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| Hiking | 16.19 Miles |
1,689 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.19 Miles | 8 Hrs 46 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 1,689 ft AEG | 1 Hour 13 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We were back at Peralta Trailhead for the second straight weekend after hiking at Bluff Spring Mountain last Saturday. I hadn't gone east on Coffee Flat before, so a hike to Dripping Springs was a chance to see some new territory. The parking lot wasn't very busy, and we started with thick clouds that gave the hike a very different atmosphere from the clear, sunny day we had last weekend, but it was an interesting change of pace.
We turned onto Coffee Flat and headed into new territory, with Buzzard's Roost and the other peaks along the ridgeline to the east. The fire damage along the trail wasn't as bad as I expected based on other triplogs, but maybe I was benefitting from low expectations. We explored a little around Reeds Water, where there was some bright fall color in the cottonwoods along the creek bed. In addition to the usual assortment rusty tools, there were a few random food items nearby, including two fresh-looking red onions on the ground and an unopened jar of alfredo sauce hanging from a tree. Tempting as it was, we generously left those for future campers...it's the season for giving, after all.
We spent a minute or two searching for the giant saguaro in that area but didn't see it, then looked for the pictographs/petroglyphs nearby. That was a success--we found the red kokopelli pictograph of questionable authenticity...someone had even trimmed the brush nearby to make it more visible. It looked faded and subtle enough to be native rock art, but it's hard to tell...graffiti is usually more obvious and overstated. We looked around a little more for the petroglyphs but didn't see those.
Continuing east on Coffee Flat, there were a few small caves low in the canyon wall that we went over and took a look at, and the fall colors, the cliffs, the geology, and the flowing water made for a pleasant hike. The sand in the creek bed was mostly solid, even in the damp areas...except when it wasn't. I stepped on one spot that looked solid and sank in to my lower shin in quicksand-like muck. The same thing happened to me a few times in Trap Canyon last year [ photo ] , and this incident also left me with a boot full of wet sand and gravel. I lost confidence in the sandy areas and tried to stick to the rocks after that...
Dripping Spring had a steady trickle of water that reminded me of Massacre Falls during a light flow. There was a lot of thorny brush that I had to cut through to get to the base of the rocks, and we also checked out a cave just to the right of the spring that had a (javelina?) skull, an old lantern, and a few other pieces of debris around a fire ring.
We hiked a short distance on Red Tanks Trail and saw a pair of deer before we turned around and started back. The sun started to break through the clouds on the hike out, and it was nice to get some sunshine and shadows after the cloudy morning. We looked for the giant saguaro near Reeds Water on the way out and found a big one, but not the big one. It wasn't until I got home and read through more triplogs that I learned it's no longer there...missed it by a few years [ photo ]  .
We didn't see anyone on the trails until we were back at Bark at Dutchman Crossing near the end of the hike. We ended up seeing more people on horseback/muleback than we did hikers, with a few riders over the last half mile. It was a really pleasant day checking out a new part of the Superstitions...nothing too adventurous or difficult, just straightforward miles on the trails, but great scenery and comfortable temperatures. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Large pools and flowing water up and down stream from the crossing