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| - What a crazy experience. Don't put in the address on Yelp. Just google maps Calico Tanks Trail. It'll save you.
I was expecting a nice moderate 2.2 mile hike, in-n-out within 2.5 hrs. However, we never found the trail head because of the address on Yelp. And by the time you get out to that area, I doubt anyone will have any signal. Since I couldn't look up where the trail head actually was (and I probably should have done my homework), I ended up in calico basin, at the start of another trail head.
The actual trail head, we later found out, is arrived at through the middle of Scenic Loop Dr, which had a long line of cars waiting to get in probably because you have to pay the fee at the beginning of the road.
Don't be crazy like us: we ended up trekking from the Kraft Mountain Loop to the Calico Tanks Trail. To and back took us about 5 hours. We were terribly under-prepared for that hike because of food, water, and time. If you are hiking in the dead of winter, please plan accordingly and get out before 4:30pm. It will be way too dark to hike after that.
The actual Calico Tanks Trail that we hiked was sandy and flat at first, but quickly progressed to rocks of all shapes and sizes mounted on top of one another in an orderly madness. The trail itself will be hard to determine at times, but the direction you will need to climb will be obvious. One way or another, you will wind up at the tank, which had absolutely no water this year. You could tell that it held water once, like an emptied out water bottle that has gotten dusty from not having been refilled in awhile. If you venture just a bit farther from the tank, you'll be treated to a vast view of the canyon.
The way back down is just as slippery, so make sure you keep your wits about you and watch your way back down. You will probably lose the trail many times, but as long as you head in that direction, you'll quickly meet up with it again.
Again, if you haven't done this hike before, just make sure you go to Scenic Loop Dr, pay the fee, and don't go too late!
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