{"id":11287,"date":"2026-10-02T15:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T22:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yetihikes.net\/wordpress\/?p=11287"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T20:00:06","slug":"grand-enchantment-trail-day-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yetihikes.net\/wordpress\/2026\/10\/02\/grand-enchantment-trail-day-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Enchantment Trail: Day 14 Apache Kid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Start: Head of Potato Canyon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finish: Cub Spring <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miles: 21.82 \/ 234.4 total<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ascent: 4330 feet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I awoke in the clouds, and couldn\u2019t see more than 100 yards.  That put a bit of a damper on running the ridge that I worked so hard to climb yesterday.  It\u2019s never worth waiting since it could be like this all day, so I packed up and headed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a road on the ridge that linked together two fire lookout towers, at either end of the ridge.  The road was rough for a car, but made for easy hiking.  I just couldn\u2019t see anything through the clouds.  Once I dropped below them briefly, but then the road took me quickly back above.  I shall not see anything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was windy on the ridge as well, producing what I call fog rain where the cloud condenses on the trees, and the wind blows the drops down, almost as if it is a light rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pounded out the roadwalk on the ridge since there was nothing else to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the far end I got to the Grassy Lookout Tower.  It was locked up and no one was there.  I was hopeful for a trash can, but there were no facilities.  Oh well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I turned off onto the Apache Kid trail, which at first glance wasn\u2019t much of a trail.  If the sign hasn’t been pointed directly at it, I never would have seen it.  Even then, you had to squint a bit and push the I believe button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trail started a long descent off the ridge I had been on.  The trail appeared and disappeared, and I had to keep a really sharp eye just to try to stay on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The further I went the more it disappeared.  It didn\u2019t seem that worthwhile to fight to stay on the trail, so I looked at my map to see if I could just make it up and head towards where the trail would dump me out in a canyon.  I thought I could just head straight down to a wash and follow it out.  I pushed my way through mesquite and other thorny bushes and gained the wash which was way travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I worked my way down the wash for a while, and glanced at my GPS when I noticed I was off track.  The wash would have worked, but I missed that I would have needed to go over a minor saddle and not just straight down the wash that I was in.  That meant that I now had a ridge between me and my destination canyon, with nothing to do but climb up and over the ridge to where I wanted to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do like off trail travel, but uphill is a lot harder than downhill.  I eventually made my way back and hooked up with the trail which dropped me into the correct canyon, Indian Canyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There was water in this canyon almost the whole way, whereas it is typically dry with a single possible spring.\u00a0 The canyon was a really nice easy walk downhill.\u00a0 There was nothing too special about it; it was treed in and there weren\u2019t many views, but it was quite and peaceful and made for some really pleasant hiking.\u00a0 The big ponderosa pine helped as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I enjoyed the canyon so much that the miles just flew right by and before I knew it I was dumped out its end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over a small saddle on a former trail, and then I hooked up with single track heading up Water Canyon.  This trail was like actual trail.  It wasn\u2019t used much, but had a defined treadway that made following it a breeze.  It followed a stream up the wide valley, meandering from side to side.  Big trees in the valley too, including the biggest oaks I\u2019ve seen on this trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like Indian Canyon, it was also a really pleasant hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I had some decisions to make though.  It was unclear when the water would stop going uphill, so I just grabbed water at the beginning.  I also had to decide where to camp.  I didn\u2019t really want a repeat of yesterday with dragging a huge amount of water up a mountain.  However, it was too early to camp in the bottom of the canyon, though it would have been nice to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 2 options for water continuing forward.  One spring on a side trail at the very top that probably had water, or another spring on the other side of the mountain.  Since I had options, I just carried water to get me over the mountain, to give me options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pleasantness of the valley had to come to an end, and the trail got steeper to make up for time.  The trail also entered a burn area where there were lots of blowdowns.  People had obviously been through to clean up the trail, but it looks like it has been a few years since the last time that happened.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parts of the trail disappeared under blowdowns and overgrowth, but I still managed forward progress, if barely.  I had plenty of time to get to the top, you just have to pick away at these sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wound back and forth getting over all the downed trees and past the thorn bushes, and at long last the trail switchbacked uphill and became much more defined.  Thank goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trail was still in a burn area though, so there were many blowdowns still, but at least it was easier to see where the trail was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top half of the climb went through thickets of Aspen, which are usually first to grow after a fire.  Someone had thankfully cleared a corridor a few years back, so it was easy enough to follow, but there were still a ton of blowdowns.  I was happy when I entered a patch of pines and crested the top of the climb.  It was a mess getting through some of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was 5 when I hit the top.  The spring further down trail was a bit far for the time, and I had no idea what condition the trail was in.  So I decided to chance the 0.6 miles to Cub Spring on a side trail.  There was more of the same Aspen thickets, but they were similarly cleared a while back, but now I was going flat to downhill so it was a bit faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made it to Cub Spring which was gushing out the side of the mountain.  A great water source, and surprising so high up on the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a nearby campsite, so that was good enough for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I climbed the mountain, nearing the top I ascended again into the clouds.  It was damp and windy, and I wouldn\u2019t have really wanted to camp in that if I could avoid it.  I knew that Cub Spring was about the elevation the clouds started on my climb, and that held true when I got to it, just below the clouds.  They can always descend, but at least everything wasn\u2019t soaking from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had wondered what all these burn areas I will have to pass through would be like.  I did many on the PCT, but that trail is much more maintained than many of these trails.  So far I have been able to manage, but I have many miles of them left to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wind is howling tonight, but I\u2019m sheltered next to a row of pines that escaped the fires.  Going to be a chilly night at almost 10,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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