Brinslinger Feb 16

This 'key exchange' hike requires the party to split into two equal groups, which start from opposite ends of the trail. When the two groups meet, car keys are exchanged so that both groups can proceed to the opposite end of the trail from where they started, and then drive back to a central point.

1 BRINSLINGER	2 Starting at the Jordan Road end of teh combined trail	3	4
5	6	7	8 The steep climb onto Brins Mesa
9	10	11	12
13	14	15 On top of the Mesa, and we're getting a few sprinkles	16
17 Dead trees from the 2006 burn are still around	18	19 We move ahead toward FR 252	20
21	22	23 Even after two warm weeks, there is still some patchy ice	24
25 Meanwhile, half the group has been hiking from the Chuckwagon/Gunslinger Trail off Long Canyon Rd. Now we meet in the middle.	26	27	28 Together we take a side trail for a snack...
29	30	31 Fresh moss. This spends most of the year black and dormant.	32
33	34 ...And a visit to the Soldier Heights ruin and petroglyphs	35	36
37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44
45	46	47	48
49	50	51	52
53	54	55	56
57	58	59	60
61 At one point in the long alcove, wasp nest holes in existing tafoni	62 Calcium efflorescing on sandstone	63	64 Lunch on the heights above the alcove
65	66	67	68 Great views of Thunder Mountain and the west side of town
69	70	71 Back along the alcove to the public trail	72
73	74	75	76 Here the group splits again, both walking in the same directions we started
77 An Arizona cedar	78	79 We emerge onto FR 252...	80 ...and then cross it for Chuckwagon/Gunslinger
81	82	83	84
85 One wet wash!	86	87 Back of the Sphinx	88
89	90 And we emerge onto Long Canyon trailhead