A late flight into Palm Springs was followed by an even later drive. The desert was alive with foxes, coyotes, kangaroo rats, bunnies, and other wildlife using the night. Without incident I made it out to Agua Caliente County Park and Heather and Claire's campsite. The morning started heating up fast and we drove the sandy washes out to nearby Arroyo Tapiado, home of California's best collection of mud caves formed out of the expansive clay badlands. We almost arbitrarily crawled into one of the caves but instead opted to do a loop hike, something I have never had a chance to do out here. We went up the so called Chasm Cave, spacious with easy walking for most of its length and some nice sweeping meanders. In a few places there were skylights temporarily breaking up the subterranean. Fortunately above the cave there were still several deep alcove corners, allowing us to stay mostly out of the sun during the hike.
After many twists and turns we spotted the subtle entrance of the tributary E-Ticket Cave entering on the left, which was to be our route up the the badland plateau above. Now we got dusty as this complex cave forced us to climb, crawl, and squeeze through multiple levels of meanders. Sometimes low was easiest, other times going up and over was best. We mostly intuited the easiest way but this became quite the adventure compared to the spacious cave earlier. Progress was slow but eventually we made it back into the sunlight, thoroughly coated in white dust. It took us about 20 minutes to go about 250 feet, but it felt longer both in time and distance.
We bypassed some deep infeeder sinkholes and picked our way across the bright badlands, following the rock units to the southeast. The saddle area had abundances of gypsum, glinting in the sun like broken glass. Before long we started heading down the next wash as the walls built and intermittent caves started to show.
The first significant cave was Skylight Cave, which threw a couple downclimbing challenges at us but had some nice light and some nice natural bridges overhead (frontispiece). We raced through the sunny section between caves, eager to dive back into the cool darkness.
The last cave, Carey's Cave, was particularly impressive with the largest passageways of any of the mud caves I have seen here. We spotted about fifty bats roosting on the ceiling just inside the cave's top entrance and saw them periodically dart overhead the rest of the way through. This cave had some really impressive sweeping meanders and a tall roof that must have approached 40 feet high in places. Altogether it was a pleasant stroll and a good way to round off our loop (I'm glad we went the direction we did). Carey's Cave ended quite abruptly at a particularly non-descript hole, then we walked Arroyo Tapiado the short 0.3 miles back to the car.
I hung around for some swimming and relaxing, having a chance to take a dip in each of the three pools before driving back home. Thanks to Heather and Claire for letting me crash their girl's weekend. It was nice to have a little kidventure.
Serendipitously Keith, Kari, and dog Zora were already planning to camp in the Mecca Hills when I suggested a canyon exploration hike. I was keen to check out the three remaining slots I have not explored in the east fork network of Painted Canyon. I knew the middle fork that Heather and I looped around on our last hike ended at an unclimbable dryfall and so this time we came prepared with helmets, harnesses, and anchor gear to ensure success. We met up with Keith easily enough and set off hiking at 9am with desert heat already creeping in. We hiked up the sandy wash through the colorful basement rocks before entering the conglomerate. In very little time we passed the tributaries we had explored as a loop last time and continued up the more southerly wash branch. Off on the left we spotted a curious slot that cut into a cliff forming an interesting abandoned rincon- we dropped packs to explore this very unique slot for a few minutes before continuing on. The bedrock roof over the slot caught the reflected golden light particularly well.
Continuing on the wash became a shallow slot. Over about 500 ft it built in height and closed in narrow to become a dark slot with several chockstone boulders overhead. We dropped packs again to poke into a less interesting side canyon, then continued up. We had a couple spots with some "over-under" boulder piles to contend with. With help Zora and the rest of us managed just fine. More very high quality chockstone slot continued to impress. In this deep section we came to a confusing maze-like junction we soon recognized as our two slot branches; the plan was to go up one and down the other. We decided to go up the more northerly branch (longer with a larger catchment), which ended up being the right decision given the obstacles thrown at us. Almost immediately we found a 7 ft ladder to climb, a fantastic slot section, then another 6 ft ladder.
