mile north of the Gila River bridge on Florence-Kelvin Road.

Section 8 seeps - definitely temporary.

Alamo Canyon windmill doesn’t fill the adjacent trough, but I believe it does fill a cement trough located about 0.1 m north in the drainage. That trough seems to be pretty reliable, or you can find pools in the wash nearby that trough, which are more reliable than those found elsewhere in the area.

Good news about wet seeps spots, maybe in the Trough Springs vicinity? I’d heard that section of trail isn’t quite smoothed out yet, but it’s all there.

blisterfree

#3

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, this is the one located half a mile west of the pipeline road in Bloodsucker Wash. IIRC, a big tank or two, some troughs, and a windmill in a corral.

I also recall they’re being some abandoned troughs and such south of there, south of Camp Grant Wash I believe, directly adjacent the pipeline road.

blisterfree

#4

Good additional information there, Blisterfree. Hope it’ll help someone.

Beehive did not have any water in the troughs and no cattle around. The cattle were at Antelope Tank.

No, I did not visit the Ripsey Ranch and did not see the windmill there.

Interesting about the Alamo Canyon windmill, I didn’t see the trough to the north. I was surprised to see the working windmill with no water in the nearby tank.

Yes, Yellowjacket Well is about 1/2 mile west in Bloodsucker Wash, with one huge round steel tank with a barbed wire fence on top, and some troughs and a corral. But no windmill, it’s an electric submersible pump with a cord pigtail, must be run by a truck-mounted generator once in a while. There used to be a gasoline engine-driven pump there, too, still some bones from that.

I did see some abandoned troughs, tanks, and piping along the pipeline road, probably what you’re talking about near Camp Grant Wash.

I didn’t spend any time at all in Ripsey Wash, since I barely knew where I was. I hear there’s trail heading down there, somehow I missed it. I ended up just downstream of the trail leaving the Wash going north and it sounds like all the water facilities are upstream of there. I wish I’d taken the time to explore a little.

Garlic

#5

Thanks for the update, it’s helping me.:slight_smile:

Apple Pie