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| Peralta - Whisky - LaBarge - Bluff loop, AZ | | -
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| | Peralta - Whisky - LaBarge - Bluff loop, AZ | | | |
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Peralta - Whisky - LaBarge - Bluff loop, AZ
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| Backpack | 14.32 Miles |
2,772 AEG |
| | Backpack | 14.32 Miles | 1 Day 10 Hrs | | |
| 2,772 ft AEG | | 34 LBS Pack | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Before anything else, credit for planning this trip (both conceptually and on RS) goes to KabukiMan.
[ Peralta - Charlebois Loop ]
He was planning to hike this in January, solo. Since he’s an experienced backpacker (albeit apparently new to AZ backpacking), I asked if I could tag along to learn from him.
"Yes." But at the last minute, his wife and kid became sick. So on indefinite hold.
Not having heard anything about rescheduling and not wanting to bug him, I decided to try it myself last week. It rained the week before and is forecast to be near 100 after. So I figured I had better go while the going was good. (Turned out to be a good decision, water and wx wise.)
And, I didn’t think about it last week, but I had a tooth extraction today. (My second. (Ecc 12:3 is coming true for me.)) So I wouldn’t be a happy camper this week. (Among other things, Post-Op instructions say “Do not do anything strenuous.”)
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This is a CCW loop starting at Peralta. KabukiMan’s plan was Whiskey Springs to fill up water and camp. (But no water that I saw.) Or push on to camp at LaBarge for another 2.9 mi, making the day 8.4 miles. (Which I did.)
His plan for the next day was to go from LaBarge up & back to Charlebois Spring, then continue to Bluff Spring for second camp site. (But after filling up with water at LaBarge, and being too pooped to pop, I didn’t see any reason to go to Charlebois.)
While there were campsites at Bluff Springs (but no shade), I didn’t see any water. (But might have been some there. See “Important stuff” bullet point, below.)
From Bluff Sprints, 3.45 miles back to Peralta. (The last mile being the hardest part for me.)
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Important points first:
- The dirt part of the “Primitive Road” to the Peralta TH is easily drivable. Continuous washboard (what causes this?) and then pockmarks and sharpish (albeit, smallish) rocks the last mile.
- Potties at the TH. (Wish I had known in advance.)
- Thursday morning looked like a Sun City Convention. (Who else but old retired people have the time to spend a weekday hiking?) Parking lot half full.
- A Volunteer “Ranger” was at the TH. (? - Maybe not a volunteer, as he was cleaning the potties.) I should have asked him more questions.
- There was a Water Report posted on the TH sign. Albeit a little dated (last report from January), I wish I had read it ahead of time to know to look for “the pipe” at Bluff Spring.
- There was virtually no water from Peralta to LaBarge. In contrast, there were still large trickling pools of clearish water, many crossing the trail, on the west side of the loop back to Peralta, making water a non-issue on that half.
- While the trail is well traveled - and so the tread is good - there were three downed trees blocking the trail. Some catclaw encroaching.
- And although the tread is good in the grass, there’s no grass in creek crossings. And not enough cairns at creek crossings, where it wasn’t always so obvious which way to go. I became lost at three crossings. If it weren’t for Route Scout, I might still be out there.
- But there were enough hikers/backpackers on the west side of the loop. So I suppose if you become lost, you can just wait at the last known good point and someone will show up. (One guy popped up going north while I was trying to figure out which way to go at an unsigned fork in the path.)
- There are signs at most trail intersections. But unlike the AZT, no signs that I saw telling you where Springs are.
- And so, for example, if the trough at LaBarge had not been overflowing and trickling down the ravine below, I never would have known/thought to climb/scramble up a high ledge to find water.
- While I didn’t go to Charlebois, a trio of Old Timers just returned from there Friday told me that there was no water in the cement trough. But if you continue a bit further (east?), there’s a large pond. With fish and tadpoles in it.
- Some “smooth” steepish stone on the east side of the loop. (Looks as if someone had poured watered-down concrete in those places.) Much more of the same coming down on the west side of the loop. I would not want to walk on this after a rain. (No purchase. And nothing for your trekking pole to dig in to.)
