The infamous Salome Jug. This short stretch of canyon is one of the most classic canyon trips in Arizona and has been on my list of places for years. Being stunningly beautiful and not overly challenging, for many The Jug is their introduction to canyoning. For us it would be the icing on the weekend cake. I carefully drove Sara's low slung Mazda along A Cross Road's windy path to the carpark. Here an old road contours its way around ridges, taking its time dropping in height. It took 2 miles of trail to go what was probably a crow flight distance of less than a mile- it was the antithesis of an NZ trail and kind of frustrating to meander in and out of a valley only to see the car only slightly further away. Nevertheless the scenery posed by the saguaro forest and high cliffs of Salome made it all worth it as we snaked our way down to the creek.
Upper Salome, miles and miles upstream is a canyon in its own right. Below this the valley flattens for many miles, with the creek dissolving into its streambed except in times of high flow. Then at The Jug the water appears again to cut a deep notch through the pink granite. The canyon deepens through its whole length and then abruptly ends at a normal fault where the granite has been offset. The desert oasis then slowly reverts back to its desert wash downstream.
We were warm by the time we reached the creek and were all but ready to suit up and jump into the refreshing water. This weekend I had been continually amazed at how much water there was in this southern Arizonan desert and Salome Jug was no exception. There was a veritable oasis of life that crowded around the creek. The contrast of the wet and wild canyon with the saguaro cacti just beyond was forever present. The harsh unclouded sun on the bright canyon walls meant harsh light and brutal photo conditions but also meant comfortable temperatures and beautiful water reflections in the canyon's shadows.
We slid, jumped, climbed and swam through the canyon, savoring its beautiful features. Despite the late season, the canyon was in great shape and we saw very little algae clouding the clear pools. The pink granite made for one of the least slippery wet canyons I have ever been in. It was just pure fun!
All too soon it seemed, we reached the falls which drops into the Jug itself, an enormous pothole shaped pool over 3m deep in places. Sara opted to rappel down the falls. After she scouted the pool with goggles, I traversed out and jumped into the pool. There was a great granite ledge just above the water so we relaxed and swam for a bit. Sara spotted some shiny objects in the pool. After a couple attempts I made a ear-bending dive to retrieve two locking carabiners, an anchor plate and a pair on sunglasses. Score! My best canyon haul yet! We then swam out of the Jug, admiring the play of watery reflections on the wall. It really was a beautiful spot!
A couple more pools and one last turn in the canyon presented a vertical wall-framed view of the desert beyond and the canyon's abrupt end. We swam this last pool and changed in the shade of a tree. Turns out I was standing on a small log with a coiled rattlesnake underneath. Luckily it did not seem too perturbed. Sara and I were both feeling a little reluctant to leave
this oasis for the uphill desert sweatfest and so stayed a bit longer to
enjoy the cool spot. Then the inevitable hike back to the car. Thanks to Sara for a fun trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment