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| Canyoneering | 5.00 Miles |
1,050 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 5.00 Miles | 3 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.71 mph |
| 1,050 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| | Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use | | A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit | | I - Short 1-2 hours |
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| no partners | | | Set out early with Gil to explore the Hieroglyphics. Went up the "Hermit Trail" to the saddle where we rested and enjoyed the views from a rock outcrop just above the saddle. Gil was hungry so going up to Governors wasn't in the cards, but we could see where the upper reaches of Four Tanks Canyon was carved into the mountain across the basin from us, and I had remembered wanting to check it out last time I was in the area as well. It really piqued my interest today so we decided to go see what was there real quick before heading back. There were quite a few pretty big pools that seemed like they would hold water well into April, and lots of big boulders to climb on. So far, pretty neat. Then we can across a shear 15-20 foot cliff with water dripping down it...a nice little waterfall! It had a decent sized pool at the bottom too. I could only imagine what it would look like during a rainstorm. We wanted to see what the canyon looked like above, so we scrambled up a little semi-exposed ledge next to the waterfall's chasm. It was the most convenient way from the waterfall's base, but could've been avoided by going around farther. From above, we could see a little pool directly above the waterfall, feeding the trickle we saw from below. The canyon seemed to be wider upstream and we decided to head back, having seen what was likely the most impressive part. Instead of following the creek bed back down, we set out cross country in a beeline toward the trail, and were back on it within 5 minutes or so. Pretty neat little piece of canyon, and pretty easy to access. I would like to string it together with a bigger loop going down into Garfias Wash/Hells Canyon with a return on Spring Valley Trail. For clarification, this was 5% canyoneering (the .2 miles up Four Tanks Canyon) and the rest on-trail hiking. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
. From there,I continued west to a dry wash that is the upper section to the Four Tanks. From above it looked as if there was a trail heading away from the wash to the south. When I reached the wash, I discovered it was a trail...a game trail. Instead, I turned east/north following the wash in the direction that would reconnect me to Governor's Peak/Hermit Trail. The wash was pretty neat to follow with quite a few dips and falls with pools of water at many of the levels. (Thus explaining the game trail). All were easy to negotiate up until the last one....the 15-20 ft fall described in the other write ups. Neat looking at it from the top down. No water was flowing, but there was water at the bottom. I backtracked a little (maybe 30 feet) to find a good point to climb out of the canyon. Both sides looked doable, but I went with the west side (towards Governor's Peak) because there was less vegetation to deal with. From there it was an easy deal to reconnect to the Hermit Trail and return to the TH. Didn't see a soul while I was out there. But the wildlife did not disappoint. Saw a lone buck, a grouping of four deer near the top of Governor's, a healthy looking squirrel and a rattlesnake (I think). It was curled up for warmth, so I couldn't see the rattles. It was small but good looking. Didn't have my Garmin with me, so my mileage is an estimation based on my other trips to Governor's Peak and the small amount of ground that was covered in the making of this lasso. 
