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| Hiking | 5.69 Miles |
2,988 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.69 Miles | 8 Hrs 21 Mns | | 0.97 mph |
| 2,988 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | It had been two years so time for a trip back to Hanging Gardens to end the “summer” with a bang! I had been hesitant to go here on a weekend because of crowds, but I’m extremely pleased to report that we had the whole place to ourselves all day!
I decided I thought it would be fun and different to do this as a point to point hike instead of an out and back. I researched a bunch of different ways to exit the canyon downstream of the falls and had several route options loaded & ready to go! Thankfully the girls were all on board with my potentially sketchy plan. 
We met at the 260 turn off at 7:45am and set about the task of shuttling the vehicles first. We had two badass women driving their lifted jeeps and I dropped my 4Runner off a couple of miles in just in case anything happened, so we’d have an extra vehicle ready to assist. The last time we did this hike, the road was awful so we spent extra time figuring out the best way to get in. The powerline road was the way to go; it was still really rough but manageable in the right vehicle. Exactly where to drop off the shuttle vehicle was going to based on an educated guess and luck, since we had a few exit route options.
Once the shuttle was set up, we headed over to the TH and started the descent into the canyon. It’s still a very steep slippery, rocky path but we all made it down with no bad falls! The water felt nice and refreshing, a little chilly but not too bad. We opted to inflate floaties on the second swim. One thing I will say is that the water was not as clear as the first time we did it, so there was a lot of banging into unseen underwater rocks. The murky water slowed us down a bit for sure, but we finally made it to the falls and they were as glorious as always!
We took a long break enjoying the beautiful falls and floating around. The swimming was a bit chilly there as it was shaded, but easy to warm up sitting in the sun! After we had our fill, we continued downstream past the falls past another large pool and found a faint path that we’d be using for our exit.
We’d seen the map and knew it was going to be pretty tough at the beginning but damnnn it was hard! The vegetation was really thick so you’re just fighting through really scratchy trees and stuff trying to make your way up. There was some pretty sketchy scrambling involved and a lot of holding onto trees for dear life. At certain points we would spot a faint path but there was really no good way to avoid getting scratched up. We worked really well as a team navigating this exit and finally reached a meadowy area that wasn’t as steep. That was super nice for a while, but then things got really steep again. Every time we’d think we were close to the top, we’d reach another layer to negotiate. Thankfully everyone was willing to just keep pushing through and we did finally get up to the top! When we got to the top, Amber’s jeep was right there!  I was pretty impressed with our educated guess on where to park it! Maybe I’ve learned a little more about route planning than I’ve given myself credit for!
Anyway, we couldn’t celebrate for too long because it was getting late and we still had to get back to the other shuttle vehicle. Man that was a rough ride with 5 of us crammed in that jeep after an exhausting day! It felt way bumpier this time and I almost got out and walked, lol! Alas, we got back to Ashley’s jeep and navigated our way out of that crazy road as the sun was setting. We got back to where we left Tessa when it was already dark as well, but the bonus was that the 17 had no traffic on the way home at that hour!
Such a great day in a beautiful place with my girls and I love that we did this one a bit different than most. It was really cool seeing down into that canyon from above. I’d love to see a photo of what we climbed up sometime, because that was intense! I’m pretty sore today but still pumped from such a great day! |
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| Restless between adventures... |
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