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| Canyoneering | 3.10 Miles |
240 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 3.10 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 0.89 mph |
| 240 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | After our GC hike, we're trying to fall in to the same trap as after Havasu Falls. It is hard to match the level of excitement of those hikes. Cibecue seemed to have a little of their flare, but short enough to not require their preparation requirements.
Before we got to the hike we had a few noteworthy experiences. The first were the problems getting permits from WMAoutdoors.org's website, I suspect the site was just overloaded with the Memorial day crunch, because first thing the morning of our hike I checked back and was able to effortlessly acquire the two permits needed. First however we, in lieu of our first failed attempt with WMA website, the night before our hike, we went to the 27th ave Sportsman's Warehouse, and were told that this store no longer carried the permits, only their Mesa Store did. Long story short, if we hadn't been able to purchase permits online, our hike wouldn't have started at noon but probably 1:30. Either way we were glad to finally tackle this trail.
I am not sure why their permitting system forces you to start your adventures at noon, the beginning of the hottest part of the day, but luckily we had fairly mild day with plenty of over cast and cool 82 degree weather. The permit is good till noon following day and includes camping but in all the confusion of getting the permit we gave up on trying to plan camping trip.
The drive on the last 4 miles of dirt road was little stressful in a Altima but in the end proved doable. But we got started right a noon. We saw plenty of people hiking back out. Some had packs and had clearly camped in the canyon. The water was very clear and just cold enough enough to be refreshing but not warm enough to want to swim in. Very beautiful hike, I might compare it to Aravaipa, one of the coves reminded Wendi of the cave on Fish Creek, and parts reminded her of Oak Creek. Some have compared it to Havasu, and it had a little of those blue-green waters.
We could hear the rush of the falls before we ever saw them, and the anticipation did not lead to disappointment. The shadows of the over hangs grew in and out as the clouds danced with the sun above casting their own shadows on the wall to wall waters, broken only by small pebbled islands, that pooled in the final, allowable, fifty feet of the Cibecue Canyon.
We were one of two couples who had reached the canyon at the same time and the 4 of us alone shared falls together. Wendi and I sat on side to eat our lunch of Tuna and jerky, which proved too much for the other couples K9 companion. She left her humans, and ignored their calls, to saunter over and get some pets from us, but no treats. Finally she relented to the calls of her owners but every once in awhile tried to make an attempt to cross back over but sadly we only got the one visit. As cat owners we can only live our K9 dreams vicariously through others.
We didn't see to much fauna. Possibly, a partial bear track, a few schools of minnows, one pesky pill sized breed of bug that looked like a moth. It was grey blue and kept attaching itself to my leg, and I am not usually bothered by stowaways, they can usually ride for free as long as they like, but this was either biting or really holding tight. I kept brushing him off, but for the first 1/4 mile of the hike he would just reappear seconds later often in exactly the same spot. We were able to stay, with the exception of the first crossing from the alternate parking area, dry until we reached Gauging Station, then we had to get wet, after that my little buggy friend seemed to go away. Besides that not much else until I spotted this crazy creature in the water. It reminded me of that ear-thingy in the Wrath of Kahn. I stepped towards it to get a picture, it was clinging to the calcite covered gold rock in the current of the water, and it seemed to lung at my feet before retreating back an inch. I now know that it was Hellgrammite, and the larva of the Dobsonfly which is the same 2" long demon but with wings. I saw pictures of people with these things in their hand! Not me, no thank you.
On the drive home there was a head-on collision blocking Hghwy 77/60, both directions. Sadly, it was a car vs. semi, there was a fatality. For us, it meant a 1/2 hour, sitting there with the ignition off. I guess we were situated close enough the crash in a stretch of highway which they needed to have cleared. Besides the horse-trailer behind us the rest and thirty cars ahead, the rest of the traffic were waiting another 4 hours, both directions. The truck driver looked safe and in good health, if a little distressed. |
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| The Tree of Understanding, dazzling, straight, and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It. - Wislawa Szymborska, "Utopia" |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
The usual water hike, back and forth across the creek many times. Spectacular scenery. There were about 3 deep pools including the one at the foot of the falls, but you did not have to go through them. Swimming is not allowed (but is maybe allowed for tribal members?), though it is possible to keep cool coming in and out of the water while crossing. The trail guide mentioned having to go through one deep pool, but the water level is not super high right now. We were able to follow well-worn use paths on either side of the creek all the way to the falls without having to be in the creek for extended periods.
Our son was having a blast wading in out out of the pools in the creek.
