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Saturday - drive up to the southern Barbershop trailhead accessed from fr139 and backpack along the Barbershop trail, connecting to the U-Bar trail, taking it north for about 7 miles on the first day. Plan to camp at the upper end where U-Bar crosses Barbershop canyon in a lush, quiet setting.
day 2, we are going to use the off trail route going south down Barbershop canyon to reach our vehicles, about a six mile trek with very little human activity.

this is similar to the east side cabin loop, but half on and half off trail. no difficult scrambling or anything, but there may be downed trees, grapevines, and water crossings that will make it a bit of slower going than the super highway that is the U-Bar.

treats in Pine await us at the Rimside Grill on sunday afternoon.

you down?

will you be leaving from Phoenix with a possibility of carpooling?

yes, im in fountain hills and im sure there will be room. i have an suv type thing, and a buddy who may come has a wrangler. saturday, we depart about 8am.
original plan was for my wife and i to go together, but others have shown interest so i made it public. so, anyone is welcome. thanks!

I plan to be camping near Barbershop Spring Friday and Saturday nights, come say hello if you see our hammocks hanging around there! We may be out on a dayhike when you come by though. Not to hijack, but is Barbershop spring a decent water source?

barbershop spring is an area of large lettuce like plants, in the south facing slope of the shallow hillside. if you are in the open meadow where barbershop canyon creek runs, there is better sources. we will be walking past Bbrshp spring as we start our hike from 1/2 mile west of there. see you saturday, late morning. and, will be interested to see your rigs.

te-wa wrote:if you are in the open meadow where barbershop canyon creek runs, there is better sources.

No mention of water here, so am I right to think that finding the cabbage patch is the best place to find water? I haven't been there before, but a friend of mine was there 2 weeks ago and thought there would be enough water to filter from. Our plan is to take Houston Brothers from the north down to Barbershop and camp near the spring. Good idea?

Good luck with the weather. Its not looking so good for this weekend.

great idea. see recent photosets of barbershop/dane/maverick/etc.. water wonderland.
here is a shot of what i believe to be looking south at the spring area: http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=66927 iirc, there is a big log not in this shot, so preston may actually be standing on it. if so, facing this direction the spring is flowing from a source that is behind you about 15 feet, near 7o'clock. anyway, water is in all these canyons. no need to rely on a spring. it will likely have afternoon showers in this area.

Tough_Boots wrote:Good luck with the weather. Its not looking so good for this weekend

80/50 with a chance of t-storms? sounds better than good.. sounds terrific.

Yeah, this looks terrible. ;) Maybe I should just stick around in the Gilbert Dustbowl. Can't wait for raindrops on my head!

te-wa wrote:

Tough_Boots wrote:Good luck with the weather. Its not looking so good for this weekend

80/50 with a chance of t-storms? sounds better than good.. sounds terrific.

You got THAT right, Mikey! Hell..... it'll be 107/90 in Tempe this Sat/Sun and humid.
BTW - I was up in Pine Mon/Tue - "they" called for 50% chance & there was no rain at all.

anywhoo.. no weather can depress that which is a group tarp, some playing cards, and some craft beer. a little rain cant stop us from feeling like a : king :

Well, forget I said anything... jeesh! ;)

The more I read the more it sounds like an awesome time... rain trumps dust anyway you look at it. Unfortunately I have more to do this weekend than I though so forget my original inquiry. I am looking forward to meeting others from this site especially for some short weekend backpack trips like this one and am hoping for a Reavis Ranch trip this Fall.

Tough_Boots wrote:Well, forget I said anything... jeesh!

better get a dog sitter.. all this SanTan Epicenter isnt going to drink itself!

i'm coming!
I'll bring the Monkey and some Kona Pipeline & Fire Rock for leaving in the truck as a 'carrot' for Sunday.
On the trail it'll be aluminum... Oskar Blues 'GUBNA' Imperial IPA and maybe Murphy's Irish Stout Draught and maybe some B & B.

crew is building..
Kurt
Maurice
Felecia
myslef

sally?

Sally?... No.
I just dropped Sally at the airport - she's off to Alaska to slay some halibut & ling cod - I'll be heading up there next week.

We have 2 day-hikers as well. They will be hiking the Barbershop out-and-back from FR139 on Saturday; so if any other backpacking-averse folks want to day hike, join on in!

Duke, saw your rigs up on the hillside, you must have been out dayhiking..
a good trip. going up barbershop off trail adds much needed flavor to a usually 'just average' hike. the best parts of these loops are the less traveled canyons. and they are by no means difficult. a couple of fire rings near the upper end, otherwise no human sign, a couple of spring fed waterfalls and an easy to follow game trail - no vehicle noise, no gunshots. a great day on the Rim.

thanks to those who held out the carrot w/ the area photosets. (hank)

te-wa wrote:thanks to those who held out the carrot w/ the area photosets. (hank)

Happy to hear it was enjoyed by all. Once in a while I find a nice one less traveled and this one I agree is a winner Next time try one of the "Dane Canyon Loop" options which offers much of the same.