Blue Diamond Canyon #1 / Ridge Loop - 12/21/21

Entering Blue Diamond Canyon #1

Ruins of Blue Diamond Mining Equipment (Conveyer)

Brushy Entrance

Starting up Canyon

There were seven hikers on another great Hardy Hike in the Blue Diamond Canyons. This time, we parked at the junction of SR 159 and Arroyo. The most dangerous part of the hike is crossing the road there where cars think they are out of the limelight and step on the accelerator. (Be careful here.) There is no longer a fence deterring burros from getting into the road as you follow the path through the brush into Canyon #1. This canyon is one of the narrowest canyons across from Blue Diamond and there are several opportunities to do easy and short 3rd class climbs. We climbed up through the beautiful walls and found a fossil under our feet once in a while. There are a few catclaws and velcros here and there but, for the most part, they were out of our way.

An Easy 3rd Class Climb

Narrows

Right Fork

View back to Blue Diamond and Mt. Potosi

When the canyon forks, either choice works but we took the right one and stayed up next to the left wall. The wall breaks up soon and we were able to climb up onto the terrain above. This is the area between the two fork choices. From here, we continued climbing up the ridge until we were almost to the small peak. A game trail led us around the peak to the right and we ended up on another saddle. Continuing up again, we veered to the right onto another game trail that led us up to the top ridge where we found an old road left by the Blue Diamond gypsum mining operation. At this time, the mining is done much further away but officially, we were still on their property. Turning to the right on the road, we headed for the conveyor ruins at the cliffs.

Hiking among the Cacti

Red Rock Escarpment from the Saddle

Hiking across the Saddle

Trail to Ridge

The mining ruins of the conveyor belt are unattended, however, please take it seriously when I say that they are NOT safe. We took our photos and break then returned to the beginning of the trail at the cliff on the end of the road. The trail follows along the high cliff above the gypsum plant with only about 10 feet to spare sometimes. On the ascent earlier, we had been noticing that the desert here was quite populated with cacti; mostly red barrels, hedgehogs and mojave yuccas. The ridge trail was no different. Every once in a while we would see fully mature pin cushions at our feet. We followed the ridge trail almost all the way down to the cliff at the end passing directly above the gypsum plant.

Mining Ruins Visit

Hiking down the adjacent Ridge

High above the Gypsum Plant

The Escarpment of the North Blue Diamond Hill

Finally, we turned to our right and started our descent on the more gentle slope on the last ridge. Below us, we saw a small canyon fork and our trajectory took us to the right of it where we could drop into the right fork. From there, we had to descend this small wash and scramble around an outcrop to the right to drop into yet another canyon fork before we could descend back to the original Canyon #1. Back down the class 3 scrambles, we crossed the road avoiding a speeding car. Short but sweet, this hike is very interesting and fun. Great group. Merry Christmas!

Stats: 3.5 miles; 950' gain; 3 hours

Long Descent from Ridge to Canyon

Descending the 3rd Class Climbs

One more Drop as David leads the Way

This map reflects the left choice at the canyon fork.

This map reflects the left choice at the canyon fork.

This map reflects the left choice at the canyon fork.