- Almost no animals. Almost no scat. (One Old Timer showed me one that was coyote.) Didn’t hear or see any rattlesnakes. (Everyone said “none.” But one pair of backpackers told me about a snake ahead of me at a creek crossing. But they didn’t know if it was rattlesnake.) I might have seen one small bear scat. But that didn’t make sense, because if a cub, where is mom and dad? And no berries anywhere. (Ranger guy told a pair of women new to the area that they didn’t need their BearVault.) Hardly any birds. No rabbits. I saw about five small lizards on rocks.
- A lot of campsites along the loop, not all that have icons on RS. But almost none had shade.
- The last mile back to Peralta on the Bluff Spring side has some VERY large steps down.
- The scenery wasn’t particularly spectacular in my opinion. AM Radio reception was fine. (To pass, and mark, the time.)
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Boring Personal “Dear Diary” observations about the Trip
You might notice two “anomalies” in my Route. First, my Route doesn’t start at Peralta. That’s because I hadn’t given RS permission to access my GPS before I left home. And the next day, I forgot to Resume RS after Pausing. (It’s the straight line in my route.)
Addle-brained. I also forgot to camel-up at the TH. (I can’t believe that I need to add "Drink water" to my Checklist.)
As usual, I averaged 1 mph for the trip.
My year of making training hikes with 30 lbs on my back paid off as I started out strong and didn’t hurt my knees during the trip. (I was able to step down two foot vertical steps under control without torquing a knee.)
While I could not keep up with the younger people I met (Kim, late 40's/early 50's, was moving at least 2x faster than I was), I was mostly able to keep up with my peers.
For example, there was a group of six sexagenarians (as am I) who started a few minutes ahead of me. (Hiking Miners Needle Loop?) I was happy that I caught up and passed them with 34 lbs on my back without the aid of my trekking poles. (To their pounds of water and snacks.)
And, the next day, when a Trio of Old Timers was coming back from Charlebois, I was able to keep up with them on level and climbs. But I fell back (not literally) going down hill the last mile on those steepish, step-down descents. (I blame it on trying to balance 30% of my body weight 5 feet in the air. And my normal balance isn't what it used to be.)
I was moving along fairly well the first day until the 5 mile mark. After that I needed to use my trekking poles, even on level terrain. I don’t have a marathoner’s endurance/no fat stores. (Note to self: Read about Bulking Up before a marathon.)
I lost 5 pounds - which, three days later, I still haven’t regained. I snacked more this trip eating walnuts and peanut butter packs. (The latter a tip an AZT Thru-hiker shared with me.) And I learned that I can, in fact, eat a pound plus of food for dinner - when the dinner is homemade chile.
The weather was nice. I estimate high about 80. Low about 40, in the valley of LaBarge. (The battery on my humidistat quit. But I could see my breath at night.) Sometimes a breeze. Sometimes not. It’s amazing how hot it can be standing in the sun. Renewed appreciation for farm workers.
The plan was to fill up at Whiskey Spring. But unlike the AZT, I didn’t see any signs pointing the way to a Spring.
There was a short metal sign post (?) - with no sign - on the trail where the GPS’s said that Whiskey Spring should be. The last HAZ Report (in Feb) said “Small pool.” (With oily sheen.) I took a half hour break/nap there under a tree and changed my socks.
No water seen at Trap Canyon. So on to LaBarge.
I kinda “tripped” across LaBarge Spring. There’s a campsite RIGHT in the middle of the trail.
I figured “This must be it.” But again, no sign pointing to the Spring.
A HAZ Water Report said “You’ll hear it when you get to it.”
But that assumes normal hearing.
As I can no longer hear crickets with my right ear. I didn’t hear any tricking.
BUT, I did hear the low hum of bees. (This was about 4:30 pm.) Having seen bees hovering over water at the Barnhardt Waterfall and also at Bear Spring, I thought they might be over water. I looked and noticed a curvy path leading to the hum. As I approached, I saw a small pool of water and then saw water trickling down a narrow ravine.
About 1 quart per minute for one strong trickle.
Interestingly, my trick of homing in on the bees wouldn’t have worked the next morning because the air was filled with the hum of a bazillion bees coming from somewhere indescript overhead.
