Little Wolf - Pine Creek - Grapevine Loop Photoset • joebartels • 2013-09-14 • HikeArizona.COM

Little Wolf - Pine Creek - Grapevine Loop, AZ

	2013-09-14
	12 by joebartels

Little Wolf - Pine Creek - Grapevine Loop, AZ

Hiking	18.70 Miles	3,630 AEG

Hiking	18.70 Miles	11 Hrs 3 Mns		2.01 mph
	3,630 ft AEG	1 Hour 45 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

Linked

linked

Little Wolf Creek to Big Bug Mesa

Pine Creek Trail #289

Grapevine Springs Canyon Trail #4

Partners

partners

The_Eagle

Tortoise_Hiker

We parked in the spot before the green gate 0.8mi before the official trailhead for Grapevine #4. Followed #4 0.2mi from the TH to #9434 turnoff. Followed #9434 for a mere tenth of a mile.

Next we followed Coyote Springs Canyon aprox 1.4mi up to Little Mesa Saddle. No clue where Bruce got the track but there was an actual trail in fair shape. Route finding was questionable near the bottom and top otherwise a fantastic quaint canyon.

There was a minor blip trying to locate the trail down LWC which Bruce fought a rusty barbed wire fence. We took a break for him to tape up his leg. Then found the trail down that jj and I ascended in late August. This doesn't really agree with topo as #304... we did go to the spot as depicted on topo for the top (turn) of #304 and did not find any sign or trail heading SSW.

Upper LWC is not shaded yet I continue to enjoy the views all around. Met up with FS67 and followed it 1.9mi to another mysterious track Bruce acquired.

From 10:35am to noon we traveled 1.4mi through uncertain "which way do we go" terrain to Pine Creek Trail #289. The last ten minutes got interesting as a storm started to unleash splat sized raindrops.

We boogied up to the Seaton Spring Overlook for lunch in the same spot jj and I took a break. Things weren't looking so great. We tried to stick to our planned loop however it just wasn't happening. The next few hours involved a lot of swearing, arguing, gang signs and whatnot before we found a way to survive unexpected tortures. I'm just glad no one got hurt. Especially Bruce as at one point I nearly took my 1.5-inch jj knife and killed him if he said "turn right" one more time.

After turmoil we found FS 103 and headed off-trail down to Grapevine Waterfall. Along the way I got an unexpected stinging pain moving an oak branch. It felt like I grabbed a filament haired cactus such as prickly pair. Thought it might be Mala mujer. Turns out I grabbed an automeris caterpillar. Having recently read phrases containing "poison" and "toxin" I was concerned. Everything turned out fine. Later read "deadly in severe cases". Imagine that would be dozens with an allergic reaction or such.

Unsure about my hand we didn't spend much time checking out the waterfall. A third storm sprinkled on us back to the end. Perhaps some time needs to pass to heal the wounds... I'd still like to check out these trails more in the future. The Bradshaws continue to intrigue...

	Coyote Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	just enough filter, several tiny and shallow pools dot the canyon below

	Grapevine Springs	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Typical flow, perhaps a tad more.

	Grapevine Waterfall	Light flow	Light flow
	More than a trickle. Slightly disappointing considering all the rain. Either the immediate catch area did not receive what we experienced or it really soaks in fast.

	Little Wolf Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	very light flow in some areas One riparian area was about the same as late August, the rest was recent runoff.

	Pipeline Canyon	Dry	Dry
	bottom of Pipeline was dry

Seaton Spring

Dry

	Taft Canyon	Dry	Dry
	bottom of Taft was dry

_____________________

- joe

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