Barbershop Trail

Weather:  70º, showers early, then mostly cloudy

About this Hike:  It's been over three years since I've visited this segment of Cabin Loop. I decided it was time to revisit. 

The original plan was to park at Buck Springs Cabins just off FR-137 and hike Barbershop up to U-Bar and visit the remains of Dane Spring Cabin. We did park at Buck Springs, and we had the entire meadow to ourselves. I found myself wishing we had brought the tents and camping gear...

As we hiked along Barbershop, it became quickly apparent that we wanted to stay on Barbershop. I've already seen Dane Spring Cabin in the past, although my hiking partner had not. 

Regardless, remaining on Barbershop was a good choice. The trail goes from thick forest of towering spruces to grassy meadows to dips into ravines and then back up again. Being as Barbershop was new territory for both of us, I felt seeing the entirety of the trail was far superior to seeing the few remaining logs of Dane Spring Cabin.

When we first started out from Buck Springs, the sun gave way to clouds. Rain showers began when we were in the ravine carved by Sand Creek. We were prepared with rain jackets, and the shower ended up being brief. It made the lush vegetation and mosses around Sand Creek have a certain quality that I named "Arizona Rainforest." 

As we crested out of Sand Creek at FR-321, we came upon a huge gathering of cars, people, and RVs. Turns out the Mogollon Monster 100-mile race was happening on this same Saturday. The gathering on 321 was an aid station. 

While we enjoyed a lot of solitude on this hike, eventually the race runners began to share the trail with us. On the narrower sections of the path we would step aside and give them space, assuming they were trying to make time to the next aid station checkpoint. While Barbershop is a well-marked and well-maintained trail, the orange flags placed along it as race-course markers were helpful too. 

I guess it would technically be a lie to say we completed all of Barbershop. We opted to turn around at FR-139. A short spur of Barbershop continues on, ending at Houston Brothers Trail.

The return hike went by faster than the outbound. When we reached the FR-321 aid station there was loud music, an announcer, and frequent siren blasts. All of this in the middle of the forest was powered by large generators and copious amounts of propane. 

As we made our way down Sand Creek ravine and back to Buck Springs, we could still hear the occasional siren blast. With Mogollon Monster being a 100-miler, I wonder if the noise was to continue all through the night. Maybe camping at Buck Springs wouldn't have been so great after all... 

Regardless, this was a perfect hike on a perfect-weather Saturday. While the 300 road is rough and unpleasant in spots, it makes me wonder why we don't visit the Rim more often; it's right in our backyard now that Payson is home.