I’m bringing this series of posts to an end. I no longer wish to watch the news, because I’ve become allergic to you-know-who. I’m not saying that I won’t change my mind later. I could. But, for the time being, I can stomach the crazy fuck no longer. Here’s some natural beauty to get our minds off of politics.
Corals and sponge, 2003, Saba, Netherlands
The continuing menace that is Donald Trump has now taken aim at what is most near and dear to my heart – namely, the outdoor heritage that I, and all Americans, cherish. Trump has taken aim at our National Monuments, one of which is the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, in New Mexico.
I live 7 miles from the Monument, am a commercial river outfitter in the Monument and spend very many winter days photographing wildlife there, such as this wintering bald eagle:
Bald eagle
The centerpiece of the Monument is the Rio Grande, in the Rio Grande Gorge:
The Rio Grande Gorge, at Taos Junction Bridge, and the Picuris Mountains
Powerline Falls, in the Taos Box section of the the Rio Grande
There are many more Monuments on DT’s hit list. One is the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, again in New Mexico. I spent a fair amount of time in that area when I worked at New Mexico Tech, in Socorro, taking students on hikes and climbs. And Kathy and I later journeyed there to climb Sugarloaf Peak:
Climbing Sugarloaf Peak, Kathy
Kathy, on the summit of Sugarloaf Peak, with the Organ Needles behind
Then there is the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in Utah, and the adjoining Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, in Arizona. The former includes the remote Kaiparowits Plateau. Prior to the designation of the Monument, the few people who live in the area had, for considerable time, been pushing to see the proposed Kaiparowits coal-fired power plant built. Old-time conservation activists remember when a group of these folks burned David Brower (then Director of the Sierra Club) in effigy on the US Capitol steps. The Monument put an end to that.
Vermilion Cliffs includes what must be the most extraordinary piece of rock architecture in the country – the Wave:
The Wave
Near the Wave, which is found in the area known as Coyote Buttes, is Buckskin Gulch/Paria Canyon:
Buckskin Gulch
New Mexico Tech students, Paria Canyon
Another area of great scenic appeal included in the above are the Escalante Canyons:
Fisher Arch, on the Escalante River
Davis Gulch, in the Escalante Canyons
And another is the Toadstools:
Toadstool
and the Cottonwood Narrows:
Cottonwood Narrows
and the upper steps of the Grand Staircase:
The Grand Staircase, from near Cannonville, Utah
The Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, in Arizona, protects a large swath of the north rim of the Grand Canyon and adjacent wild lands to the north and west, including the north shoreline of the Colorado River/Lake Mead, west of Grand Canyon National Park. Here’s Pearce Ferry Rapid:
Pearce Ferry Rapid, when it was still runnable (2007), with the Cockscomb in the distance
Pearce Ferry Rapid, 2007. Because of rapid erosion, it has since become un-runnable.
The final National Monument on DT’s hit list that I’m personally acquainted with is the recently designated Bears Ears National Monument, in southern Utah, which includes mountains, plateaus, canyons, rivers, a wilderness area, paleo-indian archeological sites and contemporary Native American religious sites. The Monument borders Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park and the Manti-La Sal National Forest, unifying, under federal protection, a significant assemblage of southern Utah’s unique and highly-scenic wild lands. Protection of these spectacular locales was long over-due:
Valley of the Gods State Park is contained within the Monument
The Goosenecks of the San Juan River, from Muley Point
Goosenecks State Park is also contained within the Monument
The Moki Dugway climbs from the Valley of the Gods to Muley Point, on Cedar Mesa
Muley Point
San Juan River, at Mexican Hat launch site
Petroglyphs at the Sand Island launch site, on the San Juan River
Cedar Mesa, from the Clay Hills
Ruin, in Grand Gulch
Pottery and stone tools, Grand Gulch
On the road to Hite, west of Natural Bridges National Monument
Jacobs Chair, on the road to Hite, west of Natural Bridges National Monument
On the road to Hite, west of Natural Bridges National Monument
Yes … I am VERY pissed-off.
All photos by the author.
