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| Hiking | 5.67 Miles |
1,411 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.67 Miles | 3 Hrs 43 Mns | | 2.05 mph |
| 1,411 ft AEG | 57 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The previous day's rain led to hopes the waterfalls would be flowing. But doubts emerged as soon as MJ, her brother Fred and I pulled into the Crosscut parking lot about 1100. There were no other cars, which I thought a bad sign. No cars, no waterfalls. And about halfway up, traversing the ravines, the soil was damp but no pools or tanks caught the eye. It became obvious as we plowed through the jojoba field near the top of the trail and had decent views of the falls area that disappointment lay ahead. No flows today. Only the long lines of dark water-stained rock. Maybe some drips but we did not get that close. Still, all was not lost.
At a trail juncture, still amid the jojoba, we fortunately turned left and walked up onto a large rock knob that Joe Bartels dubbed Massacre Ramp. Just ahead, a sheer cliff drops off into an awesome abyss with a depth I thought that must reach 150-200 feet. And what a view from up there facing the falls! The higher Superstitions with their odd shapes and Weaver's Needle poking up over them and Four Peaks in the distance. Camelback far to the west. A full 360 at about 3,200' el, under puffs of white clouds and blue sky, the land below patterned in shadows and sunlight. Where we stood was about 1,100 feet above the Crosscut parking lot. The Ramp is long and wide, and we ate sandwiches while exploring and shooting photos and video. "How much better than this can Massacre Falls be?" I wondered. Even with water flowing.
The return hike was warm, up to 86 degrees, no shade and the mid-afternoon sun drilled into the skin. Had we turned right, rather than left at the jojoba junction, the trail likely would have taken us down into the lush abyss. But even then, with no waterfall, the hike would have been on the dreary side, just another long, very rocky trail through bland desert in autumn. The Ramp made all the difference.
P.S. (added later, after "likes" by Trekkin Geco and Outdoor Lover, not wanting them to be tagged with an opinion that wasn't there when they responded): The bottom line is this. Massacre Falls come and go, but rocky knobs wil always be there for you. Waterfalls, unless named Victoria or Niagara, are vastly over-rated. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
