What a difference a (wet) year can make. Bobbie and I have noticed that several of our canyon hikes feel brand new this time around.
Humungous boulders, rearranged by flash floods, are complicating once easy strolls into route-finding scrambles that now beg a safety rope. Take Hidden Canyon, for example, the boulder-jam below was not there last time we hiked it…
Kinda speeds up the geological clock when you experience this kind of change one year to the next. We noticed the same thing on the Scoggins Wash hike… different set of problems to resolve this time around; different routes, different arrangements of "furniture."
Besides rearrangement due to flash floods, we've noticed big changes in trail conditions. When we first started coming to this area thirty some years ago, many routes outside the main corridor had so little traffic they would often disappear in places. Not so today, however. Deep ruts, exposed roots, and knee deep stream beds have been carved by tourists who come en mass, as in "flash floods," unintentionally carving away soil, leaving a trench of rocky rubble in their wake, and loving our National Park(s) to death.
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| Note the size and height of the log over Bobbie's head… now wedged tightly between slot canyon walls by a recent flash flood. It wasn't there last year. It's easy to see why people die hiking in such places. While it may not be raining in your canyon, it might be pouring "upstream," out of sight, out of mind. By the time you hear the roar of what sounds like a train, it's too late to get off the "track." |
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| Another thing we noticed this year… the presence of a lot more water. |
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| Gazing skyward from the bottom of Hidden Canyon. |
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| Another boulder block that wasn't there last year. |
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| And yet another… |
Absolutely incredible seeing the power of nature moving those massive boulders.
ReplyDeleteAre flash floods and more standing water evidence of the drought that I keep reading about which explains why all the lakes and reservoirs are so low this year? Just where does all that water go if not to the lakes and reservoirs?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a drought around here… mostly california. I'm told we will never see lake Mead full again, but the Weather Guessers are often misguided :)
Deletemark
Very cool and disturbing to witness such changes from year to year and imagine the tremendous forces of nature and even the miniscule crumblings that may have loosened some of those mighty boulders from their perches high above!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome to see these changes when the Mother rearranges the furniture. Important to respect the power of water.
ReplyDeleteThose are some big changes in the Hidden Canyon. It does make you think twice about being in any of those narrow canyons. This is a very neat hike!
ReplyDeleteWow--Hidden Canyon does have lots of changes. I'm not a "heights" person and some of those ledges freaked me out--good thing my girlfriends were encouraging!
ReplyDeleteIt does look like things have changed dramatically in Hidden Canyon since last year. It's really hard to imagine the amount of water that must flow through to move those giant boulders!
ReplyDeleteGayle
You would be amazed, guys. But it made for a "new" hike. Not a hike goes by where I don't lament the lack of your company this time around. I hope you are enjoying your beautiful desert surroundings and friendly bike trails. BTW, I've been working on Suzanne to spring for a real bike… help me out!!!
Deletemark