The club hadn’t done this hike since 2010, so I figured it was high time. We trooped the loop clockwise, splitting into two groups on FR 10 at hill 2315. Adventurous hikers went with Tamar around the west side of the hill, while others went with me on a trail. My group saw the Idaho-Bulldog Arch. Tamar’s group went rock-climbing in Bulldog Canyon.

Eighteen astute hikers started from Idaho Access on a cool, clear November morning. We hiked the Deer Tanks Trail across an arroyo and down into Idaho Canyon. The trail has been rerouted to have a few more ups and downs but better scenery.

Everyone hikes through Idaho Canyon these days instead of on the old trail. It’s overgrown with weeds. Climbing out of Idaho Canyon, we soon went over Idaho Pass and down the Deer Tanks Trail to FR 10. The Deer Tanks Trail is named for wildlife watering tanks, built to keep the critters away from civilization. At FR 10 we split into two groups.

I didn’t discover the Idaho-Bulldog Arch. First time I was there I found empty beer cans. Why don’t people who carry full beer cans into the wilderness carry their empty cans out?

In Bulldog Canyon we rejoined the adventurous group after waiting for a while.

There’s an arch near the Pyroclastic Cave, but you don’t see it unless you go there.

The Bulldog Canyon Trail goes on the north side of the canyon for a short distance, then stays on the south side or in the canyon. At one place you get a distant view of the Trumpet Arch, south of Peak 3089. My favorite Palo Verde grows out of a lichen-encrusted boulder, with a great view of Peak 3269 as the trail leaves the canyon.

At the horse trail turnoff we lost the adventurous group. Perils of the slowest person on a hike being the leader.

When I first hiked the horse trail in 2003, I’d climbed hill 2685. The horse trail plays hopscotch with the wash, then up and over a pass marked with a magnificent saguaro. It ends at a road with a steep spot.

The next part of the hike is through an area of dirt roads and occasional campers. Finally we cross FR 10.

The north half of the Wolverine Pass Trail is poorly defined. Cairns here and there kind of mark the route. It’s worst at the power line, but as you continue south the trail becomes distinct. It goes past a quartz boulder up on a hillside with pebbles of quartz washed down to the trail.

Thanks to Tamar for leading the off-trail portion of the hike!