Big Falls Overlook - 7/19/18

Charleston and Lee Peaks from Big Falls Overlook

Small Tree growing from Rock

Big Falls from Overlook

Trail Canyon Trail

 The battle against the monsoons of 2018 in the Spring Mountains NRA continued today. We changed the hike from the Lee Canyon side to the Kyle Canyon side and it seems that the result was good. Our goal, today, was Big Falls Overlook; still pushing the envelope on weather due to the 9 mile distance of the hike. It's a little comical how the group fared! We left the garage with seven. We separated into a group of three and a group of four right away. We picked up another club member at Cave Springs. Then we picked up yet another club member going down. So, I guess, in total, we had nine hikers today!

Arriving at the Trail Canyon Saddle

 The group of four kept a steady pace of just under 2 mph for the entire ascent. With the exception of a couple of brief "water pauses," we didn't stop.

Climbing up to Cave Springs

 This pace allowed us to breathe, talk and climb without spending time standing on the side of the trail.

Trough at Cave Springs

Hiking into the Aspens

 Once we were above the Mummy Junction, there were 2 or 3 spots on the already precarious trail that were washed out. We had to step over these places very carefully. Other than that, it was great being in the upper elevations of the North Loop Trail again. The beauty of this trail is obvious with the bristlecones, limestone cliffs, views of Kyle Canyon and the majestic Charleston Peak overseeing it all from above. The trail, as mentioned, is narrow and hangs on the side of a very steep mountain with cliffs below. My one rule when hiking this trail is "Stay on the Trail!"

Cockscomb Ridge Below

 The front hikers were sitting on the cliff above the overlook when we arrived. The rest of us went on around to the overlook to become acquainted with the places that were in view.

Getting into the Cliffs

 Big Falls could be seen below but, like the trough at Cave Springs, it was void of any water. This was a surprise to us since the mountains have received rain nearly nonstop for almost two weeks.

Old Bristlecones

Charleston Peak from Overlook

 We noticed that the clouds were building. The darkest clouds were peeping over the ridge from Lee Canyon but we had a few light ones of our own in Kyle Canyon. So, after a short break, we started down at a pretty good clip. Thunder rumbled from over the ridge and just as we started down Trail Canyon, we got doused with some sprinkles. That stopped soon and we continued down beating our feet against the ground. At the cars, we felt very happy that we had accomplished the whole hike without too much worrying about rain and thunderstorms. A good day.

9 miles; 2900 feet elevation gain; 4.5 hours

Taking a Break at Big Falls Overlook

Clouds spill over from Lee Canyon

Descending the North Loop Trail