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| Hiking | 7.90 Miles |
2,096 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.90 Miles | 4 Hrs 6 Mns | | 1.93 mph |
| 2,096 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | First hike of the day. With all the weather we’ve had over the last several days I felt it was a great time to visit the “falls”. Driving out to the Supes I was thinking primarily of Canyon of Waterfalls, but it turned into a multiple “falls” hike. I’ve been to the “Canyon” several times and I am amazed that I can’t find this hike in HAZ. Am I missing it? Is it described under some other hike? My intent today was two fold : to take notes about this hike so I could add it to the HAZ data base on the off chance that it needs to be added. And also, to explore a use trail that I had bypassed several times.
Got to the Massacre Falls TH around 6:30. Fourth car in the lot.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the road was to the TH. The days of rain hadn’t hurt it at all. I was also surprised at all the beat up campers, cars and debris that line SR 88 and the surrounding area. The closure of the Goldfield area seems to have caused a migration. 
From the TH head toward Jacob’s Crosscut. Instead of making a right (west) on Jacob’s Crosscut, turn east. This well defined trail will quickly turn south and merge into an even larger trail. Initially, this trail is very wide (5 ft) and rises gradually, but around 1.1 mile it will pass fencing remnants. At this point the trail narrows considerably with surrounding brush hemming the trail. It also does quite a bit of twisting as it weaves through the surrounding foliage. At around 1.6 miles the trail reaches the base of a large rock formation. The climb up this rock formation isn’t obvious, because of the rockiness. The trail starts on the eastern edge and works its way up in a westward direction, before switchbacking. There are patches of dirt along the way that will help illuminate the trail. The trail is climbing up between two large pillars. The goal is to end up on the backside of the pillar to the east. From here the trail cuts to the west side of the ridge. In a few tenths of a mile be looking for a trail that cuts back (east) up the slope. This will bring you to another ridge. If the rains have been decent, you will start to hear the sound of flowing water.
Follow the trail southeast as it drops down into a wash. You need to go up the wash about 20 yards to find where the trails crosses to the other side. There are a couple of rocks on top of a large boulder to identify where the trail exits. The brush is high and thick at this point, but the trail is obvious and exits quickly back into the wash. To your south and west there will be a 15 ft ledge which may have some small seasonal falls. Go right a few yards to the west to climb a steep slope to the next shelf. The trail will continue south and do a steep climb up the western bank. At about 2.4 miles you will reach a large rock outcropping. The falls are just around this outcropping. The shelf around this outcropping is small, so some rock hugging is required. (The drop off is only about 6 feet so there are other ways to handle this section). At 2.5 you have reached the falls!  Today was well worth it. Water was flowing down sections of walls that I hadn’t seen before. Shared the falls with one woman, before heading back. Within the first half mile passed 19 people heading in!
My second goal of the day was to follow a user path that I passed several times over the years. I retraced my steps to the bottom of the above mentioned rock formation. There is a large cairn located at the base. From this cairn there is a trail that heads off to the east. The trail is fairly obvious until it crosses a wash. At the wash you need to go down stream about 10 yards to pick up the trail exiting to the east. The trail became much fainter on this wash, but it is cairned and had just enough activity that I was able to follow it as it continued east. The trail went for about .8 miles before connecting to the Massacre Falls Trail. I believe I had to hike another .6 miles to reach the falls. Checked out the falls and the view from the escarpment. Returned via the Massacre Falls Trail.
This was only my second time visiting Massacre. This fall is definitely more powerful and dramatic than Canyon of Waterfalls, but there is something to be said about the tiered aspect of the “Canyon”. The crowds definitely seem to prefer Massacre. I didn’t bother counting, but it was well over 70. No wildlife. Great weather!! The Supes and Four Peaks (and beyond) were gorgeous with dustings of snow highlighting their rugged features. The trails were in amazing shape. Going in at 7am the cold temperatures made for solid footing. I was surprised to find that ice was an issue on the Massacre Trail. I had one little slip, but no fall. The trails were a little muddy on the return trip, but easy to avoid. Parking lot was a madhouse when I got back to my car at 11am. People were lining up waiting for parking and the dirt road out was lined with cars. It’s good to be early.
If anyone know a better place to post my Canyon of Waterfalls hike please let me know. I would love to get this posted under the right description. |
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