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| Backpack | 19.30 Miles |
3,754 AEG |
| | Backpack | 19.30 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 3,754 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Geez what a surprise from Tibber; another lonnngggg trip report  . When I was researching information for this hike there was little out there so I am going to try and make up for some of that (other than my usual going on and on). I think I had mentioned to Wendy last month about wanting to hike the Barnhardt Trail as it looked so beautiful. Wendy says, “how about backpacking it?” Angela says, “I guess we could.” This weekend our plan fell into place thanks to some guidance from Richard (mazatzal) as he suggested the Horse Camp Seep would be the best place to camp.
We left from my place around 6:45ish with Lilo too. We got gas for Bu and stopped for water before arriving at a busy parking lot at the TH around 9. There was a big group of men and boys apparently finishing off their father/son outing. After trying our best not to get hit by flying balls, off we went around 9:20 for our journey into the wilderness unknown except thru pictures and some triplogs. The trail started off rocky and little did we know, the hike over the next nearly 9.5 miles would be a lot of that  . It’s not so bad until the last mile when you just want to be done with it.
The Barnhardt delivered all that it promised. We didn’t get the big flowing waterfall at Kahuna but it pleased us nonetheless. The lupine and other flora along the way were outstanding and of course the views down into the plentiful water of the canyon were amazing. We could hear the water many times on this part of our journey. It made us smile  .
I remember the comments about the trail being steep but that the beauty would overwhelm you so you wouldn’t notice. Well the grade was truly exceptional as we waited for the steep part of the trail to start…. And it did at switchback number 6. However, none of the steepness lasted too long and like they say, “the beauty did overtake your deep breathing”.
We came upon Sirena’s ledge where they say the views are wide open and they aren’t kidding. Just WOW! And with this area of the countryside still so green, it was really something  . Next we got to see a bit of the Hawaiian Mist and the beautiful greenery. And before we knew it, we were at Big Kahuna. We threw down our packs and immediately started the rock hopping to just below the falls. It wasn’t as big a flow as we are hoping but enough to entertain us for about 10 minutes of picture taking  .
A fellow comes up to where we were and had noticed my HAZ shirt and he asked who I was. When I said “Tibber”, he said “taking lots of pictures of course”. He was TwoWeims (at least that’s what I think he said). I told him we had missed him on the site as he said he had quit posting. I said, “but this hike would be a great one to post”. So let’s see what happens. Wendy and I thot that was very nice of him to climb back here to make the introduction.
We had our lunch before strapping on our packs to finish our climb to the top of the hill. We were enthralled at the views and at the extreme size  of some of the agave stocks OH MY! We would also start seeing evidence of the hot fire that burned almost 10 years ago. We passed by the Sandy Saddle Trail and tried to imagine the route  . Wendy had a map but when you look at the terrain you wonder, really? A trail?
It was starting to get a little warm as we wound around the drainages and down into one that was pretty rocky. But soon we were back on the terrace with the nice but very narrow trail due to the encroaching bushes and trees. There was almost no point in even having your poles out. We did stop at the burnt tree area for a quick respite (5 minute cat nap for me). As we continued on it seemed we were going in circles  as we anticipate our arrival at Barnhardt Saddle and the Divide Junction which is just around about 5 or 6 corners, ha!
We arrive at the Mazatzal Divide #23 junction and sit for a moment (we are never really in a hurry when we hike as we have all day). Another backpacker showed up and eventually his wife too. They had been behind us on the Barnhardt. They were from Minnesota and were out here for 10 days. He went to ASU and fell in love with the Mazzies and hadn’t been out here since it burned. He said he used HAZ for his research. We both encouraged him to write a trip report to let us know how it went as he had plans for the Red Hill Trail as well. They would be staying at Chilson. We encouraged them to hike another 2 miles to join us at Horse Camp but he didn’t want to do the extra miles.
