Saturday I took a hike I have wanted to take for almost a year (ever since Mom, Dad, Jay and I drove past this trailhead on the way to Roosevelt Dam). I went for a hike at Tortilla Trailhead. Not to be confused with Tortilla Flat Trailhead, which is right near Tortilla Flat. Tortilla Trailhead starts at an old ranch road and leads to Tortilla Ranch (which used to be a cattle ranch in the mid 20th century). The hike in is pretty easy along the ranch road (although long, at 3.5mi), and would even be drivable except for the first tenth of a mile or so. I did find these folks on the web, who managed to drive in, but from their description, I don’t think I want to give it a try in the Murano. The ranch is just a couple fence posts, an entrance gate, and a couple of cement and stone foundations now. Half a mile down the road from the ranch is Tortilla Well, which has an old water tank and windmill, both of which have seen better days. Two trails start from near Tortilla Well (JF and Peter’s Trail), but by the time I got here I was fairly tired, so I just went a little ways down Peter’s Trail before turning back. A map of the hike is here, and photos are up on Flickr.
Critics agree: This hike looks pretty!
So, why is it you think the Dutchman’s Gold is on Peter’s Trail? (Perhaps this is a conversation best encrypted with GPG…)