What a great weekend of backpacking! I don't think I've ever seen so much water in the Superstitions. My group of 4 started from Peralta Trailhead onto Bluff Springs on Saturday morning, making it up Cardiac Hill in pretty good time. We saw water flowing down the trail in a few spots and knew we were in for a lovely trip. Tons of water at the bottom of Barks Canyon. Then we headed up Terrapin, which we wanted to revisit because our first experience of it was on our first ever backpacking trip — a hot and cloudless day in which that trail felt endless. I highly recommend coming down, not up, this one! Views were awesome with lots of big clouds, some of them looking a little stormy but never quite intersecting our path. We then headed onto Dutchman #104, a stretch that was new to us. We intended to scope out Charlebois and then camp farther on but in the end we peeked around and then missed the turnoff for it. Oh well, we'll see it next time.

So far, none of the creek crossings were anything to sweat. Not so on the next 7. The first, just past Charlebois was the widest bit of water I've ever seen in the Superstitions. We all had opted to leave our camp shoes behind to allow for warmer layers (we reasoned we would be too cold to wear our sandals at camp) which we realized was a big mistake. We ended up crossing this creek, and the next few, barefoot. It was cold but the sharp rocks were worse. Some of the crossings were deeper than you could see bottom of, others had strong currents. And all of them had some stepping stones, but nothing anywhere near resembling a path you could hop across. Sometimes looking across to where the cairn showed the trail picked back up was just hilarious. Lesson learned. We found a great campsite on this stretch and warmed up with hot food and some strong cocktails after over 9 miles of hiking and negotiating cold creek crossings. We were beat.

Sunday morning hike out was beautiful. We were worried we would see rain but it was a really nice day. We finished Dutchman back over to Bluff Springs. In the crook of Barks Canyon, on the way out, there is a little cairn and trail leading up...anyone know where that goes? Anyway, we continued up out and in good time, still enjoying all the water along the way and the views up on the bluffs. I added a couple water reports. Unfortunately we had to switch between devices on the way and some data got lost. But basically, it's all flowing. Almost all the creek beds we walked through had flow. Really great trip overall.

Bluff Springs, Dutchman, Terrapin Loop
Bluff Springs and Dutchman to Charlebois Spring, then Dutchman to Terrapin to Bluff Springs out (~15 miles). It was a nice, cool hike in on Saturday. No hurry, no worry, just a nice stroll in with great views of the mountains. It was pretty easy on the feet, and once we hit the Dutchman Trail at Crystal Spring (very low) we left other hikers behind on the shorter loop trails. There was a party camped at La Barge Canyon, but we ended up having Charlebois Spring (high output and deep pool, as usual) all to ourselves.
The rain started right on schedule about 2000 on Saturday and continued for 12 hours, until just after we broke camp and started out on the Dutchman. One of my hiking partners, who shall remain nameless, chose the route out. This was after I told him "please, as flat as possible." His skill for choosing the opposite of that, and a grueling hike out will not go unrewarded at some future date.
With all the rain the washes were flowing, waterfalls were flowing out of the walls, and the trails were flowing. It was an incredible hike to the tailhead (except for the straight uphill that never ended). I can definitely see why you would want to do Terrapin from THE OTHER END. Weaver's Needle [ photo ] was enshrouded in an ever-changing robe of mist, dewdrops the size of marbles clung to grasses at the side of the trail, and the sound of rushing water accompanied much of my solitary trek up and over the Terrapin Trail. My treks are often solitary, even when hiking in a group, because my pace can be best described as glacier-like.
I arrived at the Terrapin/Bluff Springs junction about 1/2 hour after the rest of the group had continued down Bluff Springs. All was good until coming out at the Peralta trailhead at around 1445. Shep met me at the trailhead and asked if I had seen Mark (name changed to protect the possibly embarrassed). Being the last one out, I SHOULD have seen Mark. Shep had last seen him on the downhill after the Terrapin junction. We decided that Shep should hike back in to see if he could find Mark, while I held down the fort at the trailhead. As hikers returned from the Bluff Springs trail they stopped to talk to me, letting me know that Shep was on the trail asking after our missing hiker. No one had seen Mark. When Shep returned around 1730 we decided to call for help. We hadn't been on this trail before, Mark had not responded to Shep calling for him, the washes were running pretty good, and we didn't want to leave Mark out all night when we didn't know if he had gotten turned around or could be hurt. We left a note on Mark’s car, then drove out a ways to get a signal, and Shep called 911. The dirt portion of Peralta Road was horrendous, and we conducted some of the drive sideways in my Outback. After talking to 911 we decided to head out to the first warm looking location we could find to await a call back from the Sheriff.
The Sheriff did a lot to ease our minds about the fate of Mark. When hearing that we had not hiked Bluff Springs before, the Sheriff was confident that Mark had taken a wrong turn down Barks Canyon. This did a lot to ease my mind, as I tend to imagine the worst.
Shep and I did a lot of waiting, eating, drinking of coffee, and worrying as the search was organized. At around 2000, we called the Sheriff to get a status report. He told us that a helicopter was being deployed and the searchers were starting up the trail. At around 2200, the Sheriff called to report Mark found, and back at the trailhead. It would be the next day before I heard the rest of the story.
Mark reported that he had indeed gotten off trail, due to some cairns that mislead a hiker into Barks Canyon. Since there is no trail there, I’d like to know WTF people are doing placing cairns at this critical juncture. Not having seen them, this is all I’m going to say.
Mark did realize that he was off trail and set up camp as darkness fell. He was warm, cozy, and asleep when the helicopter woke him, and was not able to get outside his tent soon enough to get their attention on the first pass. The second pass saw Mark found and brought out, but the story gets a bit more interesting.
Mark reports that the rescuers told him that sometime during their search for him they found a day hiker who had also gotten off trail, was not equipped to spend the night out, and had not reported that he was going to be out on the trail to anyone. This hiker was cold and wet, and was rescued by the helicopter that was deployed to find Mark. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to what might have been the day hiker’s fate if Mark had not also gotten off trail that day.
Lessons learned: 1. Don’t let “X” plan your hike out if you have decided to change plans mid-backpack.
2. Hike with a buddy (DUH!)
3. You never know if your rescue might save someone else’s life.

