The Wilderness Odyssey of Chevelon Creek

High atop the wall-like barrier of the Mogollon Rim, a secretive stream cuts a deep 70-mile swath through a vast, primitive region that continues to resist the advancing tide of civilization. Cloaked in a dense forest of pine, fir and aspen, the wilderness stream gains its birth from the seep of a secluded glen. At first it creeps shyly through the timber, as if unsure of its destiny. Then it breaks into the open where its waters dissipate into crowded Woods Canyon Lake. Shaken by the noisy dilemma of boaters and fishermen, the stream leaps an earthen dam plunging into a treacherous and foreboding canyon on one of the most exciting odysseys of wild adventure left in Arizona. Its lonely journey ends east of Winslow in the tepid waters of the Little Colorado River. This is a preface to Chevelon Creek, a mysterious stream whose hidden treasures of wild beauty, bountiful game and fabulous fishing are closely guarded by precipitous canyon walls. Wherever Arizona sportsmen gather, you hear Chevelon mentioned, but usually in vague terms that reflect an obsession for the unknown. For, although many have heard of Chevelon Creek, few venture down its nearvertical walls to taste the savage riches of this beautiful and abundant stream. According to legend, the creek was named for an exploring cowpoke named Chevelon (although the spelling may have been different) who lunched on some rare poisonous herbs and died at the bottom of the deep chasm.

Story and Photographs by ROBERT B. WHITAKER

Robert B. Whitaker is the type of outdoor writer-photographer who enjoys striking off into remote regions to discover new fishing frontiers and report to readers on all the pleasures of wilderness explorations. Bob is an Iowan by birth, who inherited his enthusiasm for the outdoors from his mother — a nationally recognized authority on gardening. Bob is a 1952 graduate of the University of Missouri, coming to Arizona in 1960 to satisfy his outdoor writing ambitions. He is thirty-seven, married, with two outdoor-oriented children who like to share his adventures. Bob has been a professional outdoor writer and photographer for twelve years. In addition to his work for ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, he writes for various other magazine publications and does a weekly outdoor column in the Sunday Phoenix Arizona Republic newspaper. Prior to this he was outdoor columnist for the Scottsdale Daily Progress. He free lances his outdoor writing and photography while also being engaged in public relations work in Phoenix. Bob shoots most of his photographs on easy-to-carry 21/4 x 21/4 cameras. His search for adventure has led him all over the United States and to three foreign countries. Five years ago, he produced a Forest Service motion picture film depicting the unique aerial fire control system in operation along the Canadian border. His ultimate goal is to make outdoor writing and photography a fulltime occupation.

A CAMERA TOUR OF CHEVELON CREEK

PRECEDING COLOR PAGES (BEGINNING PAGE 3)

"CHEVELON CREEK BELOW WOODS CANYON LAKE"

Photograph was taken immediately below Woods Can-yon Lake. Chevelon Creek below Woods Canyon Lake is a narrow, slow moving stream flanked on both sides by dense stands of pine and fir. Bronica-S camera; Ektachrome Profes-sional; f. 11 at 1/25th sec.; 75mm 2.8 Nikkor lens; June; sunlight but storm clouds building up. ASA rating 64.

FOLLOWING PAGES

"CHEVELON CREEK NEAR TELEPHONE TRAIL CROSSING"

Here is where Chevelon Creek flows across the Telephone Trail Crossing. The Telephone Trail begins eight miles northeast of Alder Lake on Forest Service Route 169, winding three miles over a primitive logging road to the edge of Chevelon Canyon. Rolleiflex E2 camera; Ektachrome Pro-fessional; f. 1 1 at 1/125th sec.; Schneider Xenotar f3.5 lens; June; bright sunlight; ASA rating 64.

"CHEVELON CREEK FROM DEER LAKE CANYON RIM"

This scene looks out across one of the wildest stretches of Chevelon Creek. The photograph was taken from the ridge of Deer Lake Canyon giving a panoramic view of Chevelon Canyon. The stream is dry here, but it emerges again, as seen in the distance, in the area of Horsetrap Canyon. Trout fishing below this point is terrific, with good numbers of rainbow and browns in the eighteen to twenty inch class.

