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Last Hike of the Millennium
Cave Creek Recreation Area
December 31, 1999
We were supposed to meet the group at the Cave Creek Ranger office
parking lot. However, it appeared the gate to the ranger station
was closed and locked! There was a nice 'parking area' off the
road where we met up with: Michelle and Jim Kranzberg with their dog,
Major, their friends Emi and Stuart Landrum and Vince Rector, Ben
Velasquez, Elaine Cobos, Chuck Parsons, Kathy Webster, Laurie Jacobson
and her dog, Tony Grundon, Joyce Parrish, Anatoli and Natasha Korkin,
Renee Bryant and her dog, Lady, Ted Tenny and Rick August.
 The
hike starts out on the Cave Trail for a short distance, then turns left
onto the Cottonwood Trail #247. Then the trail parallels Bronco Creek a
short distance and then rock-hops the creek to connect with the Skunk
Tank Trail #246. After a steep climb up a ridge, the Skunk Tank
Trail passes through a dense saguaro forest and edges along the rim of
Skunk Tank Canyon as it heads back to the Cave Creek Trail.
 The
Cave Creek Trail follows the creek back to the trailhead. Along
the way, we will scramble through a jumble of boulders and cross the
stream three times. Cave Creek is a perennial stream that can
occasionally sink below surface in the summer, leaving a few pools.
The stream is home to longfin dace, fathead minnow, green sunfish and
the Gila Topminnow which is an endangered species. Along the trail
we came across a crested Saguaro. We all returned to our vehicles and
headed home . . . some with plans of big parties and others planning to
quietly ring in the new year, new century and new millenium.
The above listed trip
reports--documenting day hikes, backpacking trips, and car camping trips
organized and arranged by the Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club,
Inc.--are meant to be more of a record of the various events performed
by the hiking club and are not meant to be the only guide for anyone
else wishing to do the same hike or backpacking trip. Instead, they
should only be used as a supplemental to an official guidebook that
addresses that specific hike or backpacking trip. Natural changes
(floods, fires, windstorms, etc.) can occur and change and alter the
landscape. The Forest Service sometimes changes the routing of a trail.
Trail junction signs can be removed or altered. For these reasons, the
hiking club's trip reports and even the official guidebooks may no
longer be totally accurate in describing the trail and its layout. There
is always the possibility, however remote, of a hiker sustaining harm or
injury while on any hike, no matter how safe it may initially seem. The
Arizona Trailblazer's Hiking Club, Inc., as well as any of its officers,
directors, representatives, and designated hike leaders, disclaims any
liability or responsibility for accidents, injuries, damages, or losses
whatsoever that may occur to anyone using the trip reports that are
available on our website. The responsibility for good health and safety
while hiking, backpacking, or camping, ultimately rests with the
individual.
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