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| Hiking | 10.79 Miles |
1,895 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.79 Miles | 7 Hrs 41 Mns | | 1.47 mph |
| 1,895 ft AEG | 22 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | A beautiful day out in the goldfields!
Headed out for a slightly later start than usual, for which I was thankful. Opted to rotate in a different daypack than usual...and was quickly annoyed that things were not located in their usual places  I guess I'll be putting that pack back into hibernation! We left the parking lot with a handful of cars in it just after 8, heading out on FR12 before peeling off to much more comfortable walking along established trails. There appear to be a number of use paths in the area, none of which are signed....so if you're heading out for a Goldfields adventure, make sure you have your route downloaded, ideally showing other paths in the area in case you need to make changes on the fly.
Scenery and vistas in the area are absolutely beautiful, with healthy stands of jojoba, saguaro, cholla....along with the usual array of thornier plants. It was especially soothing to spend time walking amongst the saguaro after my hike earlier in the week in the nearby Superstitions that covered areas severely affected by the siphon fire.
It seems more hikers are wandering into the Goldfields, as we encountered several folk headed back out as we were on our way in, and were also joined at/near the arch itself by three other people. Also saw some equestrian on the forest road as we were hiking along the near by willow springs trail.
The hiking is mostly easy except for when the path lands in wide sandy drainages that see a lot of OHV use. Happily, the stretches in the deep sand/gravel were fairly limited. Eventually, we found our way to our turnoff up an unnamed drainage and started our ascent up-canyon. While the path seemed clear heading straight up the drainage, we found a well established use trail on canyon right (looking up canyon). As the path steadily climbs, Weaver's Needle makes an appearance in the distance. Eventually, after crossing a saddle and starting to descend, numerous braided paths start to appear, though they all make their way into the drainage of Black Glass canyon below. As you get closer to meeting up with the drainage, Triple Arch appears about halfway up the hillside on the opposite side of the wash. Take some time to admire your target before making your way down canyon while looking out for chunks of obsidian. The way forward stays in the drainage until you pass beneath the arch and continue a bit down canyon before an obvious use path heading up the hillside appears. Head on up, admiring the arch as you go. The use path offers access directly to the arch as well as to a nice shady spot just across the way, perfect for a break and for taking photographs.
We surmised that Triple Arch is named as such due to the large primary opening along with a couple much smaller ones above. If you decide to go explore the arch itself, looking eastward and down towards the valley floor in the up-canyon direction, you'll notice what appears to be another arch. And if you have a dirty mind like I do...well...I'll let you draw your own conclusions.  We opted not to go for a closer look.
After enjoying time with Triple Arch, instead of returning the way we came, we decided to continue down Black Glass Canyon to make a loop returning back to the car. Things were definitely much slower going, dealing with ever present catclaw and the necessary route finding as the canyon narrows up and quickly loses elevation. It was nice to exercise those canyoneering skills again, though things would definitely have been much more dicey if there was water in the mix. I personally don't think I'd attempt the down-canyon route if the water was flowing as some of the downclimbs I executed were right in the watercourse.
The "Crux" of the canyon is located at a waterfall/dryfall that's about twenty feet tall - from up above, we had a hard time deducing the best way down, but once we cleared it, it looks like it might be easily downclimbable on canyon left (looking down canyon). We instead dropped through a hole between boulders in the watercourse (which may or may not remain accessible as canyons change with every flash flood) before downclimbing and traversing to access a ramp back to the canyon floor.
Beyond this point, we continued down canyon to re-join the sandy, sloggy wash of Rough n Ready/Willow Springs Canyon. After toiling along in the sun, we were glad to finally find our turnoff point and be back on trails again, even though it was a bit of a roller coaster of ups and downs (sometimes quite steep and loose) back to the trailhead.
Views looking back featured lots of lichen covered volcanic tuff - some so well carpeted that from a distance, it looks like neon green velvet, and views forward featured Weavers Needle and Superstition Mountain / Flatiron along with plenty of beautiful views much closer of various rocky outcroppings and stands of saguaro. Eventually, the heavy traffic of 88 made an appearance along with the power lines, and not too much later we found ourselves back at the parking area.
Wildlife: a couple different types of squirrel, hummingbirds, some super fast lizards - none of which were captured with photos.
A great day to be out - while Black Glass Canyon was worth the visit, I'm unconvinced I'd do the down-canyon section again - it would still be possible to make a loop of it after retracing your steps back down the unnamed drainage to Rough n Ready / Willow Springs to connect back to our selected route rather than descending Black Glass Canyon with its required scrambling. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Chuparosa, Ocotillo, a lone fleabane (too early in the morning to have unfurled), bebbia/sweetbush. |
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Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
I guess I'll be putting that pack back into hibernation! We left the parking lot with a handful of cars in it just after 8, heading out on FR12 before peeling off to much more comfortable walking along established trails. There appear to be a number of use paths in the area, none of which are signed....so if you're heading out for a Goldfields adventure, make sure you have your route downloaded, ideally showing other paths in the area in case you need to make changes on the fly.
We opted not to go for a closer look.
