Fern Canyon - 10/28/21

Fern Canyon Creek

Fern Canyon from Overlook

Autumn at the Wilson Homestead with view of Mescalito Peak

Hiking into Fern Canyon

Fern Canyon! Everybody loves it! It's where I learned to scramble. Autumn is the best time to visit but any time is a good time, except summer. The Six with Sticks arrived at the Pine Creek Trailhead on Red Rock Canyon NCA's scenic loop, all with coincidentally blue/gray hiking attire. Down the long hill to the creek level trail, we hiked, with a stop at the Wilson Homestead for a quick photo. We continued down the trail to the "trail circle" and chose the trail that was at a 12:30 direction. This trail leads through some tall brush then turns to the right and up. Reaching the next shelf above, we circled behind the big landmark rock and continued heading into the canyon on the right side of Mescalito Peak, "The Redhead."

Dark Shadows Climbing Wall

South Wall of Fern Canyon

Blue Belles

The Sloped Rock

Soon after the big rock, the trail divided. The higher trail at the fork is the most direct. We followed it until we dropped into the canyon right in the area of the Dark Shadows climbing wall. The wall already had several climbers at different levels. We followed the path over to the south side of the canyon and tried as best we could to stay on that side for a while. There are a few different routes to take up the canyon and since we only do this hike once a year, it is difficult for us to do the same route every year. Suffice it to say, most of the time, hikers look for a way to get to the next location and if it doesn't work out, you retrace your steps or go around. It's confusing and we joked about writing a book about Fern Canyon and having maps of every rock and scramble!

Cheryl and Jerry climbing a Tough Spot

Rita has help on another Tough Spot

More Scrambling

Tarantula and Tiny Frog

There are only a few cairns in the canyon at this time. The ones that were there were somewhat helpful. But, then again, we were all somewhat familiar with the different landmarks and scrambles from years past. This is not a canyon that I would suggest to try without someone with you that has experience with the canyon. So, when we arrived at the waterfall at the end, we were happy and tired! Although there was water in the bottom of the canyon, the upper portions of the canyon, including the waterfall, were dry. We went over to the north side of the canyon past the waterfall and climbed the very steep scramble. Usually, we make our way from the scramble over to the top of the waterfall but today, we went all the way up to the flat rock on top.

Climbing up the Slab on the North Wall

Arriving at the Dry Waterfall

Hooray for the Blue Team! (On Flat Rock Overlook)

Descent of the North Slab

Here, we took our break and group photo with an unobstructed view of Fern Canyon below. Above us, we saw the Fern Canyon Overlook that can be reached from the North Peak (Sandstone) Trail off of Rocky Gap Road. Cairns on the north wall show a route up to Bridgepoint Peak, a dangerous endeavor, and one route to Mescalito Peak continues up from the flat rock. Mescalito Peak is also a very difficult hike. After our break, we started down taking one scramble at a time with care. One interesting obstacle was the huge obstacle rabbit hole. This is most easily accomplished on the descent and Jerry and Cheryl took Ralyn and Mike on the adventure. I did it once years ago and it is quite fun!

Descent of the Sloped Rock

Routing through the Rabbit Hole at the Huge Obstacle

Ferns in Fern Canyon

Cheryl performing a Cirque du Soleil Act

Down through the brush and scrambles, we hiked from one side of the upper narrow portions to the other finding familiar landmarks. About half way down, we found the south wall trail and stuck to it as much as possible. At the Dark Shadows wall, we saw more climbers and knew we were near the path up and out. Next, we followed the trail around the big rock, down, across the trail circle and up past the Wilson's. The trails were alive with other hikers and we made a beeline up the hill to the cars. Fantastic scramble. 

Stats: 5.5 miles; 900' gain; 4.25 hours

Long Pool at South Wall

Blue Team surrounded by Yellow Leaves

Return to the Sunshine in Pine Creek Canyon