Exploring Pivot Rock Spring Cave

My hiking group had already been to Pivot Rock Spring twice this year, once for an exploratory hike and again on a regularly scheduled hike of Pivot Rock Canyon from Forest Road 142 at Toms Creek to the Spring and back. During the scouting hike we had no idea that there was a rather extensive cave behind the spring. We learned about it from another group of hikers we met there during our regularly scheduled hike. However, we were not prepared for spelunking at the time, so we scheduled a return visit for today, 3 July 2014.

There are several forest roads one can use to reach the Pivot Rock Spring area from Hwy 260 or Hwy 87. I chose what is probably the most difficult route simply because I had been that way before when we hiked in Pivot Rock Canyon. I also wanted to drive through the area where Corduroy Wash ends at Hicks and Duncan Canyon. For me this is a confusing area because I have seen the canyon below this junction marked as Corduroy Wash. However, most maps call it Hicks and Duncan Canyon, implying that Corduroy Wash ended at the junction. Hicks and Duncan then continues on south to dump into Pivot Rock Canyon just above the Forest road 142 crossing. Adding even more confusion, The National Map, provided by the USGS¹, uses the name Corduroy Wash just above where it joins Pivot Rock Canyon and then reverts to Hicks and Duncan below that juncture.

To access the spring from Hwy 260 we exited onto Forest Road 144 at mile marker 249 and traveled for 1.9 miles before turning right on FR 149. We then followed FR 149 for 2.2 miles, past the Corduroy Wash/Hicks and Duncan Canyon junction, to its end at FR 616 and continued on FR 616 for another 1.6 miles to a small camping area above the spring. From there a well-trodden trail leads down the mountain to the spring.

One interesting thing that I noted on this drive is that Pivot Rock and Pivot Rock Spring are not located in Pivot Rock Canyon proper, but rather in a tributary canyon. This is illustrated on the following map which shows where FR 616 crosses the canyon at the very bottom, almost directly south of Pivot Rock. The red line shows our hike in the tributary canyon in which the rock and the spring are located.

Map showing where FR 616 crosses Pivot Rock Canyon and the
 tributary in which Pivot Rock and Pivot Rock Spring are located

We had never hiked on the short section of trail between FR 616 and the spring and were unsure about where the trailhead was located, but we had a GPS location for the spring and just drove until we were adjacent to it. The small camping/parking area we found there was large enough to hold several vehicles. I assumed that a rock cairn at the entrance to the area probably indicated the beginning of the trail we sought.

Driveway from FR 616 to parking/camping area

We parked and made our way down an easy to follow trail that came out at the spring. Once there, we shed our packs, readied our flashlights and crawled into the cave.

Spring flowing from cave entrance

Because one must crawl into the cave, wet knees are pretty much guaranteed. However, there is a large chamber, about 20 feet in diameter located about 10 yards from the entrance. There are three openings from the chamber. One of these leads under an overhang or ledge that forms a sort of balcony overlooking the main chamber. George is shown here standing on the “balcony.” One enters under the ledge he is standing on and then can continue on into the mountain or climb up to the ledge.

George standing on the “balcony” - one of the three passages leading away
 from this main chamber starts just below the ledge on which he is standing

We had been told that one must follow the stream to complete what was supposed to be a loop, leaving the chamber by way of one opening and returning by another, and this one looked dry.

Deciding that the opening under the ledge, being dry, was not the correct path, we chose to follow a more difficult and wetter route (right) that involved crawling up the stream flowing out of the mountain.

One member of the group, discouraged by a swarm of insects we encountered at the mouth of the cave, turned back immediately. George and I slithered on into the watery opening, trying our best to place our knees on dry rocks. Unfortunately, the roof soon became so low that I could no longer extend my arms to travel on my elbows and was reduced to traveling on forward-extended arms and the tips of my boots. Meanwhile, the rest of our party had turned back leaving George (below, left) and the author (below, right, photograph by George) to struggle on by ourselves. Luckily, we eventually reached an area that permitted us to stand upright. However, that section soon ended and we had reached a point where it would have been near impossible to go any further.

In these two pictures George and I are at opposite ends of the short section of passage in which we could stand upright. The below photograph by George shows the water (very cold water at that) we would have had to crawl through in order to go any further. It was now glaringly obvious that we had taken the wrong path.

The way forward was a watery trough

We agreed that this was far enough and turned back, inching our way once again along the watery path under the low-hanging roof. When we again reached the main chamber, somewhat the worse for wear, George climbed to the “balcony” and took a photograph of me in the main chamber below (left) to show just how bedraggled I was. Having had enough spelunking for this day, we hastened to escape the damp, chilly environs of the cave.

The bright sunlight outside was a welcome relief. The monsoons had not yet arrived in force and the humidity was still relatively low, so we dried quickly and were able to brush the worst of the dried mud from our clothing.

Some of our group had never seen Pivot Rock, so while still drying out, we headed on down the canyon to visit it. The hike from FR 616 to the spring had been only 0.1 mile and it was only another 0.5 miles to the rock; we were soon there. We paused at the eponymous formation only long enough to admire the finely-balanced rock and take a group photograph before heading back the way we came.

Left to right: Kwi Johnson, Anita Jackson, Daisy Williams, George
 Everman, Gordon Bice and Joyce Arregui – author not shown

Arriving back at the trailhead and finding the campsite now occupied by a man with two dogs, we drove a short distance further along FR 616 to a shady spot with a gentle breeze and stopped for lunch.

After lunch, as shown by the light green track on the attached map (below), we continued on FR 616 and came out on Hwy 87 in Clover Canyon. The dark green track shows FR 144, the dark blue track shows FR 149 to FR 616, the magenta track shows FR 616 to the trailhead, the red track is our actual hike and, as implied above, the light green track is FR 616 between the trailhead and Hwy 87. The yellow line shows the paved roads between FR 616 at Hwy 87 and FR 144 at Hwy 260. The way we drove to the trailhead was shorter but the way we came out was a much better road.

The hike distance was 1.2 miles, the highest elevation was 7114 feet and the total ascent was 243 feet.

1 http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/