We (not me) have created a monster. That monster is passwords. Who disagrees? And, yes, of course, I know that passwords are supposed to protect us from various kinds of cyber theft. They’re a necessary evil, right?
But some of us may not feel the need of such protection, being as we have little to lose. So, incredulous as it might sound, I want to be provided an opt out choice for password protection. Let me choose whether I want to be password protected.
In the beginning of all this craziness, I created a 4 character password that I intended to use everywhere, every time. That way, I had only one password to remember. And I’ll bet that many of you did the same. But you know what happened next. Soon, more characters were required. And then your password had to include a capital letter, and a number, and a special character. A new word was invented: alphanumeric. Then your password was gauged as to its “strength”. Most recently (yesterday, in fact), I was required to come up with a 16 character password. How bizarre!
So, to repeat, I want to be offered the option of turning down password protection. Give me the freedom to assume the risk of being unprotected from cyber predators, if I so wish. Give me the opportunity to free myself from password hell, and I might even take it.
And, there is a larger issue here, which seems not to have been so far considered. It is the cost/benefit equation associated with password protection. Is it possible that the aggregate harm done to the public from the imposition of password protection (the time consumed, the money spent and the aggravation inflicted) out weighs the harm that would result from an absence of password protection? Or, more to the point, the harm that would result to those individuals who, having been given the freedom to opt out of the system, have chosen to do so. I am, in other words, suggesting that we allow the question of password protection to be governed by free market principles, where account holders are free to choose it or not. Let the results of such assumption of risk govern individual decision-making.
And, while on the subject, I see a parallel circumstance in the imposition of security screening of air travelers. An immense government security apparatus, staffed by unemployables and morons (yes, you can quote me), has been created to protect us from terrorism, but, in the process, has created another kind of terrorism. Don’t you HATE airport screening? I do. Would you assume the risk of being on that particular plane that a terrorist has targeted, to be free of airport screening? If given the choice, I might. Is it possible (here, again) that the staggering costs – in time, in money, in aggravation – of security screening out weigh the presumed benefits of such screening? If the airlines and federal government provided us with “screening-free” flights, would you consider being on one of those planes? I would definitely think about it, that’s for sure.
Just how safe do we need to be? Are we so sniveling that we require all these elaborate, expensive and exhausting safeguards? I want to be given the choice of using passwords or not, and the choice of being on a screen-free flight, or not.
It’s Earth Day today, and I visited two of my favorite spots. The first was the Orilla Verde Recreation Area, along the Rio Grande upstream of Pilar, NM, and the second was what I call Rinconada Canyon, for lack of another name.
Orilla Verde is the most downstream section of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, which is centered on the Rio Grande of northern New Mexico, and those familiar with this blog know that it is where I photograph bald eagles, waterfowl, otters and whatever else comes my way in the winter.
First, Orilla Verde.
This flower looks like the Desert Marigold we see in Arizona
Cliff Fendlerbush
Indian paintbrush
Yucca
Green hedgehog
Green hedgehog, artistic treatment
Teasel, alongside the river
Rinconada Canyon is on the upstream end of a drainage that crosses NM 68 at the east end of Rinconada, NM. A large amphitheater contains slot canyons and vertical formations eroded into soft sediments. This place has also appeared in my blog posts before.
Daisies
Golden pea
Low cryptantha
Prow
Overhang
The Chimney, along the margin of the amphitheater
White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth, feeding on Low cryptantha
White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth, feeding on Low cryptantha
We started the day with Quartzite Falls Rapid. This rapid used to be called, more simply, Quartzite Falls, because it’s most notable feature was a low but gnarly falls that usually called for either a portage or lining of your boats. Why the name change? Well … to make a long story short, in the late fall of 1993 some boaters carried dynamite into the Canyon and blew the falls apart. Here’s what it looked like before its demolition:
Quartzite Falls, at lowish water, downstream view
Quartzite Falls, highish water, upstream view
The verticality of the drop created a very severe “backwash” (aka hydraulic), which could and would trap those boaters foolish enough to run the falls and, on a few occasions, drown them.