Wildflowers
There were sparse wildflowers, believe it or not! I definitely saw Globemallow, and one California Poppy.

been wanting to get out in the supes lately, and this loop has been on my list for a repeat
denny, john and i set out just before 0700
went clockwise, to avoid later crowds on peralta and ascend the loose rock on terrapin
have only been on the northern part of peralta trail and terrapin once
most of peralta seemed familiar, but much of terrapin did not
cool to start with
took a break along the short segment of dutchman
very pleasant scenery and temps throughout the hike
started seeing a few people once on bluff springs trail
finished just before noon to a packed parking lot
very little water out there
nice to be out with the boys again
denny and john sprang for street tacos at mi casita in chandler - yum!
good times

Classic loop after a day of rain. Too bad there were only a few small pools here and there, nothing much. Didnt see anyone at all on the way to Fremont. Actually didnt see anyone until I got on the Terrapin trail. This was my first time hiking the Terrapin and I liked it. It was a nice challenge and a different perspective. My favorite part of the hike was right around Bluff Saddle. It was a strange flat rocky area unlike any of the hike previously. Almost out of this world looking. Good to be in the Supes.

Of the many big loops from the Peralta trailhead, this is one of my favorites. Big views with a nice blend of Sonoran desert and raparian oases (springs) along the way.

We hit the trail at first light with a bit of a chill and a nice breeze, just enough to keep the layers on. Joe took us up Cardiac Hill at a brisk pace. We breezed along the rest of Bluff Springs trail in mostly shadows. We arrived at Dutchman greeted by bright sunshine. Time to lose a layer. We took a few side trips along Dutchman to check out the springs. By the time we hit Terrapin Pass, the breeze was gone, the sun was warm and the rest of the layers were off.

I haven't seen any water on recent hikes, but three of the more reliable springs were true to form: Bluff, LaBarge and Charlebois Springs all had good water to filter. The only backpackers we saw were at LaBarge Spring. We saw them again just before arriving back at Peralta. We didn't see any hikers all day. Very surprising on such a gorgeous day.

Overall, a sensational (dare I say typical) fall day in the Supes. Hiking with Joe and Bruce again made it all the more special. It was great hiking with you again! Thanks for driving, Bruce.

Perfect day to get back out in the Supes. 39 for a start and into the low 70's for a high.

The start on Cardiac Hill always gets you woken up quickly. I always love doing this area as the sun is rising. This time of year the low sun makes the shadows pop.

Stopped at Bluff Spring for the first time. Seems quite reliable.

At the LaBarge Spring, there were 2 groups camping. Two ladies in one site and a group of 10 or so college aged ladies. Fall was popping with the Sycamores and Cottonwoods in the area.

Charliebois Spring are was next. Love this area. Shocked to see nobody in the area.

The climb up Terrapin is still a steep and loose one. Where the other trails we'd been on so far today had seen some recent love, Terrapin could use some.

A fun day!

Good hikin' with Ray again, it's been too long.

The two months of cool weather is upon us! Hiking less miles allowed us to adventure and explore a few areas. Rolling just before sunrise at a chilly 40 with odd warm pockets heading up Cardiac Hill.

