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| Heading into First Creek Canyon (Round peak at top is First Creek Peak) |
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| The Grotto |
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| Sign at Trailhead |
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| Wide Main Trail through Desert Terrain |
It had been years since any of us had climbed up into First Creek Canyon. Jerry and Cheryl had the most experience with the canyon and wash between Wilson Peak and Indecision Peak so they led the charge. Five of us parked at the signed trailhead located on SR 159, 2 miles south of the Red Rock Scenic Loop exit (or 1.2 miles north of the entrance to the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. From the west side of the highway, we headed through the pedestrian gate (a simple construction) and on up toward the Sandstone Bluffs. Our first note was that the cable that used to connect the fence posts along the trail for the first half mile was missing. Not sure why. There is some rutting happening here so that may have something to do with it.
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| Jerry and Cheryl drop into the Grotto Area |
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| Group Photo above Grotto |
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| Sunrise on Escarpment (First Creek in Foreground) |
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| Well worn Trail |
Until the trail reaches the Rainbow Wilderness boundary outside the high sandstone walls, it is wide and clearly worn. There are two places where a worn trail veers off to the north. The first spur trail heads into the First Creek wash where many hikers choose to scramble up the wash to reach the Grotto. We passed this and turned right on the next trail that veered right. This trail brought us close to the wash and eventually, we found a very worn trail that drops steeply down into the wash. Be careful here. About half way down the hill, continue on the trail that turns to the left. This short trail takes you to the Grotto where there is usually pooled water. During the spring or after a rainstorm, a large waterfall can be seen pouring down into the pool. On this hike, however, there was no water pouring down, not even a trickle. In fact, the black pool of the grotto was pretty smelly! We took our photos down below. Then, we hiked up to the trail overlook above to take a group shot. Afterwards, we continued up the trail that soon reconnected with the wide main trail. There are trail sign posts but some of them are falling down. The desert ground is very difficult to dig into to place these signs so, sometimes, volunteers simply try propping up the signs instead of digging into the rock hard ground.
We continued back out of the canyon the same way we had come in. Scrambling through some more jungle and making the Kayenta Crossing.
Stats: 4.3 miles; 670' gain; 3.75 hours
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| Scrambling in the Jungle |
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| Rita Sweeps |
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| Out of the Jungle - Into the Light |
1 comment:
BLM took out the cable that was fed into the wooden posts. Originally it was put in to keep the area protected from a fire several years ago, and potentially revegetate. Enough time had passed since that fire, so the cable was taken out. They left the posts more as just a way of marking the trail.
Another interesting point, originally the trail was 1.5 miles, but when Jason Douglas (when he was a BLM ranger & is now supervisor for fire department in Lee Canyon) remapped it for new publications & Avenza app he made it 2 miles. When I asked him why he added another 1/2 mile he said he really didn’t know where it ended.
Earlier this year (or last year) BLM had Southern Nevada Climbers Coalition do trail work on First Creek and routed it toward the climbing walls, blocking the routes that all the hikers took into the creek. I went out with ranger Jon Prescott (BLM outdoor recreation planner) and we made some changes so that climbers and hikers would be happy.
Susan M.
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