Raft gets sucked back in, at Quartzite Falls, in low water. The stress on the boat popped a thwart. Note the guy at the ready with a throw-rope, on photo left.
This warning was painted on a slab upstream of the falls:
DANGER FALLS 1/4 MILE
But you could, and we did, run the falls at VERY low water.
Quartzite Falls, at very low water (David Hiser photo)
Back to Quartzite Falls Rapid in 2017. It was observed the day before that you could run the right-hand channel between a line of rocks (to your left) and the cliff on the right. This would carry you into the perfect position to take the drop straight-on. If, on the other hand, you approached by way of the main channel, the current would direct you into the left wall, requiring that you back away from that wall before setting up for the drop. This was more problematical, so we chose the line that had been observed.
Below: Video of Quartzite Falls Rapid, Mile 31.7. Britt is seen ahead of us.
Two clean runs!
Below: Video of Flo and Ethan in Quartzite Falls Rapid. They bump into the center rock, but no prob.
Quartzite Falls, Salt River
Immediately below Quartzite is Corkscrew Rapid.
Below: Video of Corkscrew Rapid, with Ethan/Flo and then Britt. This video was shot with my Coolpix P900, from the cobble island that is located at the downstream end of the pool below Quartzite.
Below: Video of Corkscrew Rapid#2, Mile 31.8
The narrowest spot on the river is found just below Corkscrew.
Below: Video of Salt River’s narrowest spot, Mile 31.9.
Below: Video of Britt and the quartzite monolith seen to his downstream side. Britt is proud of the fact that he ran Corkscrew without knocking his beer over. There is a small campsite amongst the fabulous quartzite rocks at this spot, Mile 31.9
Immediately downstream of this camp is Sleeper Rapid, Mile 32.
Below: Video of Sleeper Rapid
One of the last whitewater challenges on the river is making sure that you don’t broach against the cliff, at Cliffhanger Rapid, at Mile 34.3. Of course, we’ve done that for fun, in low water.
Below: Video of Cliffhanger Rapid, Mile 34.3
Broached at Cliffhanger Rapid … (photo taken on prior trip)
and flipped (photo taken on prior trip)
Our name for this little mesa is Bunny Butte, which stands above the mouth of Cherry Creek, at Mile 35.9. It is made of volcanic ash, and has some steps cut into that soft rock, which steps can be found on the east side of the formation.
Seen from atop Bunny Butte, Cherry Creek enters on river-right, Mile 35.9. Cherry Creek Camp is seen on river-left. In this photo from 1995, note that the river channel at the red “X” is completely unobstructed.
Downstream view of the river channel at the point marked with a red “X” in the above photo. Formerly unobstructed, the river is now filled with islands, small channels and lots of vegetation.
Cherry Creek has forever been a favorite short hike, with cathedral groves of cottonwoods and sycamores, and lots of birds. But, we were cautioned that a flood had trashed the creek, making the hike a difficult prospect. So we took a pass on it.
Ruin Granite pinnacle, Mile 37, river-right
Mile 37.9 Camp and a White Ledges peak on the left. Horseshoe Bend starts here.
Horseshoe Bend, at Mile 39.4. The Ruin Granite again appears here.
Two male mergansers follow a female
Desert marigold
In the distance, the Sierra Ancha, which feeds Cherry Creek
The river again cuts through the White Ledges, Mile 40
Saguaro and teddybear cholla cactus
Female merganser
Saguaroscape
Gooddings willows
Just downstream of Coon Creek, the Dry Creek Camp is actually located at the mouth of Chalk Creek, Mile 45.2.
We did 19.5 miles on this day, to position our last camp close to the take-out. This would provide us with an early start for home the next day.
Sun-lit cliff face, from our last camp, at Mile 50.5
Evening clouds
Hooded oriole, at our last camp
Our last morning, with 2 miles to the take-out.