"DEER LAKE"

This scene was shot from the northeast side of Deer Lake. The small pond is located along the Forest Service Recreational Road 169, approximately two miles north of the turnoff from Rim Road at Alder Lake. The three-acre lake is a haven for waterfowl, which nest in the shallow marsh. Fed by springs, Deer Lake rarely dries up completely. Bronica-S cam-era; Ektachrome Professional; f.14 at 1/60th sec.; Nikkor 75mm f 2.8 lens; June; mid-morning on a bright day; ASA rating 64.

CENTER PANEL

"CHEVELON CREEK APPROACHING THE LITTLE COLORADO"

Chevelon Creek becomes a docile stream as it emerges from the precipitous canyon into the flat, open plateau east of Winslow. This scene was taken approximately one mile above Chevelon Creek's meeting with the chocolate-brown waters of the Little Colorado River. The region can best be reached by taking the old Winslow-Joseph City-Holbrook road and turning off on one of the primitive trails just before crossing Chevelon Canyon. Rolleiflex E-2 camera; Ektachrome Profes-sional; f. 14 at 1/125th sec.; Schneider Xenotar f 3.5 lens; June; bright sunlight; ASA rating 64.

"THE NARROWS - CHEVELON CREEK"

This is the canyon gorge near the mouth of Chevelon Creek. This scene is approximately fifteen miles east of Winslow on a road that paral-lels the Little Colorado River. Just before flattening out into a placid meadow stream, Chevelon Creek flows through its most foreboding canyon, with sheer-walled cliffs rising three hundred feet on either side. The rickety iron bridge is on the old Wins-low-Joseph City Road. Elevation here is 4,900 feet. Photo taken where Chevelon Creek leaves Sitgreaves National Forest. This scene was taken west of Arizona 65, some twenty miles southwest of Winslow. This remote and rugged terrain is accessible only by hiking or on horseback. A cattle guard marks the Forest Service boundary. A short distance from this point is the historic remains of the old King Ranch which dates back to the post-Civil War era in Arizona.

"FOREST BOUNDARY ON CHEVELON CREEK" "INTERESTING TERRAIN CHEVELON CREEK"

Photo shows Forest Ranger Norman Anderson studying a long, still pool in lower Chevelon Creek. The pools in this wilder-ness portion of Chevelon Creek are very deep. In a photo-graphic exploration of the area, it was necessary for us to swim our horses twice through boxed-in canyon defiles. During the heat of summer, the pools are fed mostly by seepage. Suckers and catfish are the only fish life prevalent here. Rolleiflex E2 camera; Ektachrome Professional; f.14 at 1/125th sec.; Schnei der Xenotar f 3.5 lens; April; bright sunlight; ASA rating 50.

Squirrel hunters find the trees hopping with bushytails. Both gray and Abert's (tassle-eared) varieties abound in the thick timber, and many sportsmen drive hundreds of miles just to bag a sackful of the fat and saucy rodents. These hunters consider nothing quite so nostalgic as a skillet of juicy squirrel flanks crackling over a forest campfire. It must shock the reticent little stream to emerge from the silent forest and be scooped up in the oar-wash of pleasure boats on Woods Canyon Lake.

Yet, despite the crowds, Woods Canyon remains one of the most beautiful lakes in Arizona. The 51-acre reservoir attractively displays Chevelon's waters amid the sweet-scented beauty of a coniferous forest. Pine, spruce and fir grow down to the water's edge helping disguise the conglomeration of tents and other camping units wedged among the trees.Woods Canyon collects a steady stream of summer visitors from Phoenix and other lowland communities seeking to escape the burning desert heat. The pretty little lake is easily reached from the big desert cities via the Beeline Highway, Payson and Arizona 160. Immediately after topping the Mogollon Rim, a left turn takes you four miles along the Rim road to the Woods Canyon turnoff. But don't worry about getting lost - just follow the crowd!

Although trout in Woods Canyon have never grown at the rapid rate experienced in many Arizona coldwater lakes, Arizona Game and Fish Department crews keep the woodland reservoir well stocked with creel-size rainbows to meet the increasingly heavy angling pressure.

Jerry Heffelfinger, one of Arizona's best fly fisher-men, has this to say about Woods Canyon Lake: "People are always grumbling about the fishing in this hard hit reservoir. It isn't one of my favorite spots, but once I stopped by to see just how bad it really was. I took a limit of trout in less than two hours using wet flies."

