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| Staring up at Mary Jane Falls' Main Flow |
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| Griffith Peak and Upper Kyle Canyon from Cave |
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Big Falls from Mary Jane Falls
Once again, Blogspot has decided to mess with the software and I have to resort to this format. Maybe they will fix it soon. Who knows?
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Big Falls water running across Trail
Four AtBF club members drove up to the Mary Jane Falls Trailhead for a short hike up to the waterfalls (plural). With the snow melt, the cliff area has four main places where the water is falling and showing a beautiful array of water floes. Take a wide angle camera lens if you have one!
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| Sun rises on North Ridge above Trail |
We reached the parking lot around 7:30am because this trail can get crowded even on a weekday!
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| Switchbacking |
Since we are not yet used to the higher altitudes, we took the official trail up to the falls using the switchbacks. As opposed to the old steep road trail.
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| Snow along last Switchback |
There was water running on the trail until a point where it came in from the left side. Big Falls was running strong so we assumed that this is where the water came from. Why isn't it in the big wash over to the left? We found out on the way down.
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| Approach to Mary Jane Falls |
Upon reaching the large waterfall area, we walked around taking photos and marveling at the display.
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| One of Four Waterfalls |
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| One of Four Waterfalls |
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| Four on the Floor |
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| Chuck walks into the spray of a Waterfall |
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| Mike enjoys a Break at the Cave |
Next, we walked over to the cave where there is an amazing view of Upper Kyle Canyon. Griffith Peak could also be seen down canyon with its snow cap.
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| A View out to Kyle Canyon |
Returning to the waterfall area, we met up with other club members and enjoyed a break. We located Big Falls across the canyon and took a few photos.
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| Zoomed into Big Falls |
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| Pointing out Big Falls from Mary Jane Falls |
Passing several other hikers on the way down the switchbacks, we decided to cross over to the large wash on the other side of the canyon. Following a use trail, we found the running water and, surprisingly, it was in the middle of the canyon rather than on the far side where the large wash lay.
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| South Ridge and Big Falls (Lower Left 1/4) |
We looked around and found that there was no running water coming in to make the stream. Oh! The water had run underground from somewhere up in the Big Falls wash and was unceremoniously bubbling up from an unseen hole in the ground beneath our feet. Interesting!
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| Starting down the Switchbacks |
It was a beautiful cool day until the gray clouds started floating in and building up. We hadn't driven far down the canyon when sprinkles anointed our car. Perfect timing!
Stats: 3.8 miles; 950' gain; 2.5 hours
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| Big Falls water from Underground |
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