The twists and turns continued as the canyon opened up slightly. About halfway up this branch the canyon opened up into a broad amphitheater, fortunately with a 10 ft ladder to help us up its dryfall. After this the slot relented but we still had a steep walled wash. We detoured to check out a 6 ft ladder that would take us the wrong way, and then continued up the main branch, passing a beaten up 8 ft ladder curiously sitting in the wash. Through a short slot cutting into a cliff we came to another amphitheater, obviously the last obstacle until we gained the plateaulands above. After some deliberation Keith and I decided that 8 ft ladder we passed would be just what we needed and so we back tracked to grab it and set it against the wall. This ladder was precariously positioned and damaged at the top, but with care we managed to get everybody up it.
Now exposed to full sun, we traversed the loose slopes to gain the catchment dividing ridge and then hiked a faint trail for a short 1000 ft before diving into the head of the southern fork. The slot started pretty quick and ended quick too- a 1000 ft of very nice slot canyon brought us to a particularly dark and narrow hallway and a 6 ft downclimb that brought us back to the junction we had been at before.
We continued back down the canyon, now retracing our steps from earlier in the day. Everyone was pretty jazzed and enjoyed our loop so it did not take much deliberation when we reached the rincon slot and everyone was all for hiking the 1.5 miles to the head of the middle fork of the more northerly network.
We exited the wash on a surprisingly good trail near the rincon slot that after some scrambling brought us to a nice easy to travel ridge. As we ascended the ridge we were rewarded with great views of the Salton Sea, Coachella Valley, and the particularly desolate wash network further east. It was hot and sweaty but a persistent wind did a lot to help cool us down. At one point we spotted a weird red UFO, only to eventually realize it was a plane dragging an advertisement over the hoards at the Coachella Festival. We looped around the head of a couple canyons then down a ridge towards the middle fork.
Rincon slot in mid-ground
A view towards Coachella Valley
I guessed at a route into the middle fork and guessed correctly; it spit us out right below the natural bridge dryfall I remembered from our previous hike. This canyon had a lot of variety and several downclimbs including two some used handlines on. At the base of the second dryfall was a particular dramatic chockstone overhead where we stopped for a short moment.
The canyon continued with great variety, play of light, and sweeping curves. There were some more over-under chockstone scrambling but overall this second half of the canyon was straightforward until its end.
Rather abruptly the floor dropped out of the slot down a 25 ft dryfall chute that I immediately recognized as the end of the canyon that I had seen from below on our previous hike. Fortunately a well-placed chockstone made an ideal anchor with minimal awkwardness. Keith went first with Zora daisychained beneath him, really not thrilled with the situation but just fine once she was back on firm ground. The rest of us followed without incident. We strolled through the shadows the rest of the way down the slot, then returned to the cars. Kari ended up riding with us for date shakes while Keith took the slow way back in their Vanagon. Epic sandstorms pounded the highway near Coachella. Dinner at Crazy Coyote Tacos rounded out the day before a San Timateo detour because of a closed Highway 60.
All agreed it was a great day out with good adventure, great company, and fantastic scenery. The slot canyon shadows meant an overall comfortable 6.5 mi hike despite the hot day. There is plenty more left for me to explore but this was the last major area that stands out on aerial imagery. Mecca Hills continues to impress. Truly one of southern California's secret treasures once you venture off the couple popular hikes everyone does.
