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| Hiking | 17.46 Miles |
3,533 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.46 Miles | 12 Hrs 23 Mns | | 1.76 mph |
| 3,533 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 29 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | I'd passed the Ballantine Trailhead along Highway 87 many times without knowing much about what the trails had to offer, and we decided to give it a try today. The trailhead itself is fairly nondescript, but the geology to the east is fantastic. There were two other cars in the lot, and we were on the trail before 7AM.
There's a lot of highway noise along the first stretch heading north, but that fades as the trail turns to the east ~3/4 of a mile in. It's a steady climb from the beginning...not overly steep, but not many breaks from the consistent uphill. The boulder piles, balancing rocks, and windows are very impressive, with geology reminiscent of Wonderland of Rocks in Joshua Tree. I couldn't help but leave the trail once or twice to scramble around on some of the interesting formations.
Ballantine Cabin is about four miles in, and we were able to avoid the worst of the catclaw surrounding the cabin, so the approach wasn't too bad. The cabin is in pretty good shape aside from some open spots in the roof and the typical Arizona bullet holes. There's a picnic table inside and the usual collection of random food items that seem to get left behind in most of the old cabins. As we continued east, I found a random pot sherd along the trail, and that continued throughout the day...in total, I found close to 10 pieces at various points along the route.
The steady uphill climb continued along the loop, and the trail was easy to follow the vast majority of the way, though there were quite a few steeper sections with loose gravel. catclaw was common but not so thick that we couldn't go around the worst of it. The geology continued to impress throughout the loop. That was the good part...
The not so good part: it ended up being a slower, more "interesting" hike than anticipated. Around seven miles in, TboneKathy started feeling weak and lightheaded, so our pace slowed considerably and we took frequent breaks, especially on the steeper uphill stretches. We still had a lot of miles to cover, and I was concerned that if she didn't start feeling better, we could be headed for a rescue situation. Cell reception was probably out of the question that far out, and there were too many miles to cover to carry her all the way to the trailhead. We had plenty of food and water, and it wasn't especially hot, which helped.
We made slow progress around the loop, and during one of her breaks, I took a short detour off the trail to check out a stone corral. In places, the big rectangular enclosure looked a lot like native ruin walls. It's certainly more modern, though I did find a few pot sherds in the middle, which made me wonder. A little further along the southern portion of the loop, we passed two other small walls of stacked rock...they were too small to be corrals or dwellings, so I'm not sure what purpose they served.
We finally made it back to Ballantine Cabin, and TboneKathy did well pushing through the last four miles to make it out before dark despite not feeling well. It was a beautiful area, but the situation was concerning, and I spent much of the hike very thirsty, conserving a lot of my water in case I needed to leave some behind with TboneKathy to go get help.
Fortunately, it turned out okay...just a longer day and a more uncomfortable hike than expected, but it could have been a lot worse. We didn't see anyone on the trails all day, and there were a lot of wildflowers blooming in different colors throughout the route. Wildlife included some toads, a horned lizard, a deer, a light-colored snake, and plenty of birds. Seeing the cabin and the bonus pot sherds was interesting, and the benefit of the late finish was seeing the sunset on the drive home. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Blooming cacti, globemallows, Mariposa lilies, and many more that I couldn't identify  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
The Pine Creek Loop and lower Ballantine Trails are 90% burnt. It'll be decades before this area returns to what it once was. The Pipeline Trail is becoming more obscure but still there's evidence of some badass fat tire motorcyclist utilizing it. No water anywhere, but that was expected this time of year. Just right of A-Frame (east of the southern prow) of Whorled Wall is the most direct route to the summit. It's loose in the first third but surprisingly solid through the upper two thirds. There's a huge dead Agave stalk marking the top out. Yeah, it'll eventually fall over but there are several more Agaves growing in the same place that may continue to mark the route.