We took off and probably less than ¼ mile we encountered that really nice camp spot under this huge juniper. It had some nice big logs and a firepit. The water would be a little ways down the trail though. In this area around the camp Wendy noticed these little round ball type of cactus. They were like little cactus baseballs all over the terrain. Very interesting.
We crossed a running creek as we traversed along the high side of it through a grassy path. I think Wendy called it “a cute little canyon”. It’s just so magical when you’re hiking in new territory. We eventually pass by Chilson camp and are glad that we get to continue on. This part of the trail is really rocky and has an ever so slight upgrade that we really didn’t realize until we hiked back here the following day.
Somewhere along here I thot I heard the voice of a canyon tree frog. Eventually you come to a drainage of some sort, it probably feeds to Deadman’s Creek. It was such a lovely spot we decided to stop for a snack and Wendy put her feet in the water and so did Lilo. It was so pretty as I sat on the pour-off  . The wind would pick up and sometimes blow some of the falling water over on me; it felt good.
We were getting anxious at this point thinking we should soon come upon the junction with the Sandy Saddle Trail. We came upon another big drainage with 3 large cairns. We debated on whether or not the long old trunk next to the trail was to block off the exit to the Sandy Saddle trail or to keep you walking across the drainage. I think Scout was reading about 9.25 miles at this point and per one of the descriptions I had, we should already be at Horse Camp.
We continued on until we ended up walking along narrow bedrock drainage. Finally we stopped here and got both our GPS’s out and our maps to see if we could better figure out where Horse Camp Seep was  . I felt like it was up and over this little hill and after looking at the maps, decided that had to be the case. Meanwhile Wendy took her pack off and went up the hill and in just a few minutes returned and said “Yep, it’s just up here.” You know how it is when you’re driving and you think you missed the place when usually you just haven’t gone quite far enough… 
There is a bunch of rocks and a little AZT sign on the ground on the Divide Trail. You head left there and in a few moments, you’ve arrived at a wonderful campsite and the occasional sound of the canyon tree frogs. The creek area had tanks of water and a couple waterfalls for us to explore  . Well mostly Wendy explored and then yelled at me to “come see”. Not that I want to move at all as I’m thinking sitting myself on the ground would be what I most want to do at this point.
As I explored I came upon this really soft and soggy ground initially thinking the snow must have been deep and just melted. But when Wendy joins me on this side of the creek to try and figure out how to get below one of the waterfalls, she says “It’s a seep, dummy”…. Well she didn’t say the “dummy” part  .
We finally crawled our way down to get a great view of the waterfall though it was nearly 6:30 by now so our light was somewhat limited. She decided it was time to throw a “wendy” so she made her way down the last level to walk over to the waterfall. Plus she likes to get up close and personal and put her head under. Burrr.
We got back to camp, loaded up the water and prepared our area with hammock and tent. The canyon tree frogs didn't serenade us very long. Wendy built a great fire, we had our dinner, a little wine and rum until hiker’s bedtime  . The temperature was brisk and though I wasn’t cold in my sleeping bag, I got the shivers on and off for a good part of the nite. I can’t quite figure it out because I felt plenty warm. But I would do the human rotisserie roll and the shivers would go away.
I woke up around 5ish, but slept off and on until 6:30; decided to wait 15 more minutes before getting ready in case Wendy needed more shut-eye. The morning was chilly but I find if I keep moving, I stay warm enough until the sun starts to warm the camp site. We studied Scout (gps) again to see if we could figure out where the Deadman Falls overlook was but to no avail. We had noticed a big cairn and a bit of a route that went to the SW (on the other side of Deadman Creek) so we thot that must be it. We wouldn’t have time for that today so next time.
We packed up our stuff and when Wendy put on her pack it was wet at the bottom  . Uh oh. So she unloaded almost the whole pack and discovered the cap on her water bladder was loose. She tightened that up and off we went. We were moving along quickly it seemed and that’s when we realized, besides us being fresh as daisies, that grade from Chilson yesterday was slightly uphill on a rocky trail and in some cases narrow. Now that we’re heading back the other way, we seem to be flying  .