Narrow channel and reeds, Shute Springs, Mile 51
same as above
Mile 51.5
Mile 51.8
The last narrows, Mile 52
Bighorn sheep, nearing Pinal Creek, Mile 52.1
The Hwy 288 bridge, seen through the encroaching reeds, Mile 52.4
We got away from the take-out in mid-morning, and back home (Embudo, New Mexico) before dark, while Flo and Ethan returned to Phoenix and then California. It was another great trip on the Salt – certainly the second most amazing river in Arizona!
Postscript:
It can be assumed that, in the absence of preventative measures, tamarisk, reeds and cat tails will continue to take-over the riparian zone of the Salt River. Tamarisk can be controlled by the Tamarisk beetle, which has been introduced with good results on the Colorado River. I asked the USFS why they hadn’t introduced the beetle on the Salt. Their reply was that they were lobbied by AZ birding groups who saw the tamarisk as desirable habitat for birds. But the beetle will likely arrive on its own, one of these days. Otherwise, I’m guessing that only a massive flood is capable of tearing out the established tamarisk and reed, with the former the tougher of the two.
We had arrived at one of our favorite lay-over camps – Blackjack Wash. It, too, was over-grown, but still made a great camp. Blackjack Wash, at Mile 31.0, is located .7 of a mile upstream from Quartzite Falls Rapid – the “power spot” of the Salt River – and one can hike downstream from the camp to, first, obtain a view of the rapid from above and then continue down a wash to the rapid’s edge. Additionally, one often gets the opportunity to watch boats run the rapid from these vantage points.
Campsite at Blackjack Wash, April 2017, upstream view. Compare the amount of foliage in this photo to the one below. Also, in this photo, note the new island just off the river-right shoreline (photo left)
Some of the new foliage now being seen along the river includes the native Gooddings willow. This medium-sized tree is very handsome and (IMHO) a welcome addition to the riparian zone. So … why did the Salt River riparian zone get so over-grown? Some years ago, two very large wildfires burned through a number of Salt River tributary creeks and drainages, laying many thousands of acres bare. From these burned and bare areas, subsequent monsoon rains carried off large amounts of soil, some of which got deposited along the banks of the Salt River. And this new soil (we were told) is given credit for stimulating the growth of vegetation in the riparian zone of the Salt River.
Blackjack Wash, in 2005, with low water and considerably less vegetative cover
Some Blackjack Wash flora.
Desert rosemallow
Saguaro
Arizona fishhook cactus
Feather dahlia
Saguaro and ocotillo.
Brittlebush, saguaro and a blooming purple hedgehog cactus, left of center
Barrel cactus
Some camp and other scenes.
Our camp was generously supplied with liquor
Flo and Ethan, upstream view. Beyond them is seen the first and lowest flatiron in the White Ledges flatiron group of four (which is more fully explained below).
Waves in the flames and the river. Pitchy wood throws black smoke from our campfire, which is contained in a fire pan
All the rock formations here are steeply tilted. These rocks are part of the Yankee Joe Formation, evening downstream view
Titled Yankee Joe slabs across the river, with a peak of the White Ledges to the left, downstream view
Across the river, tilted Yankee Joe slabs below and White Ledges flatirons above
The river has cut through the steeply tilted White Ledges at Blackjack Wash. Continuing downstream, this layer then runs parallel to the river and has been carved into a number of flatiron formations, four of which are positioned across the river from camp. All of #2 and parts of #1 and #3 are seen in the above photo. Below is flatiron #4, the highest of the group, downstream view. BTW, where have you seen flatirons before? Perhaps The Flatirons at Boulder, CO? – which are formed in sandstone layers. Here is the Wikipedia definition of a flatiron: “Traditionally in geomorphology, a flatiron is a steeply sloping triangular landform created by the differential erosion of a steeply dipping, erosion-resistant layer of rock overlying softer strata. Flatirons have wide bases that form the base of a steep, triangular facet that narrows upward into a point at its summit. The dissection of a hogback by regularly spaced streams often resulted in the formation of a series of flatirons along the strike of the rock layer that formed the hogback. As noted in some, but not all definitions, a number of flatirons are perched upon the slope of a larger mountain with the rock layer forming the flatiron inclined in the same direction as, but often at a steeper angle than the associated mountain slope. The name flatiron refers to their resemblance to an upended, household flatiron.”