I had not heard of this monument before looking around for paved road accessible things to do post-river trip. Like with pretty much any monument or park these days it sounded busier than ever before so we worked out camping nearby and being there when it opened. The monument features two main multi-room multi-generational cliff dwellings built into large cliff alcoves, one of which is accessible by a paved trail, the other only by arranged tour. We were the second group to arrive at the parking lot and the first to head out on the trail, which pleasantly meandered upward through lizards and saguaros to the ruins. The dwellings had a commanding view over what would have been the broad valley below, now Roosevelt Reservoir. Though lots of stabilization efforts have modified the ruin, were were able to walk around through some of it to get a sense of the layout. We had just the right amount of time to explore the ruin at a leisurely pace on our own before the next group arrived. We strolled back down the hill already feeling a touch of the day's heat and then walked through the small museum. In all it was a short one hour visit but I thought a worthwhile stop.
Alcove roof detail
After leaving the monument we were disappointed to find that the Apache Trail through the Superstition Mountains was closed (and had been since 2019 due to storm damage), and so backtracked once more through Globe. We passed some crazy renaissance fair traffic near Apache Junction and took a slow drive into Tortilla Flats. The Superstitions were as neat as I remembered, though much busier with Sunday drivers, motorcycles and lots of kayakers and paddleboarders on the reservoir. We almost went to explore a canyon but opted to tackle our drive home instead.
The pandemic started with a permit to packraft the upper Salt River, which was revoked in the uncertain lockdown times, so in some ways this trip felt like a full circle closure. The upper Salt River is perhaps Arizona's second most famous river trip after the Grand Canyon; while it cannot match its bigger sibling by most metrics, it is perhaps singularly notable for its 52 miles of mostly wilderness whitewater through one of the world's great cacti forests. Unfortunately we had that double-edged sword of permits to contend with. We struck out in the permit lottery but Keith wrote some clever code to notify him when a cancellation came up and we managed to get a launch. The low flows and a straightforward mandatory portage would seem to help weed out some of the would-be rafting groups. In the weeks leading up we watched the river gauge with great interest as the flows rose out of grim 200cfs territory into the more comfortably low 400cfs range, which it held for the duration of our trip.
I had mild expectations so was pleasantly surprised by the scenery, life, and even the whitewater. I saw more saguaro cacti than ever before in my life, and many of the other desert plants and cacti were in bloom given our timing. Though we undoubtedly missed out on some of the whitewater mayhem that high flows see, overall it was a very boatable flow and we enjoyed seeing only three other groups on the river, none our final day.
After a detour in 29 Palms, the drive went fairly smooth other than some Phoenix traffic. After a quick stop in Mesa for the White Mountain Apache permits we met Keith at the takeout shortly after 5pm. We were surprised to see a number of vehicles including a couple with raft trailers given the low flows. We piled a mountain of gear into my Prius, had an uninspired pizza dinner in Globe, and then camped at the surprisingly pleasant roadside Jones Water Campground, sleeping well in the cool mountain air. The stars were great. In the morning we drove a further 30 minutes down into the Salt River Canyon to the First Campground put-in on White Mountain Apache land. All was quiet with no one else around as we sorted gear and loaded our boats. It was about 10:20am when we pushed off into the river. Within 5 minutes we saw our first bald eagle, ridge soaring the cliffs on river right and a nice sign of wilderness to come. This first stretch of river was particularly shallow and bumpy as the low flows filtered over boulder and cobble bars, once requiring us to get out of our boats and relocate into a navigable side-channel. I was certainly desiring more flow but was happy to see the river steadily moving with virtually no still pools. The geology was an interesting mix of dark gneissic basement rocks with layered sedimentary rocks above here at the edge of the Colorado Plateau.
Almost immediately I noticed I had difficulty holding air due to failure of the rubber panel adjacent to my raft's zipper. This would be a persistent issue for me this trip despite attempts to repair it and I would have to stop every hour or two the whole trip to top up my inflation. After 2 hours of steady paddling and named class III rapids that were more like IIs at this flow, we arrived at Cibecue Creek on river right where we had a permit to hike. This was quite a pleasant side-canyon with a clear creek and verdant banks. We boulder hopped the banks and forded the creek many times on the 1.5 miles up to Cibecue Falls. Just before the falls the canyon narrowed considerably and featured a couple nice alcoves with hanging fern gardens before the channelized falls into a green pool. Here we had lunch and enjoyed the view before returning the way we came. It was not until we reached the trailhead that we saw a couple starting a hike. At $30 it was a pricey detour for a short hike but I was happy to do it once and certainly enjoyed that we had the whole hike to ourselves. It was something to do on a river not known for side-hikes.