We did encounter the couple from Minnesota at about the drainage where we had stopped the evening before. We spoke with Mr. Minnesota for a while and headed out again where we eventually ran into Mrs. Minnesota. She was a naturalist and I think she said he daughter works for REI in Tucson.
We only saw one other hiker on the Divide Trail and he was a through backpacker. By the tattoos on his legs, he’s done a lot of these big through hikes like the Continental Divide Trail among others. Wendy chatted with him for quite a bit. It was interesting to hear about his travels on the AZT so far. He started April 4th. He met pops c (http://hikearizona.com/dex2/profile.php?u=57893) on the segments south of Superior on his way up.
Our next break would be at the cool campsite just this side of the Divide Trail before the Barnhardt Saddle. It is indeed as nice as we thot though you have to haul your water from the drainage about 1/3 mile or more away. This area survived the fire in pretty decent condition and the juniper tree is quite lovely. Now it was on to the around and around the drainages we go  . We made quite good time and didn’t stop again until Big Kahuna. It was a little warm but nothing too bad.
At the Kahuna Wendy needed to get more water to finish off the hike. Lilo was pretty exhausted too so we rested here for quite a bit. We ran into a group of 3 older woman out on a 2-3 day backpack and their backpacks were loaded. We encouraged them to see the Kahuna Falls before they headed up the hill. We also told them how nice Horse Camp was but since it was already around 2:30, I think they wouldn’t make it much further than Chilson Camp anyway.
One thing about this last 3 ½ miles or so, at least it was pretty to look at in spite of my sore rhomboids and Wendy & Lilo’s hurting feet. It was nice to see the canyon in a different light. On the way down we spotted a hidden falls we hadn’t seen on the way up. I think Preston has some pictures of it in one of his photo sets of the area. It is a long waterfall and the whole area leading up to it is quite lush; Reminded us of Garden Creek coming up the BA Trail in the GC.
As you make the traverse down the canyon, it is amazing how you can see where you will eventually go either around a bend or clear down there. The quartz markings on the hillside and the one that looks like a snake were much easier to photograph this time of day and of course the flora was even prettier too. We could look down into the deep and inviting pools of the creek below as well.
The temps (mid 70s day, mid 40s nite) were just about right for this long weekend. I was very happy about that. On our drive out, as you got closer to the highway, the sides of the road were alive with what seemed hundreds of crazy blooming hedgehogs . This one section was so covered; we nearly screeched to a halt and backed up. Not only were there hedgehogs but larkspur, globe mallow, and what seemed like hundreds of doubting mariposa lilies (what I call desert tulips when they’re closed when we were driving in the previous morning). It was hard to decide how to photograph this incredible site. We were just in awe.
We finished our glorious weekend at Senor Taco in FH (by the Circle K off of Shea and N Saguaro Blvd). It is very good. The food is fresh but be careful of the Diablo Sauce; altho I know a few of you would eat that up (Hank and Jack). We are already planning our trip next spring. It will be for two nites though so we can explore and see Deadman Falls.
Video of the Barnhardt Trail with quite a bit of footage of Big Kahuna: http://youtu.be/aO59zm-uVSQ
PS I forgot to add how much the geology of the mountains around Barnhardt reminds me of Glacier Park; especially Mount Edwards and the trail up by Gunsight Pass. The curvature in the rock is remarkably alike. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of lupine as you make your way up Barnhardt with scattered Western Flowers. Clarets are in various stages. There was also a purple globed plant we couldn't identify at one of the switchbacks (in more of a seepy area) and another yellow blooming plant that looked like they may have gall. The agave beginner stocks are giant size as you get past the Kahuna Falls. Along the trail toward the Divide Trail the manzanita are blooming. They are blooming even more ferociously near the Chilson Spring area. |
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Horse Camp Seep |
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| | | there was water in the bedrock pools next to the camp site, lots of it. | | _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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