Route Editor
Route Scout
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DESTINATION Bluff Springs Trail #235 53 Photosets 2018-07-07 2017-10-28 2017-09-30 2017-04-26 2017-01-21 2016-09-02 2016-01-03 2015-06-09 2015-05-16 2015-01-02 2014-04-12 2014-03-08 2013-11-24 2013-11-24 2013-11-16 2013-01-27 2013-01-07 2012-12-15 2012-11-09 2012-10-20
|
| HAZ Member mt98dew's 262 Photosets 2018-12-15 2018-12-01 2018-11-24 2018-11-18 2018-11-17 2018-11-09 2018-11-08 2018-11-03 2018-10-28 2018-10-28 2018-10-14 2018-10-13 2018-10-08 2018-10-06 2018-07-14 2018-07-11 2018-07-07 2018-07-05 2018-05-13 2018-05-05
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
. Signed in at the register took 10 steps on the trail and 
. Rattlesnake! Sigh. My last visit out to the Supes, I had 3 buzzworm encounters. So snakes really played on my mind for the first part of the hike. This was my first time on Bluff Springs, but instead of enjoying the views, I pretty much had eyes just for the trail. Felt like I was walking on egg shells, eyeing every bush and shrub with trepidation. The initial climb wasn't too bad; it was staired in parts and had some decent sized rock slabs to walk on. Nice for hiking, but I have a feeling I'd have a rough time jogging it. I was rewarded with a nice view of Weaver's before entering Bark's Canyon (I think. Not that familiar with the lay of land, except for Weavers Needle). As I was crossing the dry wash of Barks Canyon(?) just before the climb out, I started hearing voices come up behind. It's odd had comforting I found that to be. Honestly, snakes had really been playing on my mind up to that point. Knowing that there were others out there was reassuring and in a way fortifying. After climbing out of the canyon the trail flattened out and soon on the Terrapin Trail. About .5 miles past Terrapin I was rewarded with my first bear sighting! 
Luckily, I had not used my "bacon scented shampoo" when I showered this morning, so the bear just gave me some curious looks and ambled off. I took some pictures on my Garmin, but they didn't come out as well as I would have liked. Still Awesome! About .3 miles later came Lost Dutchman. Took this back to the TH. This was my first time on this part of the Dutchman. From Whiskey Springs Trail there was quite a bit more descending than I had anticipated. Except for my imagination running away initially 
this turned into a very nice hike. Temps were nice initially, but warmed up as I was finishing the hike. Played tag a couple of times with the hikers who had come behind me, but otherwise we seemed to have the Supes to ourself (there were six cars when I got back to the TH...I'm guessing Peralta was the destination for most of these hikers). Didn't see any other rattlesnakes, except for the one right at the TH. Also saw dozens of lizards, some chipmunks, a squirrel and a road runner....and oh yeh ....a bear! 