Back at the river we found that we would be sharing it with others. A large group of 7 packrafters passed us by as we switched back into river mode. Shortly on we passed them by at Mescal Falls where they had a couple flips. We then drifted into the culturally sensitive no river right stopping area as we passed the river's namesake travertine and salt springs. These were even more interesting and extensive than I was led to believe, even featuring a showerhead dripping spring, certainly an interesting spot as we floated past.
After passing Rock Creek we had a couple more labeled IIIs before it would be time to find a camp. At about this point the saguaros started and persisted until the very end of the trip. In the read-and-run lead position I managed to flip in the messy hole of Rat Trap, while the other two avoided my fate. This would be my only flip of the trip; as it would turn out all three of us would tie for one flip each by the end of the trip, though mine was the only one in a named rapid. We went through White Rock without incident and into a nice short bedrock gorge section. At the end of it we found a pleasant enough camp spot at Mile 14 on river right and called it a day.
Once out of the drysuit and the ciders safely chilling in the river, I used the last of the light to clamber up the spikey slopes behind our camp to photograph saguaros and the meandering granite gorge just upstream of camp. Overall I thought this a very nice camp with flat sand and convenient rock ledges to lay gear. We had a starry night other than the western horizon glow of a distant Phoenix.
We had a fairly relaxed morning, cold until the sun finally hit our camp. We pushed off at about 9am. I almost immediately discovered my Aquaseal field repair did not hold and new leaks were springing up along my zipper panel, which was a little bit of a downer. Fortunately the river quickly pulled me out of this disappointment as we navigated ourselves down a beautiful granite mini-gorge with towering saguaros on every horizon. Somehow we managed to blast right past the mouth of Canyon Creek without even noticing it, perhaps the largest disappointment of the trip. We past a group of three rafts on river right, still packing up their camp; they seemed proud of their steak dinner and 150 beers they brought but looking at them pack and listening to their description of having to deal with the shallow rapids upstream, I had zero envy.
The mini-gorge continued a bit longer then gave way to the multi-mile open expanse of Gleason Flats. At the end of this we had a series of rapids, including several we would end up scouting. We were somewhat misled by a group of IKs and a catamaran that we thought were scouting but were actually just stopping. Eye of the Needle did not have too much to it but Heather still ended up walking around with Keith running her boat through. Just before Black Rock Rapid (IV) we past a group of two packrafters and a playboat (busy morning!), then stopped on river left for a detailed scout. Keith opted to run a clean boof drop, I opted to run the sideways tongue feature, Heather opted to walk. It was smooth enough but the flow did really have a tendency to push you into the wall just after. We continued on just as the other two groups were just beginning to decide how they would deal with the rapid.
Black Rock Rapid
Next was a longish section without any named rapids. Heather realized one of our platypus containers leaked its 2L of water, and so finding side-creek water became a more urgent interest for us. Hess Canyon on river left seemed like it had a chance and so we set off up the wash with food and water containers. We hiked about a mile up, seeing plenty of lightly trickling water but none that would be easy to collect. We were rewarded with scenery though and had some lunch in the shade of a cliff. On the way back we attempted to dig a pool but realized it would take too long to run clear. Also we spotted some mountain lion tracks in the wet sand.
Hess Canyon
Minutes after Heather commented on not seeing any more eagles we spotted a bald eagle on the bank of the river. It then flew up to a watchful ledge; as I floated underneath I snapped a not great photo. At some point earlier in the day Keith had his flip, in the afternoon Heather had hers. We past the small packraft group camping at Lower Corral and worked our way through Pinball (III) and The Maze (IV). The Maze in particular was not quite worth the hype but Heather was feeling tired and opted to walk the last part of it.