Flatiron #4 – the highest of the group seen from camp
Below, ripple-marks on different layers of the Yankee Joe Formation, seen across from camp. Each individual layer, deposited at a different time, and under different conditions from the other layers, shows a different size and orientation of the ripple-marks. BTW, these ripple-marks could be casts of ripple-marks of over-lying layers. I’m not enough of a geologist to be able to say, one way or the other.
Tall saguaro and slabs
Blackjack Creek, in the Yankee Joe Formation
White Ledges peak, upstream of camp.
Looking down at Quartzite Falls Rapid from an overlook on the hike downstream. The White Ledges are again cut through here. The layer then continues to the high point of the ridge opposite and to and through the distant mountain on the left (photo taken on prior trip).
Looking upstream from the same overlook as in the above photo. From right to left, we first see the White Ledges in the far distance, as the uppermost layer on a mountain ridge, then as a series of flatirons paralleling the river and finally the large flatiron on photo left. We call the slabby face of this flatiron “Waldo Wall”. This is the same face seen on river-right at Quartzite Falls Rapid in the above photo. (photo taken on prior trip).
The end point of the hike are these red-blue-grey quartzite layers that overlook the rapid, with White Ledges boulders opposite ( (photo taken on prior trip)
Some of us watched a group of commercial rafts take an unexpected approach to the rapid, which we imitated the next day when it was our turn, with very satisfactory results. The next post will cover the remainder of the trip.
Here’s the link to the post of Part 1:
https://believesteve.org/2017/04/18/the-salt-river-az-part-1-march-20-22/
A combination of low water years and no success in the annual lottery kept us away from our second most favorite river in Arizona for 7 years. We had first run the 52 mile Salt River Canyon in 1982, and returned practically every April thereafter for one or more trips. This year, because of the effects of climate change, which had moved the advent of warm temperatures forward by 3 weeks, we put in for a March date, and drew March 20. There is no limit on the number of days one can spend on the river, and we decided on a 6-day trip, which makes for a leisurely pace and at least one lay-over camp (where one spends two nights at the same camp) possible. Our party consisted of my wife Kathy, me, Britt Runyon Huggins (Operations Manager for our river company – New Wave Rafting Co.), my son Ethan and his wife Florence Landau.
Kathy, Britt and I arrived at the put-in, just downstream of the Hwy 60 bridge, in mid-afternoon, and were soon joined by Ethan and Flo, who had flown-in to Phoenix from Alameda, CA. Ethan is a former NWRCo. guide, who also has a few Grand Canyon trips under his belt, but had never run the Salt. Flo had no prior river experience.
There was plenty of activity in the launch area – commercial parties, other private parties and a group training in Swiftwater Rescue. We busied ourselves with rigging our boats for the balance of the afternoon, and were ready to crawl in as it got dark.
We were the first private party to get underway the next morning, and enjoyed a day of exhilarating whitewater on what is known as “The Daily”. It’s called that because commercial one-day trips are made possible by the fact that the White Mountain Apache Tribe Road #1 parallels the river to the Hoodoo River Access, 9.3 miles downstream of the put-in. It’s a great one-day trip.
Our party. From left to right: Ethan, Flo, Britt, Kathy and me. Our boats are behind us: 2 14′ Sotars and a 14′ Aire
Kiss and Tell Rapid, barely 50 yds. downstream from the launch beach (Mile 0.1). The current runs directly into the quartzite cliff and then takes a 90 degree turn to the left.
Below: Video of Kiss and Tell Rapid, Mile 0.1. All the videos shot from the boat were done with a little Lumix waterproof camera that I kept in a pocket of my PFD (“personal flotation device”). Please forgive bouncy videos caused by bouncy rapids!
From here, the river runs 2.7 miles around Mule Hoof Bend, returning to a point 0.2 miles away from this rapid, on the other side of a low saddle.
Below: Video of Bump and Grind Rapid, Mile o.9.
