Hello all;
I was in a Dr. office when I saw a calendar with this beautiful picture of wading pools in a canyon. The description said "Granite Pools, Hellsgate", and the map on the back showed them being in an area just above Phoenix. I check the Hellsgate hiking page and no mention of these pools. If anyone know of there location or the name of the hike to get to them it would be appreciated if you could let me and my family know.
There are pools (some granite, some not) all over around hellsgate. If you can find a copy of the picture and post it I will keep my eye out when we go this weekend and let you know what I see.
That picture Bill is talking about is from the Arizona Highways 2005 calendar and I happen to have it here at the house so I went ahead and scanned it into my personal gallery
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds" Ed Abbey
I remember a bunch of those Pools but not the one in perticular that Trish posted. Don't quite remember the falls like that, except by Tonto Narrows but I don't think it was that.
I think that must be a set of pools located on the tonto or haigler creeks before hellsgate proper. I don't remember going down anything quite like that near the beginning. The whole waterway is much more open than that. Like I said though, I'll keep an eye out for it.
I've seen some of the falls/holes like that. Can't remember exactly where in hellsgate it was though. If you are looking for a similar hike with pools like those, check out the salome jug hike on here. There are a ton of gorgeous granite pools on the hike. I just did it yesterday and the water was great, there were 3-4 rock slides that had a good flow. It was a really good time. The one issue is that there is a large waterfall at the end of the hike that could pose some difficulty unless one is truly experienced. You don't have to go all the way down to this point though. If you have any questions give me an email.
I'd rather be working for a paycheck,
than waiting to win the lottery....
I'm gonna bet that is the Tonto on the north side of 'Hellsgate proper' as Matt referred to it. There are alot of pools like that if you come in the other way.
'Achievement lies within the reach of those who reach beyond themselves'
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds" Ed Abbey
We call that wacky water wonderland. If you hike the entire creek to the highway(Gisela) you will pass through it. Five days through the canyon is great, but you can pull it off in three or for...just depends on how sore you want to be.
If memory serves me right...the falls are about five miles down stream from "Hell's Gate." Not many do this entire trip...very pristine. Keep it that way. Pack out what you bring in.
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