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| Hiking | 14.58 Miles |
2,278 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.58 Miles | 9 Hrs 24 Mns | | 1.80 mph |
| 2,278 ft AEG | 1 Hour 19 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | I'd been interested in exploring Music Canyon for quite a while, and it seemed like now would be a good time with extremely dry conditions and fewer potential water obstacles in the canyon. We planned to do this one two days prior, but a dead car battery that morning delayed plans and meant an early wakeup for nothing...but always easier to be stranded at home. Once that was sorted out, we gave it another try, and the weather was still perfect.
Peralta wasn't quite as crowded as usual, and we headed up Cardiac Hill ~7:15AM, with a comfortable start at ~50°, with some much colder pockets in the lower areas. Nice sunrise and uneventful hiking along Bluff Springs and Dutchman, and after a short break near the entrance to Music Canyon, the gloves and clippers came out, and we started in.
As expected, water wasn't an issue, but the brush was relentless--it took a lot of clipping and effort just to start into the canyon, but I hoped that it would start to open up after Music Spring. There were a few small, stagnant pools around the spring and some swampy areas, but most of the canyon was dry, as expected...I'm sure having water in there would've made it more difficult. There were a few brief breaks in the brush beyond the spring, but it didn't open up nearly as much as I'd hoped--at least enough to see more than just branches--and progress was slow with all the clipping.
Boulders and increasingly thick brush forced me up on the north bank of the creek bed, and I was able to get up to a point where I could see farther up the canyon where it bends to the north. From there, it was clear that it wasn't going to get any easier if I continued, so I made that the turnaround point.
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Getting back out was much faster, following the tunnel of clipping back toward the entrance. Surprisingly, we heard the voices of two people coming into Music Canyon on our way out, but we never saw each other through the thick brush. After we were back on Dutchman, we saw two big backpacks sitting alongside the trail, presumably belonging to the voices we'd heard. I certainly hadn't expected anyone to be back in there...whoever they were, I'm sure they got a nice surprise when they found all the clipping.
We took a short lunch break near Oak Spring and saw a few cardinals, and back on Bluff Springs Trail later, we heard some rustling in the grass before a skunk popped out nearby. Fortunately, it apparently didn't feel threatened enough to spray. We finished a little after 4:30PM and saw ~5-10 people on the trails, including the two voices in Music Canyon. Nice day and a good finish to 2024 hiking, even if we only sampled the first new notes of Music Canyon...I'll have to come back with more time someday--I know there are some interesting things to find in there. |
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Bluff Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | Trickle of water coming out of the pipe |
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Music Canyon Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | A few stagnant pools near the spring and some swampy areas nearby | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
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Route 
My previous visit was full of water. This time everything was dry except for a few pot holes of water here and there due to the bit of rain we had a couple of days last week.
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In addition to the 2 groups of backpackers we saw at La Barge, we saw another 2 groups of backpackers heading in on bluff springs. It is certainly a fine weekend for it! We saw 4 day hikers when we were starting out on Dutchman. Not too bad crowding wise. The parking lot was a zoo when we arrived at 840a. Of course, thankfully all those people confine themselves to Peralta, leaving the rest of the wilderness relatively unscathed! 