Ethan and Flo, at the foot of Bump and Grind Rapid, Mile 0.9
The shiny surface of this quartzite boulder is a cast of a ripplemarked and cracked near-shore seabed
Below: Video of Maytag Rapid, Mile 1.1.
Below: Video of Reforma Rapid (aka Grumman Rapid), Mile 1.7.
Below: Video of Exhibition Rapid, Mile 5.5
Below: Video of T-Shirt Rapid (aka Mescal Falls), Mile 8.6. This is the biggest hole on the day stretch.
We passed the Hoodoo River Access and continued into a roadless canyon, with the Salt Banks the next stop. The name of the river is derived from this geological phenomenon, a salt spring that has created an overhang and walls laden with salt formations.
Ethan and Flo drift under the overhang at the Salt Banks, Mile 10.0. Mini waterfalls of mineral-laden water spatter the surface to the left of the raft.
Salt Banks
Salt Banks
Salt Banks overhang, with very small waterfalls
Salt Banks overhang, with very small waterfalls
Salt Banks. Cliff swallow nests occupy some recesses
I had put together, two years or so ago, a draft of an iBook on the Salt, similar to my published iBook on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-grand/id672492447?ls=1). But I was holding off on publishing it until I had had another opportunity to run the river, take more photos and video and see what changes had taken place. And, indeed, significant changes had taken place. The river corridor we saw this March was now hugely overgrown with three invasive plant species. This process had started 20 or more years ago, with the establishment of tamarisk along the shorelines. We had seen this bushy tree take over numerous campsites over the last number of years, and the invasion had continued while we were away. And now, added to the tamarisk were cattails (Typha angustifolia T. x glauca) and Phragmites reed (Phragmites australis, or common reed). The cattails were sparsely distributed, but the reed had taken over the lower canyon, as will be seen farther along. And, the low water years had enabled the tamarisk to both reach farther out into the channel, and establish new islands in mid-channel. Many areas of shoreline were now harder to access (see photo below).
We had to shove our way through the tamarisk to get to the camp. Yes, those are saguaros on the slope across the river
Evening view downstream from our first camp, Mile 11.2
Saguaros!
The anticline at Rock Creek, with a paleo-Indian ruin located under the overhang seen in the center of the photo, Mile 11.8. This ruin is now included in a White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) sensitive area, which forbids entry to the public. Ahead, the river makes a hard left turn at Rockgarden Rapid.
Below: Video of Rockgarden Rapid, Mile 11.9
The river turns to the left below Rockgarden Camp, and runs straight for just under a mile. Then it turns right, and one is now on the approach to The Cheese and Rat Trap rapids.
Below: The Cheese Rapid, Mile 13.3. The river enters the Ruin Granite.
The Cheese Rapid leads directly to Rat Trap Rapid, which is seen ahead as this video ends. Why didn’t I video this scenic and interesting rapid, you may ask? I had intended to do so, but the camera battery ran out with no time to change! The Cheese and Rat Trap rapids begin the White Granite Gorge. A short ways below the latter, the river turns right, and immediately drops into White Rock Rapid.
Below: Video of White Rock Rapid, Mile 13.6
On river-left, just downstream of White Rock Rapid, is a gorgeous display of fluted and polished granite. It’s worth a few minutes examination.
Sculpted Ruin Granite, Mile 13.7
Sculpted Ruin Granite, Mile 13.7
The White Rock Gorge continues with delightful Class 3.
Below: Video of Class 3 whitewater, with Ethan followed by Britt, Mile 14.
More sculpted granite is seen on river left, opposite a granite island, at approx. Mile 14.5.
More sculpted Ruin Granite, just upstream from the former Boatpatch Beach, Mile 14
same as above
Brittlebush, saguaros, ocotillo and sotol
Next up is Canyon Creek, on river right at Mile 16.0.
Below: Video of approaching Canyon Creek, Mile 16.0. The video ends as we head for the eddy, which now has a grove of tamarisk growing in it. These are, however, handy for tying off to … but one can easily foresee the tamarisk eventually filling the eddy completely.
