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| Hiking | 13.00 Miles |
1,500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.00 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.86 mph |
| 1,500 ft AEG | | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | We had a couple days of wonderful rain over New Years 2023. Friends cancelled so I did a solo Lost Goldmine Superstition southwestern waterfall hike. With waterfalls in the Superstitions, it is all about timing and if you snooze you lose. Heavy flooding on Peralta Rd. was turning people back. I went to Lost Goldmine Cloudview planning on enjoying all of the seasonal waterfalls that show up with heavy rain as I made my way across the SWA boundary. This is a summary of many that I saw along the trail. The plan was to enjoy the Carney Springs waterfall as a finale, then make my way back to Cloudview.
The backup plan was to finish up at Hieroglyphic cascades, if there was time. I knew that it would be flowing strong, but I selected this as secondary because I’ve already been to Hiero many times over the years. There was drizzle and low cloud fog blanketing the Superstition ridgeline when I arrived. Because of the rain, I was able to easily find parking. Parking on waterfall days usually means a wait due to the relatively small lot and popularity of this trailhead. However, many choose not to hike here when it’s actually raining.
The air was crisp and damp and 44 degrees with a high of 51. There had been estimated 2 inches of rain over the past few days, perfect for this adventure. Hieroglyphic Canyon was hidden. The summary of flowing water I saw on the mountain:
• Summit 5057 waterfall (Ermahgerd west) several connecting ribbon falls flowing down from the summit.
• Ermahgerd main waterfall through center canyon
• Turks Head small rivulets flowing off of the prominent landform
• Turtle Canyon. Deep cut between Ermahgerd and Three Sisters. Named because there is rumored to be a large turtle petroglyph or carving in the upper canyon.
• Three Sisters small rivulets flowing down from the steep rock bluffs
• Wave Cave waterfall. Waterway dropping down the ridge between WC and Carney Springs.
• Carney Springs Waterfall. At the back of Carney Springs Canyon also dozens of small waterfalls cascading down the main channel through the canyon.
• Dacite Cliffs waterfall. Usually a spectacular ribbon fall dropping down sheer cliffs above the main Dacite Cliffs mine tunnel.
Only one person passed me on LGM until I got to the Carney Springs wilderness boundary fence. Then it was crowded. TBH, in the 30 years that I’ve been going to Carney Springs I’ve never seen that many people on the Shaka Cave Carney Waterfall trail. It was sort of overwhelming. The trail itself is well established now and no longer difficult to navigate. I could hear the main fall thundering ¾ mile away.
I chatted with different friendly hikers as we went up to the fall. I took a short stop at the Shaka Cave with others to chill before the last half mile stretch. The fall was spectacular. Flow like this may only happen a few times a year if that, so I counted myself lucky to be there. I love the enthusiasm of adventure kids experiencing water so that was fun too. Got a lot of video and some pretty good images as well off my phone camera. GPS image location is on.
All good things come to an end as the saying goes and I made my trek back. I did a quick stop at the old Camp Carney FS water basin and noticed that there was slight flow from the pipe that is usually dry. The actual spring is no doubt flowing freely. I ended up spending too much time to make the Hiero Canyon trip. Friends shared photos and it was beautiful as expected, but no regrets. I called it a day about 7 hours later and around 13 miles RT. The posted route is one way. The Lost Goldmine lot was full as I drove away. I think I’ll always remember this one. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few pockets of wildflowers including Fairy Dusters |
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