Not sure where Crystal Spring is exactly. The water reports are typically about the area, nary
a photo has yet to be linked. Always thought it was in the creek. Ray pointed out a pipe just off trail out of the creek. With no catch or signs of water past or present I'm still clueless.

The little side trip to Bluff Spring may have been a first for myself. Decent trail. Lots of cholla may not be great for dogs. Tunnel thick just before the spring which was flowing nice.

2 ladies camping just before LaBarge Spring then a group of college girls closer to the spring and a couple near the end was the grand total in perfect weather for this world class destination. Wave Cave & Peralta looked to take the weekend warrior blow and leave the majority of the wilderness lightly traveled.

My first hike over to Terrapin decades ago left a lasting impression passing an older guy. The 70-80 year old man mentioned how he'd been hiking the area for fifty years among more info than my young ears could digest. After a good twenty years I'm still impressed with the topography, lore and mystique. Should be enough to pique my interest for another thirty years.

32 oz water. Tougher terrain than the PCT last week where 24 oz sufficed for 18.4 mi.

Another Bluff Mountain summit today. However, this time I was able to cross the route down to Terrapin off my list after hitting the summit. I hit the trails with Carrie, John and a couple of other friends from the dreaded social media site Instagram. Kyle accompanied us to the turn off for Ely-Anderson and then headed back with his pup, who was already beat from a big hike the day before. Five total dogs took part in this hike: Blanco, Chief, Bella, Lilly and Chloe.

We ran into a bunch of Boy Scouts on the way in, but did not see anyone else until we neared the trailhead again, but the parking lot was near its usual winter form and nearly packed when we got back. It is so dry out there right now, as one would expect, not a drop of water anywhere the entire day and all the grasses brittle and brown. However, the summit was still a worthy destination and offered its usual nice views and different perspective on the Needle. The route down to Terrapin is a little more rugged than Ely, but it went by pretty nicely and we all escaped unscathed. It got a little warm towards the end of the day, but we kept the dogs well watered and were enjoying the air condition of our vehicles by one.

Enjoyed the route, the weather I could do without. Bruce covered our day top to bottom.

Putting this route together I was looking to extend Robbers as much as possible. Rain hampered the mega loop so we stuck with a respectable loop. The key to the loop was getting down from Weaver's Overlook to Terrapin. Low and behold I stumbled upon a route by @juliachaos that helped bridge the gap!

Heading north on Weaver's Overlook Route Scout showed the turn coming up soon. My waypoint rattled off turn into the abyss. Surprisingly the turn was cairned and looked well traveled. Tensions eased a touch. With all the recent rain everything was very green. The route is fairly well cairned with a hiccup or two. We wanted to follow it out but needed to get over to Terrapin in the Crosscut vicinity.

After a busy week I stumbled upon the rest of the story... backwards. @Nonot has a great description for Barks Canyon - Complete Route. Soon that led me to @Fritzski on his Barks Upper Canyon Loop. Which in turn he put together from the Grand Poobah Jack Carlson.

Based on the above two mentioned descriptions the route off Weaver's Overlook down to Barks used to be a bloodbath. I faired well in shorts. Abandoning the route directly over to Terrapin there was one nasty section. Bruce led since he wore pants. I followed step by step without issue. The route down was more fun than a concern. Hope to explore the area more someday.

Wildflowers
Paint brush, blue dicks, fairy duster among others. Saw a bunch underway that could bust a move in a week and change the horizon.

We did this loop starting from the Lost Goldmine Trailhead. The first car in the lot, shared only with 20+ porta-potties for Sunday's marathon.

We opted for a CCW loop, starting on Bluff Springs #235. This is always a good way to get the heart started first thing in the morning, climbing cardiac hill.

I'd never been on the Cave Trail #235 going this direction. I think I like it better. Lots of interesting rock formations, the Devils Bathtub and then climbing up the Devils Slide. The cairn collection seems to have been slimmed down at "The Cave".

Joe found us a well cairned and used track down the east side into Barks Canyon. We tried to play out the well used path, but it started taking us in the wrong direction. We reversed our direction and bushwhacked over to Bluff Saddle.

Now on Terrapin #234, the off and on rain, was on for a while now. This trail has seen a very recent and welcomed trimming.

On the Dutchman #104, we were looking for some shelter from the rain and wind to have some lunch. No luck.

It finally let up a bit on Peralta #234 enough to have a brief bite.

Also the first time climbing to the Robbers Roost from Peralta, a nice change up. We had the Roost to ourselves.

The sky was starting to get noticeably darker. Starting down my least favorite trail in the Supes, West Boulder Saddle, the deluge hit. Nothing like hiking down a steep, loose, rocky path, while holding an umbrella with glasses that are fogged up.

Another fun day in the Supes....