Not being familiar with the area, finding FR 131 was complicated. The directions I had said the route was outside of Cottonwood. It WAS "outside" of Cottonwood, but in a different direction than was mentioned. When I finally got to FR 131, I noticed the road was very primitive as it snaked along the Verde River for about 12 miles - nearly destroying the small car we were in. None the less, we made it to the trailhead.

      Loaded down with too much gear and food, me and my hiking companion headed into the Sycamore Creek valley. The trail was steep, like the guide said. But about 1.2 miles in, the trail became obscured by twisted trees and debris from what looked like a major flood. It was getting late in the day and we camped in a clearing about 100 yards west of Summer Spring. Incidently, the site we were at had been used previously and already had a fire pit and an area for our tent. In other words, somebody may have run into the same problems we had. Also, camping in this area was illegal (to protect water quality, the guide said) but I did not want to be caught in the unfamiliar wash without a determined site.

      The next day, we donned day packs and left our site to find where the trail was. We traversed huge boulders in a dry wash - climbing up about a half mile before realizing we were headed in the wrong direction. Back down the wash we noticed a path, of sorts, that wound through heavy brush along Sycamore Creek. I thought there was no way we could have lugged our gear on the path to the 3.7 mile marker where camping was allowed. But we continued on the path, crossing the creek several times before spotting a clearing on a beach.

      The beach was tucked in a deep canyon that most likely was cut by the clear, cool water of the canyon. Unfortunately, it was littered with beer cans and other garbage. I gathered the refuse into one pile, but had to leave it behind because there was too much to carry out. Despite the trash, the canyon was beautiful and we decided to keep hiking.

      The trail continued up and over rocks next to towering canyon walls. It was tough to follow for the same reasons as before. We finally turned back only to discover part of the trail we had previously missed. At the location where we became confused initially, we discovered a portion of the path that cut through brush along the creek. By taking it back, despite having to once again break through more brush, we saved considerable time.

      We made it back to camp and talked about the obscured path and the difficulty we would have had if we backpacked further along the creek. The path appeared, for the most part, to be well traveled for the first 1.5 miles. After that, however, you are on your own. The two guidebooks we looked at before the journey were out of date and not good references. A word to the wise about this trail: bring an updated map and a machete.

      General location: 12 miles north/northeast of Clarkdale, Ariz. (2 hours N/NW of Phoenix). Length: about 4 miles to Parsons Springs. Difficulty: rated "easy" by two guides - I assume because it is mostly flat. I would rate it "moderate" (especially for backpackers) due to the heavy brush and sometimes hard-to-find path.

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