"It's true that lunkers are scarce, but a good fisherman can always creel a limit," claims the Phoenix angler. "Woods Canyon is no different than other lakes in demanding skill if trout are to be taken consistently."

The campground at Woods Canyon Lake is continually being enlarged by Sitgreaves Forest Service personnel. At the present time, there are campsites to serve approximately one thousand people. The campground has picnic tables, fireplaces and toilet facilities, with a general store at the lake providing staples and boats for rent.

The annual sheep migration, which munches up from the Salt River Valley by way of Sunflower and upper Canyon Creek, skirts Woods Canyon and the headwaters of Chevelon Creek. The high plateau region is the summer range for thousands of desert-raised sheep.

As Chevelon once again becomes a creek below Woods Canyon dam, it assumes those wilderness characteristics that will stay with her the remainder of the journey.

A good hiking trail follows the stream for some distance below the dam, but it gradually gets fainter as hikers lose interest and return to civilization. This is the beginning of a primitive trail that stretches along much of Chevelon Creek. The rarely-traveled route was carved out by game, cattle, early pioneers and a few adventurous sportsmen, lured by the call of out-of-way places.

The U. S. Forest Service has designated Chevelon Canyon as a Scenic Recreation Area, and plans to more clearly define the long trail for hikers and horseback riders. A long-range program ultimately calls for side roads leading to campgrounds at the brink of the 600foot chasm, with footpaths dropping down to the stream. The scenery along upper Chevelon Creek is painted in vivid hues of green, brown and red, with puffy white clouds cavorting in the clear mountain sky. The coniferous forest holds such valuable timber as blue spruce, Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, sheltering a thick carpet of ferns and grasses. Wildlife sign is everywhere, and occasionally the trail passes a tree rubbed raw by a set of elk antlers. This portion of Chevelon shrivels up during drought years, hence there is little carryover of trout from year to year. Trout fishing generally is poor for several miles below below Woods Canyon dam. Norman Anderson, former district ranger for the Chevelon area, and I rode horseback along much of the upper portion in a study of trout conditions. One of our experiences depicts the unpredictable nature of Chevelon Creek. After riding about three miles below the dam, we suddenly came upon a large beaver pond that blocked the canyon with one hundred yards of backwater. Down to this point the stream had been shallow and devoid of trout. The dam had been painstakingly constructed by these furbearing engineers, and the placid waters of the pond invited us to pause and fish. After several fruitless casts, we decided to continue our trek. Attempting to skirt the edge of the pond, Norm's horse stumbled into a beaver tunnel and slid sideways into the dark water. It was then we discovered the depth of the pond--as both ranger and horse were forced to swim for shore. Norm and I promised ourselves to return again to this “bottomless” pond and spend unhurried moments fishing for the huge trout that surely lurk in its depths. Up to now our Chevelon journey has taken us almost due east, but now the stream veers sharply to the north -a direction it will maintain until meeting the Little Colorado. Trout become more numerous as the stream swirls through the dense timber of a rapidly constricting canyon. On top the western ridge, a road approaches from the direction of (dry) Palomino Lake. Chevelon Creek can be reached from this road, but the climb down is hazardous along steep walls covered with snags and underbrush. As the canyon grows tighter, rocks and deadfalls replace the soft ferns and grasses. The going gets rough, but you can't get lost where you can't get out-and there is no easy exit from the canyon. Chevelon pulls a disappearing act by plunging underground as it meets the rock-strewn sluice of (dry) Willow Spring Canyon. Approximately three miles up this side canyon the Arizona Game and Fish Department plans to construct an 80-acre fishing lake. Provided water rights are granted, the proposed lake will be built sometime prior to 1966. As if attempting to shake free of trailing fishermen,

Chevelon continues dry and rough for nearly four parched miles before emerging again in the vicinity of Horsetrap Canyon and Deer Lake Canyon. Here begins a "lost" paradise of superb trout fishing.

There are slab-size rainbows and patriarch browns inhabiting the long, still pools. Evidence also exists of a hybrid rainbow that perhaps crossed with a native cutthroat species. The trout here are fat and healthy, indicating plenty of natural forage.

Wild tales of giant trout return with anglers who stumble into the remote stretch of Chevelon below Horsetrap Canyon, an area hard to reach but worth the effort.

