Harris Wash - 10/29/22

Small window in Pleistocene Era rock of Harris Wash

Part of Harris Slot Canyon

Golf Course Remnants below Visitor Center

Visitor Center from Below

Nineteen hikers returned to Kyle Canyon for one of its last hurrahs in the Spring Mountains for 2022. After staging a couple of cars down the road at the Harris Springs Road junction, we parked at the Stepladder Trailhead to start the hike. Since the gate was still closed for the morning to the Gateway Visitor Center parking lot, we hiked over to the VC and started down into Kyle Canyon and the Harris Mountain Wash. Finding the wash at the bottom of the hill, there was one (and only one for the day), short scramble to drop into the gravel. We started down among the spent rabbitbrush blooms and apache plume bushes. Immediately, the walls got taller on either side of the wide wash.

John leads us down to the Wash

The only Scramble in the Wash

Hiking among spent Rabbitbrush

View out from Cave

These walls are made of conglomerate rock and are remnants of the Pleistocene Era. Over millions of years, the rock has been shaped by floods emanating from the Spring Mountains. Caves, windows and spires are seen from the wash all the way down to the Harris Slot Canyon at the bottom. The group spread out as we slowly made our way down the gravel. There were forks and deltas separated by sage, creosote, goldenrod, ephedra, blackbrush, etc. About half way down, we came to a bend in the wash that, in years past, was used to dump old cars and appliances over the side from the cliffs above. "They" cleaned up the antique junk and, now, apparently use this cliff to dump wild horse carcasses. It is a very sad sight. There were at least four horses we could see. I chose not to show you these photos.

Hiking down Harris Wash

Cut Logs thrown down from Above

"I'm a little teapot!"

Narrowing Wash

There was a lot of evidence of burros in the wash and next to the walls. I imagine that they use the walls for protection in bad weather. There is also a burro trail that climbs up and out of the wash to the base of Harris Mountain and on to Harris Springs Road. We took our break at a place where we could sit on the gravel banks. Sometimes it is difficult to find a place to rest nineteen hikers! Afterwards, we continued down where the wash reached its widest point. It is wide here because this is the entrance to a narrow slot in the conglomerate. We took a group photo inside the slot then continued to pass through the narrows. The narrows are long and interesting.

Memorial to the Wild Horses

View back to Charleston Peak

A place to take a Break

Nearing Harris Slot Canyon

Coming out the other end of the slot, we found ourselves following an old road out to junction with Harris Springs Road. A small shortcut put us at the large gravel parking lot. Drivers were loaded into the two cars that were waiting at this end of the hike and we were shuttled back up to the Stepladder Trailhead. We picked up our cars and returned to collect the remaining hikers. It was a great day in the mountains with cool to warmish temperatures.

Stats: 5.5 miles; + 56' gain; -1230' loss; 3.5 hours

Entering Harris Slot

Enjoying the Beauty

More of the Narrows at Harris Slot