There were plenty of sensible reasons to not go backpacking in Hellsgate Wilderness. For starters, the name raised suspicions that it could be a Godforsaken place. And then there was the fact that hungry bears stressed by drought were trying to eat people. The Hellsgate Trailhead, just east of Payson, was closed last June after three separate incidents at the nearby Ponderosa Campground — a bear there had put its jaws around the heads of campers (all of whom survived) as they slept.

There was also the possibility of being swept away by a monsoon-induced flash flood. Or succumbing to heatstroke during a long, hard hike in triple-digit temperatures. The spare and discouraging description of the wilderness on the Tonto National Forest website only threw up more red flags: “While the hiker faces several moderate to steep climbs on the route to Hell’s Gate,” it cautioned, “the real challenge is getting back out.”