Henrietta "Hank" McGuire, who has spent many years with the Forest Service assigned to Chevelon Ranger Station, tells of making repeated trips into this section in quest of one elusive brown trout. She estimates the hookjawed monster to have been over two feet long.

"We would struggle down to this pool several times a year," reminisces the lady ranger, "and use every trick in the book to induce the old bruiser to bite. Its battered jaw was encrusted with rusty hooks. Several times one of us had the fish hooked, but each time it broke free. So far as I know, that old trout is still in the same lonely pool."

The "easiest" route into the mid-section of Chevelon Creek is along an ancient path known as The "Telephone Trail." The trail starts out as a primitive road, seven miles north of Alder Lake on U. S. Forest Service Route 169, slicing through a thick stand of ponderosa pine and oak a distance of three miles before stopping at the edge of Chevelon Canyon. Here it becomes a narrow footpath descending six hundred feet into the canyon and back up the opposite side.

Broken segments of the single strand telephone line, once used as a communication link by the Forest Service, can still be found tacked to trees along the trail.

For the outdoor-conditioned family, the Telephone Trail offers a unique opportunity to slip the bonds of suburban living and escape on a wilderness backpacking adventure.

Trout at the base of the Telephone Trail are wild, spooking at the slightest glimpse of an approaching angler. However, a skilled fisherman should return from a weekend camped at the foot of the trail with at least a 15-incher in his packsack-with an outside chance of having captured a trout in the 20-inch class.

OPPOSITE PAGE "NEAR END OF WILDERNESS JOURNEY" BY ROBERT B. WHITAKER. This scene was taken a short distance above the juncture of Chevelon Creek and the Little Colorado River, approximately fifteen miles east of Winslow on the old Winslow to Joseph City road. Chevelon Creek flows through a deep gorge here with sheer cliffs on either side. The water is warm with rough fish, bass and catfish the dominant species. The surrounding countryside is flat and barren. The canyon flattens out a mile below this point. Rolleiflex E2 camera; Ektachrome Professional; f.18 at 1/60th sec.; Schneider Xenotar f 3.5 lens; June; bright sunlight; ASA rating 64.

You also may see a giant bull elk come lumbering out of the timber for a refreshing drink. Or, as you quietly fish your way along the stream, perhaps you'll disturb a resting mule deer and feel the pulse of excitement as it clatters across the smooth rocks seeking the sanctuary of the forest.

Mallard ducks are plentiful along Chevelon Creek. We once surprised a nesting mallard hen and watched her flop across a pool in a beautifully-executed act designed to lead us from her brood.

But let the traveler beware when venturing into Chevelon Canyon, for it is no place for the novice. The craggy walls and thick forest hold a sizable population of rattlesnakes-particularly one ornery black critter-making snakebite kits required equipment for hikers. Poison ivy and stinging nettles also grow in profusion within the shady woods.

Chevelon Creek flanks three pioneer ranch tracts as it wanders through the region of the Telephone Trail. These are the Wolfe, Duran and Tillman spreads.

It next enters a strip of prime forest that extends east to west in alternate sections of private land and public domain. This stretch of mixed ownership land was, until recently, the subject of much heated debate as to property rights and future use of the valuable timber resources.

The private land sections were granted to the Aztec Land and Cattle Company (otherwise known as the "Hashknife Outfit") in a 1952 court decree. The decision aroused much public emotion and animosity among Arizonans who feared the timber on this 98,680-acre grant would be plundered for profit. Such action, it was felt, would also despoil adjoining public lands.

The land in question covered an area approximately six miles wide and thirty miles long, bisecting what once was the Black Mesa Forest Preserve. The huge Black Mesa Preserve is now known as Coconino and Sitgreaves National Forests.

Following long litigation, the danger to this valuable timber land was eased, as control of the private land sections shifted under the joint ownership of Southwest Lumber Mills, Inc., and John Page Land Company. The two merging interests have since agreed to a plan whereby the "checkerboard" lands ultimately will be exchanged for less important recreational lands near established population centers, thereby preserving for public use a wild forest.

A touch of civilization will soon be added to a primitive portion of recently exchanged land, when a new Game and Fish Department lake is constructed on the old Weimer homestead, located a few miles below the Telephone Trail crossing. The new impoundment will be named Chevelon Canyon Lake.

