Horses, trailers, and campers greeted us on our arrival at Pivot Rock Trailhead. The day was warm, sunny, but pleasant for a hike in the canyon.

Starting south on an abandoned road, we walked the Wildcat Spring Trail to the junction where a stream flows in from Huffer Spring. Water is seasonal. This time there was scarcely a drop anywhere.

The Huffer Spring route begins with a first-class bushwhack, but that doesn’t last. Soon we encountered an abandoned road and beyond it, a trail leading upstream in the canyon. Lush green vegetation indicates an abundance of groundwater as the trail leads gently upstream to Huffer Spring.

Huffer Spring, Baker Spring, and Wildcat Spring are inconspicuous. The GPS said we were there, but you wouldn’t know by looking. Beyond Huffer Spring is a new barbed wire fence to keep livestock from wandering onto the Beeline Highway.

We could hear road noise as we left the canyon on the right to make our way over to Baker Spring. It’s off trail through the dry forest, about a half mile southwest to the next major canyon.

Baker Spring is in a pleasant picnic area, with shade trees and logs for benches. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, then Ted walked upstream to find a game trail leading out of the canyon on the left side, toward the highway. But we’re going the other way.

You never know what to expect on an exploratory hike. None of us had ever been here before. “We’ll bail out on the left side if the canyon becomes impassable,” Ted explained.

Well the canyon was so smooth that it must have been a road at one time. Trees had fallen across our path, but otherwise it turned out to be an easy walk through the forest.

A wide clearing marks our arrival at the Wildcat Spring Trail. The Wildcat Spring Trail heads downstream through Pivot Rock Canyon, with roads on either side providing alternate routes. Soon we were back at the trailhead. We hadn’t met any other hikers on the trail, but plenty of cattle.

Everyone stopped in Pine for sandwiches and drinks before rolling home.