Saturday morning in late March a spirited group of 7 met at the Peralta Trailhead for a hike to Bluff Springs.

Starting at the Peralta Trailhead, we took the Bluff Springs Trail (#235) and climb a steep incline nicknamed “Cardiac Hill” for ½ mile.

The climb was not the only thing to take our breath away as hearts pounding, we stroll among a carpet of wild flowers and spectacular views.

After the first quarter mile, we stopped at a ledge with a scenic view back towards the trailhead.

We continued climbing for another ¼ mile until we reach a ridge (about 400 feet up from the trailhead) looking down into Peralta Canyon on the west and Barks Canyon on the east with a view towards Miner’s Needle in the distance.

We ascended another 200' to a small plateau lined with boulders and paused to catch our breath.

We came to the unmarked junction with the Cave Trail (#233) and continued east, following the contour.

We descended into Bark’s Canyon.

We traveled up Bark’s Creek for about ½ mile then began a climb NE, passing in between two knolls.

We paused in the shade of a large boulder for a short break and photo op.

A short distance after passing the knolls, we reach the junction with Terrapin Trail (#234).

We continued north then east and entered Bluff Springs canyon. Wild Flowers abound.

We traveled beside the creek criss crossing for about a mile to the Dutchman’s Trail #104 junction.

We passed a remnant of the Ely Anderson Trail (used by miners to mule train ore) then headed north along the Dutchman’s Trail about ¼ mile to the Bluff Springs cutoff. We turned northwest up the drainage about 200 yards to the spring. After a break, we returned to the trailhead.