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| Hiking | 12.40 Miles |
1,912 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.40 Miles | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.91 mph |
| 1,912 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | | Did the Barnhardt Trail with a large group from Arizona Hikers. We all met at the McDonalds at Shea and Beeline, and condensed the passenger to vehicle ratios. The group included, in no particular order: Daddee, GTG, PaintingAZ, Mike1, Mike2, Kristin, Jamesblond, Grouphiker, DennisBench, Hooli and myself. The trip was astounding. The best way to describe the drive to the trailhead from the highway: a carpet of green accented with bunches of yellow flowers. Off in the distance one could see the Mogollon Rim bright with snow and the peaks in the Mazatzals also were sporting the white stuff. We took the obligatory photos at the trailhead and proceeded up the trail. Before we arrived at the main waterfall we made quite a few stops just to take in the unbelievable beauty of what we were in the midst of. The surrounding terrain was most assuredly alive and green, lacking all of the attributes of our recent drought. The sound of rushing and falling water could be heard throughout the trek and in many areas the trail itself had become a small stream, but it was not too hard to navigate alongside or over. When we made it to the waterfall the adrenaline was beginning to pump. You could here the falling water back through the rocks that concealed it; beckoning one to come in and breath the cool damp air circulating in the chambers below. Once there, the reasons for such an adventure became blatantly clear. It is what I refer to as a "spoonful". Some refer to it as a "Mountain Top Experience". Whatever you want to call it, you can only experience it by being there. The hike up the rest of the canyon was anticlimactic except for the fun of hiking a little in the snow and having a nice peaceful lunch in a nice stand of Ponderosas. There was a mild snowball skirmish between DennisBench, Daddee, Kristin and JamesBlond; not sure who won but noticed some wet apparel amongst the participants. The trek downward was not so good. As the group stopped at a point on the trail to observe something, GTG said he thought he heard someone yelling. We were all quiet listening and GTG yelled, "HELLO!" Almost instantly we heard the reply, "Help!" We turned and headed back up the trail, where after a short distance we found Grouphiker sitting in the middle of the trail. She had fallen and hit her head on a rock; face first. She had a nasty gash in her upper lip, that once cleaned had the appearance of going all the way through and was already swollen. She also had an abraision on her right thigh. At this point the group became a medical emergency team and I think we used items from three or four first-aid packages. I was the hands that administered the treatment as those about me gave very good instructions and made excellent recommendations. The first thing we did was have her answer some questions. She seemed to have her wits about her and pupils seemed normal. We then cleansed the wound and applied antisceptic, added a butterfly bandage and taped it down with a long strip of tape. After a short wait Grouphiker assured us that she could make the trek down. Jamesblond stayed close to her on the way down. Later in the evening Grouphiker called me as she drove home from the hospital to tell me she was OK and would be getting the stitches out on Friday. Outside of the emergency, this was an outstanding trip. I was most impressed the way the group handled the situation and how prepared they all were. Some pics:http://hikearizona.com/photocodeZOOM.php?ID=576&TNI=6 |
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