I think the white, fibrous material issue has been solved. I hiked Boulder Canyon yesterday and found lots of it. It was in abundance wherever pools of water would have accumulated. Several people on this string guessed it was algae, and now I agree with them. When I saw it three weeks ago in Bark C...

In response to AZHikr4444's reply:

Yes AZHikr4444. That's it! I'm sure it's not algae. And considering it's so plentiful, it's probably not a paper product.

Is there a source of industrial pollution in that watershed?

In response to Tortoise Hiker's reply:

Yes, there are some cottonwood trees but there are also cottonwoods where there is none of the material in question.

It was less than 1/8 inch and, yes, it was very light, like gossamer. It wasn't TP.

I wish someone would go out there and take a look.

In response to Grimey's reply: There was a lot. We entered the creek at the intersection of the Bluff Springs and Terrapin trails. I'd say it was abundant for about 3/4 mile then thinned out. You could easily pick it up. As I said, it was very fibrous but not very strong; it pulled apart easily. No...

On 1/26/07, I was hiking Barks Canyon Creek. I noticed a lot of white fibrous material. It clung to the rocks and gravel; sometimes it looked kind of spider webby or like paper that had been wetted and then reconstituted.. I thought it might be asbestos, but I never really saw raw asbestos before. A...