Fisheries biologists are excited about the new 275acre Chevelon Canyon Lake. It will be long and deep, receiving a fertile runoff from upstream. Considering Chevelon Creek's reputation for rearing lunker trout, the enthusiasm seems well founded.

The original Weimer log cabin, which dates back to the late 1800's, can still be seen weathering away near the lake site. Backwater from the proposed dam, however, is destined to submerge a rock wall covered with Indian paintings.

Seven miles downstream from the Weimer lake site is Durfee Crossing, where the Game and Fish Department stocks the creek with hatchery rainbow trout. Local ranchers and fishermen from nearby communities often spend their weekends in this scenic area.

Still other anglers fish farther downstream at Chevelon Crossing, where a Forest Service campground is located.

A bridge here provides an all-weather crossing on the main road between Heber and Winslow. This is the first of two bridges to cross Chevelon Creek on its wild seventy-mile plunge.

The West Fork of Chevelon Canyon joins the main stream a short distance below the crossing, but this dry tributary wash contributes nothing but a few windswept grasshoppers to its big sister.

Chevelon makes a series of violent twists as it approaches the boundary of Sitgreaves Forest. Although the canyon continues deep and narrow, the land above becomes flat and barren. For miles around, one sees only scraggly juniper and piñon drinking up the sparse dribbles of moisture.

Overgrazing has ravaged the open range surrounding the lower end of Chevelon Creek. Much of this damage is attributed to the "Hashknife Outfit" which dumped 30,000 head of cattle along the old railroad line (now the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) to leave an irreparable scar on the land.

Signs of prehistoric Indian settlements begin to appear, and just across the fenced Forest Service boundary line are found the remnants of the old King Ranch. The ranch dates back to the post-Civil War era. In later years, it became a supply point for horses going to the "Hashknife Outfit."

Off in the distance, the bulky shape of Chevelon Butte rises from the empty plateau and peers down at its namesake stream. The mountain bulges high above the treeless plain to an altitude of 6,935 feet, its green dome contrasting sharply with the drab floor below.

The creek now slides by a group of mysterious craters. There are thirty-two of the strange depressions wedged between Chevelon and Wildcat canyons, some twenty miles south of Winslow, in a truly rugged country.

They set up a chorus beneath the stars, while mornings usually find a large herd of antelope grazing near Chevelon Butte.

The tepid waters in this portion of Chevelon Creek contains bass, panfish, catfish and less desirable rough fish.

Slicing through a straight-walled canyon that defies entrance, Chevelon Creek passes beneath a rickety steel bridge on the old Winslow to Holbrook road. Far to the north can be seen the Little Colorado and U. S. 66.

A few hundred yards below the bridge, Chevelon Canyon abruptly flattens out and the stream takes on the appearance of a sluggish Midwestern river. Dense thickets of brush hide the stream from view, as if trying to replace the protective shield that once was the canyon.

Off to the east an old stage station crumbles away in a hopeless wait for the stage that never comes. Water from the lower extremity of Chevelon Creek is being diverted here into a large waterfowl slough that promises better duck hunting for central Arizona.

The Chevelon story ended in a burst of excitement for this writer. Climbing a shallow rise to photograph the confluence of Chevelon Creek and the Little Colorado River, I discovered what once was a sprawling pre-historic Indian settlement, a reminder of life and times of long ago.

According to the May, 1942, issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, an expedition entered the desolate region seeking the answer to the "riddle of the craters." The scientists determined the holes were not meteorite craters, as first believed, but actually "sinks" caused by a subterranean collapse. The earth was found to be honeycombed with underground caverns. A TWA airline pilot, H. Н. Holloway, discovered the craters on a routine flight and personally led the exploratory search.

Though the land seems vacant, there is a surprising assortment of wildlife surviving on the parched plateau that surrounds lower Chevelon Creek. At night, coyotes With a little imagination, one could visualize Indian scouts ascending this same hill-gazing out across the beautiful vista-and deciding that here, at the meeting of two great streams, was the utopian paradise to answer their dreams.

Much of Chevelon Creek today exists as it did a hundred years ago, when the first white settlers pushed their way through the virgin forests of northern Arizona. The primitive canyon is a remote, nearly inaccessible region that challenges wanderlust adventurers to sling a packsack and sample the wild freedom of a fast diminishing wilderness America. Chevelon is a challenge and an invitation.