UPPER BARKS CANYON/CAVE TRAIL

[Arizonaheat]

Cactuscat and I did Upper Barks Canyon / Cave Trail Loop today from "THE BIBLE", Carlson's book, Hiking the Superstitions. I will let her write the trip report.

Had a super time per usual. Great weather, great company, we missed the "Blonde one" though. We would have had her home in plenty of time for the Super Bowl massacre.

Note: Carlson rates this hike as extremely difficult, experts only, requiring a strong mental attitude. It was a challenge but I consider several other hikes we've done much more difficult. I will say if you are not well versed in route finding capabilities and identifying landmarks don't even consider attempting this hike. If you do attempt this hike be sure to read Carlson's description.

[cactuscat]

Arizonaheat and I arrived at the Peralta TH just after 7a.m. - we were surprised to see only two other cars in the lot at that time. We chugged up "Cardiac Hill" and were greeted with a beautiful morning view of Barkley Basin and the mountains beyond.
In approximately 30 minutes, we reached the start of Upper Barks and headed into the unknown. We found the hiking to be quite easy through the first part of the canyon. In many cases there were multiple paths to choose from - we just took whatever looked good, and headed in the right direction. Pretty soon we could see Weavers Needle looming up ahead, guiding us.
Eventually we started to wonder if we had taken a wrong turn, because the hike was so much easier than we expected, so we stopped for a GPS/map check. It turned out that we were right where we belonged, and the more challenging section was coming up.
The challenging section was pretty much what we expected, and really not that hard - just good adventurous fun. Route finding is very important as you try to work your way up the cliffs, toward the Weavers Needle Overlook - this is the part where the book says "be careful not to climb up something and find you have no way out"!
We worked our way up and over one mountain, then broke for lunch before tackling the last climb. As we sat eating in the shade of a tall rock, we enjoyed the views as well as the peace and quiet. At that point we were probably no more than half a mile from Fremont Saddle (as the crow flies), but it felt like the middle of nowhere. Our only company in the canyon was two Ravens who obviously considered us intruders in their backyard - one swooped low over our heads too give us the eye (thankfully, he wasn't so rude as to drop anything on us!).
I had spotted what looked like a good line to climb up the next mountain, and following that line we made it up to the top easily in just a few minutes. That brought us out right where the Cave Trail begins, and we followed that for a quick trip back to the parking lot. From the Cave Trail, we observed quite a few hikers on the Peralta, but didn't see anyone else on our trail until the very end when we were about to emerge on the Bluff Springs. It was getting a little warm by that time - it didn't feel like January to me!
I would rate this hike about 90% easy and 10% moderately difficult - no problem for experienced off trail hikers. My only complaint was that the hike is way too short at about 6.6 miles - we finished in a leisurely five hours.

[gps_hiker]

Sounds like a good time was had by all!

[cactuscat]

I'm just used to hiking ALL day long! Five or six miles is barely more than a warm up.

[Tom Treks]

[cactuscat]

Arizonaheat and I had planned to do our Upper Barks on Saturday, but that got switched at the last minute to Sunday. I've already done 90% of the hike that you did Saturday, so I chose to try something new instead. I'm always looking for the next new adventure!