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| Hiking | 0.90 Miles |
75 AEG |
| | Hiking | 0.90 Miles | | | |
| 75 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | After TNBSP, Kelly and I headed to the Waterwheel parking area - which has been paved since the last time I was here, before the fire.
We hiked and scrambled our way along the left bank all the way past the big falls, then crossed the river near the East Verde/Ellison Creek confluence and proceeded mostly straight up the creekbed to Ellison Falls.
At the falls, Kelly womaned-up and took the cold plunge ... I did not, prefering instead to swim in a warmer pool back downstream. While sitting around the swim hole, I got to watch a Black Phoebe catching insects and returning to her nest on the cliff wall to feed her babies.
Heading back downstream, we went up the East Verde canyon a bit and discussed doing that route another day. Finally we returned to my favorite pool and took a quick final swim.
Making our way back down to the parking area was much quicker, without all the stopping to look and take photos. Just before the lot, Kelly spotted the waterwheel, which was cool to see. I was also amazed by the amount of ungulate excrement in the area!
The whole area seems far from forgotten to me - in fact I saw more people there than I ever have before ... but they were small groups of 2-4 people, and spread out over at least a mile of creek, so it didn't feel crowded. And thankfully the amount of trash seemed very small for such a popular area. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