Blurry bald eagle
The Maze Rapid
After The Maze the geology got really interesting with great tilted slabs of quartzite and towering canyon walls as we entered the Jump-Off Canyon section. Ready for camp we pulled in at Blackjack Creek to scout. Not only did we find an excellent and scenic camp but also a free-flowing creek with tasty water and easy bedrock ledges for collection.
We set up our river left Mile 30.5 Blackjack Creek Camp 2 having gone 16.5 miles this day. I got creative with my rigging and managed to set up my hammock on a quartzite layer crossing the small creek. Once again I set off for a short hike up the neighboring hill for views of this tilted quartzite corridor. This was probably my favorite section of the river. The evening temperatures were thoroughly pleasant and we had another nice camp evening. I even had dinner in the hammock.
The sun seemed to arrive earlier into camp on the third morning, which helped to motivate movement. We pushed off again at 9am, passing through some scenic turns before shortly arriving at the infamous Quartzite Falls (IV).
Quartzite Falls is the notorious rapid that was a feared Class V that most portaged before it was blown up with dynamite in 1993. We we found was a short and very straightforward drop, not even IV at this flow. Honestly Heather's river right portage was harder than running it. Next up was Corkscrew, a slightly more complex double drop around rocks but still straightforward enough to read-and-run. And that was it for the bigger rapids. Now it would be mostly riffles and wave trains for the rest of the trip.
Quartzite Falls Rapid (and below)
Corkscrew Rapid
Later we stopped to look for a giant saguaro I had marked on the map and then again briefly at the mouth of Cherry Creek which had a healthy flow of water. As we approached the sweeping right bend of Horseshoe Bend the current pooled to a flat lake, our signal that we were approaching the mandatory portage created by 2019 debris flows pushing the river's channel into a mess of willows. Three-quarters of a mile of flatwater brought us to the obvious river left portage location. Happily the portage only took us 5 minutes of carrying over easy terrain. Keith kindly rallied to grab the third boat. After a lunch stop we continued on. This day was getting notably warmer than previous ones; Keith probably made the right choice in wearing a splash jacket and shorts.
We did not see any eagles as we continued through the "no stopping - eagles" zone. Coon Creek had some water in it. I wanted to stop briefly to explore Chalk Creek whose overgrown channel was not terribly inspiring. Consulting the maps we had been making excellent progress and it was only 2:20pm. We discussed camp options but decided that if the river kept moving we probably would have little trouble finishing the trip this day instead of rolling it over into another half day as we had anticipated. This would buy us all time for other activities and I think we were all generally in favor of this plan.
The scenery continued to be variable as we past beneath the heights of Black Mesa and entered a more open desert landscape. There was perhaps a slow pool or two of about a quarter-mile each but overall the river continued to move over riffles, helping us make great timing. At the very end the river makes two big swooping meanders, which were particularly nice with some of the tallest and most intricate cliffs of the entire trip. We saw a dog playing in the river then seconds later the bridge. We reached the takeout at a comfortable 4:30p, giving us time to eat some food in Globe, close the shuttle (thankfully no issues, surprisingly busy upper parking lot), and part ways with Keith. Heather and I found dispersed USFS roadside camping alongside Roosevelt Lake, which would set us up well for our next day's activities.
In all it was a very satisfying river trip. I think we all particularly enjoyed the scenery. I loved how variable the river was, the contrast of the whitewater carving through the saguaro forests, and that there river moved pretty much the entire time despite the low flows. It would have been neat to have seen Canyon Creek and some of the rapids at higher flows (and not to deal with my inflation issue), but it was a great getaway. Thanks to Keith and Heather for a great trip. Photos of me by Heather.
