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| Hiking | 6.11 Miles |
1,144 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.11 Miles | 4 Hrs 22 Mns | | 1.81 mph |
| 1,144 ft AEG | 59 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Last week I hiked an unnamed tributary that feeds into First Water Creek, it was an exploratory hike so I was looking for any more hikes that might be connected to this one. There were several washes that fed into this one so once I got home I did some more research on the computer and found one wash that looked like it had the potential to be a really cool waterfall. Since I don't recall anyone posting anything about waterfalls in this area, I thought it might be worth looking into 
I arrived at First Water TH a bit past 0700 and quickly hit the trail. It was cool at that early hour but if felt good knowing it was going to be around 90'ish later in the day. The trail showed almost no signs that it had rained only a couple of days earlier but there were fresh pools in the creek. I found where the wash joined the creek and headed up, busting brush and stepping over boulders in the narrow canyon. Lots of Catsclaw along the wash and it appears to be a banner year for growth as I got lots of fresh scratches on my arms and legs 
Shortly the wash was blocked by a 12 foot vertical waterfall but there was a way around it that was guarded by more Catsclaw and I left a little blood for my efforts. The wash became steeper and choked with boulders and more Catsclaw to thrash through  but I could see up ahead the waterfall that I was looking for. The sides of the wash were too steep so I had to attack the boulders head-on but soon I was at the base of the waterfall
I stood at the base of a twenty foot ascent of a continuous pour of slickrock with few hand grabs or foot holds wondering just how in the  am I going to get up this obstacle  I managed to find solid hand holds but few notches to place my feet into and boy this stuff was slick. The slope was steep but not vertical and below me was a VW size boulder that would break any free-fall, so I inched my way up towards the lip. Once I reached the lip, and I could see beyond, it looked do-able but I was out of grips and slipping. Then I heard bees and noticed a kitten-ball size hole in the rocks and lots of bees circulating around it. If I were able to continue up, I would have to pass right in front of the bees so I made the wise move and worked my way back down.
I was barely able to side-slope the steep sides of the canyon working my way to the top but was finally able to top out. Good time to patch some scratches, remove a shirt and take a break as I gazed around at the unfamiliar surroundings. I couldn't get back to the top of the waterfall and I'm not sure I wanted to chance an encounter with the bees so I headed off cross-country in a Northerly direction towards Black Mesa Trail. It was a lot of bushwhacking through a Cholla Forest, Prickly Pear and more Catsclaw but I finally reached the trail and headed to Garden Valley where I took another breather.
The sun was getting warm by now and the gnats n fly's were becoming a bother, the dried Fox Tails along the bushwhack were stuck in my shoes n sox and sticking out of my legs too. As I was heading back to the TH, I met the first hikers I had seen thus far and soon another group and then another. Yup, finishing this off just in the nick of time.
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
The Cactus Flowers are coming along, lots of Prickly Pear blossoms, Staghorn Cholla and Hedgehog. |
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| On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip. |
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