Below: Video of the approach to Canyon Creek, Mile 16.0.
Gleaming Ruin Granite at the mouth of Canyon Creek, Mile 16.0
Ruin Granite at the mouth of Canyon Creek, downstream view, Mile 16.0
Fairydusters, at Canyon Creek
Group of rafts heads downstream from Canyon Creek towards Granite Rapid
Don’t miss the short hike up Canyon Creek, to a deep pool surrounded by beautifully sculpted granite rocks.
Long deep pool on Canyon Creek, downstream view
Sculpted granite
Eddy at Canyon Creek, a few yards upstream of the mouth
Below: Video of the mouth of Canyon Creek, Mile 16.0.
Granite (aka Hades) Rapid is located just downstream of Canyon Creek, at Mile 16.1.
Below: 2 videos of the very scenic Granite Rapid, Mile 16.1
Crested saguaro and ocotillo
Camp #2, Mile 16.6
Camp #2, Mile 16.6, with first light on Canyon Creek Butte
Just below the mouth of Ash Creek, downstream view, Mile 16.8. Canyon Creek Butte is seen ahead.
Small rapid at the mouth of Ash Creek, Mile 16.8, upstream view
Granite monolith, Mile 17
Saguaro, in Gleason Flat, Mile 18
The Black phoebe, a flycatcher, is the most common bird seen along the river corridor
Rapid in Gleason Flat, Mile 19
There is 4 WD road access to both sides of the river at Gleason Flat. The Salt River Canyon Wilderness begins downstream of those accesses, at Mile 19.3.
Gleason Flats ends at at Mile 21.2, as the river enters a canyon of the metamorphic Redmond Formation. Eye of the Needle Rapid is found a short ways downstream.
Below: Video of the approach to Eye of the Needle Rapid. Watch out for a large hole on a bend to the left. Then stay left for the slot that is the “eye”of the rapid.
Below: Video of Eye of the Needle Rapid, Mile 21.5
The excitement continues with Black Rock Rapid, less than a mile downstream, at Mile 22.2.
Brittlebush, at Black Rock Rapid, Mile 22.2
Below: Video of Black Rock Rapid, Mile 22.2. This video was shot with my good camera – a Nikon Coolpix P900.
Below: Video of Black Rock Rapid, Mile 22.2.
After Black Rock, the canyon opens up and runs straight for just under a mile. You pass Hess Canyon, on the left, at Mile 25.5. About a half-mile below Hess, at a hard turn to the right, you encounter the channels and islands seen below.
Bedrock channels and islands, Mile 25.8
Screwdriver Rapid, Mile 26.4
Below: Video of Devil’s Pendejo Rapid, Mile 26.6.
Lower Corral Rapid, Mile 29.2
The start of the Pinball stretch, Mile 29.4
Pinball
Pinball
Britt enters The Maze Rapid, Mile 29.8
Below: Video of The Maze Rapid, Mile 29.8.
Notice the big rock to the left of the raft, at 30 sec. into the video. This rock fell into the rapid at some un-determined time in the last few years. Here, for comparison sake, is a photo of this rapid (at a similar water level), before the rock fell in. This rock added to the maze-like nature of the rapid.
The Maze Rapid, before the big rock fell in
Mid-stream bedrock obstructions, below the Maze, Mile 30
The White Ledges run along the ridge top seen downstream. Mile 30.5
The White Ledges are a very unusual and striking geologic feature. They are formed of the White Ledges Quartzite, which is an extremely hard and erosion-resistant rock unit. The softer rocks found both beneath and above the White Ledges have eroded away to the degree that the White Ledges are often seen to stick out from the slope, such as in the photo below.
Just before Blackjack Camp, sycamores grow along a hillside spring. The White Ledges, which the river cuts through at Blackjack Camp, are seen just overhead, Mile 29.9.
Day 3 ended at Blackjack Camp, Mile 31.0, where we had to battle our way through the reeds to gain access to the campsite, which we intended to occupy for two nights.
Part 2 of this post will cover days 4-6 of our Salt River trip.
