The hike started out according to plan. Kristin and I were going to do a 5 mile loop hike through Barks Canyon in the Superstition Wilderness. This is not too far from where I had my run-in with Picketpost Mountain, and I’m always a little creeped out by the Superstitions anyway because of all the tales of lost hikers, some who have never been found. But we were prepared. Rachel knew where we were. We had all the necessary supplies, including a trail guide and map. This would be a breeze.The hike started on the Peralta trail, climbing a mountain. It was gorgeous. We were treated with views like this the whole way up.
This is what we climbed.
The best part of this hike was throwing a snowball at Kristin’s head. We were so excited to see snow left over from Saturday’s storm! I wish I’d gotten a picture.
At the top of the mountain, we were greeted with this view of Weaver’s Needle. Things were still going well. Although I was out of breath and felt disgusting, a nice lady who took our picture commented that I looked “fresh.” Made my day.
Then, things went terribly wrong.
We asked some experienced hikers about the loop trail, and they said they’d done it many times. They informed us it wasn’t a real trail, so make sure to watch for cairns. After consulting the map and our directions, we were off.
The directions said we would eventually reach the canyon’s floor, and it didn’t really matter how we got there. We hiked for a while along the rim, spotting cairns frequently. (And adding to them, because I like to feel helpful.) And then, it seemed like we were at a dead end, where the only way to go was down. So we headed down.
It wasn’t easy. There was so much brush, and I ripped a giant hole in the seat of my pants. This is when we got stuck. We kept trying to find ways down and just hitting dead ends (a.k.a. cliffs). This is also when we started to panic. I’m proud of us, because although we were scared, we didn’t lose our cool. We thought logically about what to do. After about an hour detour, we found our way back up to the top. It sounds like no big deal, but it was. If one of us had fallen, we’d be goners. We were doing rock climbing type stuff without the safety gear. By the time we got back up to the top, we were bruised, bleeding, sunburned, and my pants had three holes in them. Oh, and we saw a snake! Not sure what kind, but I was super excited to finally see some wildlife.
We finally got back to where the trails split and got on the right trail through Barks Canyon. We STILL can’t figure out what was up with the trail we followed. The one we took back to the parking lot did not have cairns on it, so what were those people talking about? All we can think of is that that trail must have followed the rim of the canyon for a long time, and we just weren’t able to figure out where it went next. Hiking on the other side of the canyon, we realized there was NO way we could’ve made it down to the bottom the way we were going; the cliffs were enormous!
This is the view from the trail, when we were on the correct side of the canyon. Looking at those cliffs, we never would've made it down. I can't believe we were climbing those- no wonder people on the trail were stopping and pointing at us! You definitely can't tell tell how huge they were from this picture. You can see, however, how the sun is going down; we didn't have much time left by the time we found the trail.
When we saw the parking lot, we double high-fived and hugged and cheered. The whole thing was quite an experience. I feel much better about my Picketpost disaster now. Kristin is a native of Phoenix and hikes all the time, so if she got lost, too, I know I’m not a complete idiot. And overall, I’m glad we went. It was such a beautiful area, formed by ancient volcanoes. And it was a good reminder that we are strong and smart and can get through difficult things.
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