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| Rain Waterfall |
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| Right Fork of Avalanche Canyon |
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View down through Kyle Canyon
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| Avalanche Canyon |
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| Starting out at Echo Trailhead |
Avalanche Canyon was aptly named as you see the further up the canyon you climb. Knowing this, seven strong hikers started up from the Echo Trailhead in Kyle Canyon hiking past the old ski slope and through the network of washes. Between the old ski slope and Avalanche Canyon / Big Falls Wash junction, the wash located furthest to the south wall is named Walla Walla Wash. This wash leads to a rock climbing wall called Walla Walla Wall. The wall is found just before the wash turns the corner to the left into the Big Falls Wash. All of this is on the south side of a large wash area above Mary Jane Falls Trailhead ... which is located on the north side of the washes. Are you with me so far? Maybe further description is needed!
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| Hiking through the brush in Hidden Falls Wash |
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The Old Ski Tow
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| Halfway down Old Ski Run |
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| Hiking into Walla Walla Wash |
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| Passing by Walla Walla Wall |
The Six with Sticks were joined by Charlie, a capable, fun and easy going hiker from the club. We parked at the Echo Trailhead and started up the nearby trail and wash. Soon we were wading through a few weeds with an emphasis on Common Mullein, a non-native invasive plant that is blooming at this time of year. There is a vague network of trails leading across the wide wash below Hidden Falls. Hidden Falls rarely shows its stuff but, when it does, it is magnificent! Therefore, we didn't try to climb up the ravine to view the display. There was no display! Our target was a trail that led diagonally up the opposite ridge to the old ski tow machinery. Back in 1935, the Forest Service began issuing permits to build in the Spring Mountains, starting with the cabins in Rainbow Canyon. Las Vegas was growing with the construction of Hoover Dam and recreation facilities in the mountains were needed. The next year, the old ski slope was built. According to today's standards, the ski slope was very small and primitive. It used a tow rope to transport skiers up the hill. Then the skiers would hike over to the top of the ski run and let 'er rip! Remnants of the parking lot and roads at the bottom are still evident but no longer in use.
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Ski Tow, Elderberries, Fossils and Wavy Walls
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| Teepee Shelter near Climbing Walls |
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| Nearing the Big Falls Wash |
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| Transitioning to Avalanche Canyon |
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| Following the "Trail" |
From the ski tow, we turned left onto an old trail that eventually crossed the old ski run and continued down the hill and into the Walla Walla Wash. Continuing up we came to several illegal fire rings and stick shelters. Normally, we would stop and destroy, however today, we had a whole day of exploration in front of us. On up the wash, we saw trails leading up on the left side. Jerry informed us of the rock climbing walls in the area. One, at the base of the cliffs is named Mary Jane Wall. The other is further up and named Walla Walla Wall. We hopped up onto the trail that traversed along the wash just to see how it went and ended up back in the wash before too long. We arrived at the Walla Walla Wall (I just like saying that!) then passed the familiar Big Falls Wash junction. This junction has the Walla Walla Wash (😎) coming in from the bottom, the Big Falls Wash coming in from the left and, finally, Avalanche Canyon forging ahead. To enter Avalanche Canyon, you either have to move far to the right in the wash early on or you have to climb over a berm. On our ascent, we ended up climbing over the berm and followed a use trail until we were climbing the canyon wash. (This area has always been a little confusing to me.) Anyway, we checked our GPS and found that we were on the red line.
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| Limestone Slab |
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| Fun in Avalanche Canyon |
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Break near the Canyon filled with Avalanche Debris
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| Log to Duck Under |
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| Finding our way up the Right Fork Canyon |
Right away, there is another wash that we did not explore coming down from the left. We'll call it the Left Fork of Avalanche Canyon. We continued up the main Avalanche Canyon wash following a "trail" where the scrambles were obvious and a little easier to negotiate. After climbing into a particular difficult spot, we decided to call it a hike. All we could see was a branch of the canyon that was literally covered with avalanche debris. Au contraire! After taking our group photo, Ralyn and I noticed a trail through the brush that led under a log and steeply up the hill on the right side. We left everyone behind to scout the trail. Quickly, we knew that I had stopped the climb too soon. There was another canyon fork turning up to the right (Right Fork of Avalanche Canyon) and it was a beautiful climb up to an alcove at the base of cliffs. We thought we could see a waterfall of some sort at the top. Returning to the group, we asked them to continue up. The reward seemed worth it. So, they jumped up and were on their way! Well, sort of. Everyone ducked under the log and began the climb to a cairn on a log. This is the right turn and up we went. After about 100 yards, the climb became even more difficult as we waded through the debris. I went to the right side of the alcoves above and everyone else, who had been delayed by a small injury, climbed to the left side. Both sides had waterfalls. The right side had more water and it came down like rain over a width of about thirty feet. The left side had a stream of water coming out of a horizontal crack in the cliff as seen below. It also had a shallow cave next to it. Above us were the cliffs of Charleston Peak.
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| View up to Left Alcove (Crack Waterfall above Charlie's Head) |
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