As I think about now, I was told (by the Trio of Old Timers, who hike the Superstitions once a week in the winter) that the Spring proper is up on a ledge. So maybe there were a bazillion bees high up over the Spring? Or is a bee hive there? The Old Timers have climbed the (muddy) ravine. (They knew about the root blocking the way.) They have also climbed the slightly less steep - but also muddy - path up to the right.
I take it as Providential that the trough was overflowing. Else, I would have been down to my last quart of water.
Zero animals there. (And there where a lot of dead leaves everywhere. I would have heard the rustling.) At night I heard one owl in the distance. Two birds calling in the morning.
(It turns out that, in the middle of the night, with no bees buzzing, I could hear the trickling of the water 30 feet away.)
The next morning, it took me four hours to fuss and pack up. (Am more of a camper than a backpacker.) It wasn’t until 11 am that I was on my way.
While fussing, a backpacker came from the north, looking for the Spring. He, his wife, and a neighbor, were backpacking and needed water. (He had left them behind under some shade.) I pointed the way.
(I saw them again later that day, ahead of me, slowly outpacing me. Then they disappeared, and reappeared behind me a few hours later. (Turns out that they packed up their camp in the interim.))
I hadn’t seen anyone on Thursday after the Sun City group at Peralta. In contrast, I saw 13 people Friday on the west side of the loop.
First I met the trio of three Old Timers heading to Charlebois on an out-and-back. Then I saw the husband/wife/neighbor backpackers above. Then Kim, who was doing recon to Charlebois to take a group there the next day. (!) She was lean - no fat stores. Don’t know how she does it. I slept 12 hours Friday night recovering from hiking the same distance in two days! Then a father & son (65/40?) who were backpacking to Charlebois from Peralta for the night. The brother/other son was going to catch up hours later. (I met him at the unsigned fork.) The trio of Old Timers caught up to me on their return. I was able to keep pace with them until the downhill started becoming steeper and I had to watch my balance.
At about 4:00, some old Marine (crewcut) was marching up the steps armed with only a flask. He asked how I was doing. I said “Tired” and it was “Dangerous.” He said that I sounded like the Trio ahead of me. So he sounded like a Marine too.
And last, to my amazement, a middle-age husband/wife team of “professional” backpackers, all decked out, were coming up out of Peralta. Amazed because it would be dark in two hours. Given that I became lost crossing some of the creek beds, trying to find a cairn far away at night wouldn't work. But they seem to know exactly what they were doing. (I saw a coffee cup on the woman’s pack with Arizona on it. But my brain was too sugar deprived to think if it said HAZ.)
Compared to meeting people on the AZT, it was Big City vs Little Town. People on this trail are in a rush and aren’t interested in stopping for a minute to chat.
I never noticed the 57 arm saguaro. Was looking down too much and I don’t have a good feel for distance covered and time using RS. (I.e., I don't know when to look up for an icon.)
A Water bag can puncture if you let them drop. Carry an extra.
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RS Notes about water and undocumented campsites
(Apparently these don't display in RS if you load my Route? So the mileages are from different parts of the route and don't correlate to anything.)
3.10mi - 10:24am | 1h 45m
Water in catch. Maybe tickling?
0.53mi - 11:47am | 0h 51m
Campsite
1.10mi - 12:21pm | 1h 26m
Campsite
0.44mi - 2:04pm | 0h 20m
Pools
1.12mi - 2:37pm | 0h 53m
Campsite
1.47mi - 2:57pm | 1h 14m
Error in route 1/4 back
1.86mi - 3:12pm | 1h 28m
Campsite
2.28mi - 3:28pm | 1h 44m
Campsite
3.00mi - 3:51pm | 2h 7m
Campsite
2.32mi - 1:14pm | 2h 27m
Campsite
2.51mi - 1:24pm | 2h 37m
Flowing water
2.61mi - 1:36pm | 2h 47m
Flowing
2.90mi - 1:55pm | 3h 8m
Flowing
3.76mi - 2:41pm | 3h 54m
Campsite
4.31mi - 4:13pm | 5h 26m
Water
5.17mi - 4:54pm | 6h 8m
Campsite
5.34mi - 5:01pm | 6h 14m
Campsite |
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| Be careful. It really is "a jungle out there." |
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