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View up the mouth of Big Falls Canyon
In August of 2023, the remnants of a storm named Hurricane Hilary made their way to the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in Kyle and Lee Canyons. This is the first hike I have made up into the Walla Walla Wash area near Big Falls Canyon and within sight of the cliffs above Mary Jane Falls. The Mary Jane Falls and Trail Canyon Trails are both still closed at this writing. Therefore, three Lady Hikers made their way from the Echo Trailhead, up and over Hidden Falls wash and down through the old ski area, to reach Walla Walla Wash that flows down from the base of Charleston Peak on the left side of Kyle Canyon as you ascend. We made sure we were not crossing any boundaries with the closed trails and closed forested burn areas. We just wanted to see what was going on. It has been three years since the storm. And, it appears that some hikers have already climbed up to Big Falls on a regular basis. There are cairns and trails in the rocks. We stopped our climb when Big Falls Canyon made its decided curve to the left about 150' after the "island area" and Avalanche Canyon junction at its mouth.
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| Joining the mouth of Big Falls Canyon |
The information in this blog about Hilary is taken verbatim from Wikipedia. There was much more information there that I chose not to include. My purpose of this blog is simply to give people a peek into the huge amount of damage done in this area and to relive that day when Hurricane Hilary hit town. (Or, more specifically, hit Kyle Canyon.) It was interesting to see what the flooding uncovered in the wash but, more interesting how thorough the flood damage inundated the area. It was a lesson in the power of water, to be sure!
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Joining the mouth of Big Falls Canyon
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The origins of Hurricane Hilary were from a tropical wave that exited the western coast of Africa around August 3. The wave moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the Lesser Antilles by August 9. On that day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) first identified the potential for the eventual development, 156 hours before Hilary's formation. The tropical wave crossed Central America into the far eastern Pacific Ocean on August 12, producing a large area of disorganized convection, or thunderstorms. As early as August 13, hurricane prediction models anticipated a tropical cyclone would affect Mexico and the southwestern United States. A low-pressure area developed on August 14 south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, as the thunderstorms gradually organized. After a low-level circulation formed early on August 16, the system developed into a tropical depression by 06:00 UTC, located about 345 mi (555 km) south of Acapulco. Six hours later, the depression intensified into a tropical storm, and the NHC named it Hilary. |
| Nearing the curve into Big Falls Canyon |
The hurricane weakened into a tropical storm on August 20, as wind shear from the trough displaced the thunderstorms far north of the center. At around 17:00 UTC that day, Hilary made landfall in a sparsely populated part of the municipality of San Quintin, Baja California, with sustained winds estimated at 60 mph (95 km/h). This was about 215 mi (345 km) south-southeast of San Diego, California.
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| Walla Walla Wash & Big Falls Canyon Junction |
After moving ashore, Hilary's circulation became elongated and disrupted over the mountainous terrain of Baja California. Devoid of convection, Hilary degenerated into a post-tropical cyclone, and early on August 21, it was absorbed by a new non-tropical low-pressure area, which was developing near the southern coast of California outside of Hilary's wind radius. Operationally, the NHC had tracked the two systems as the same, assessing that Hilary continued into southern California as a tropical storm, which would have had made it the first tropical storm to cross into the state since Nora in 1997. The combined system, which included the remnants of Hilary, continued moving through the western United States and eventually crossed into Canada.
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| Wider view of Big Falls Canyon |
The remnants of Hilary moved through the western United States, producing rainfall from California to as far north as Montana. The maximum recorded precipitation was 13.07 in (332 mm) at Upper Mission Creek in southeastern California. Damage nationwide was estimated at US$900 million.
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| Starting return down very wide Walla Walla Wash |
The system's push toward Southern California coincided with a 5.1 magnitude earthquake that struck near Ojai, California, along with numerous aftershocks. Only minor damage and no injuries were reported from the quakes. As a result, the term "hurriquake" trended on social media. Because Hilary was already weakened by the time of the earthquake, researchers considered it unlikely that the storm triggered the event.
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| View back to junction Area |
In Death Valley National Park, flash floods damaged all of the 1,323 mi (2,129 km) of roads, including water and sewage lines, with several miles of roads washed away entirely. The resulting damage forced the park to close for two months.
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| Passing old road concrete Crossing |
Near Lone Pine, floodwaters from Lone Pine Creek destroyed portions of Whitney Portal Road, which provides access to Mount Whitney. Damage in Inyo County alone was estimated at $500 million. Rainfall at Furnace Creek in Death Valley totaled 2.20 in (56 mm), setting a new single-day rainfall record; the amount was more than the annual average rainfall of 2.15 in (55 mm).
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| Trench washed out parallel to old Mary Jane Falls Trail |
The strongest winds beyond California primarily occurred in Nevada and Utah at high-elevation locations above 9,000 ft (2,700 m). In a mountainous area near Mount Charleston, in Clark County, Nevada, wind gusts reached 82 mph (132 km/h), strong enough to knock down a few trees.
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| Susan takes a peek at the old and new Mary Jane Falls Trails |
The new peak rainfall in Nevada was more than double the previous record, with 9.20 in (234 mm) recorded in Lee Canyon. Across Spring Mountain Recreational Area and nearby mountainous areas, the rains produced flash flooding, which washed away about 5 mi (8.0 km) worth of roads. The floods also damaged underground pipes, a school, a fire station, and trails. The damage, estimated at $35 million, closed the recreation area until October 26, when Nevada State Route 156 (Lee Canyon Road) was reopened. The community of Mount Charleston had to shelter in place after electricity and road access were cut off. The town's fire department was inundated with mud, with houses and a nearby school damaged. A landslide also damaged part of Lee Canyon Ski and Snowboard Resort. Floods closed a portion of U.S. Route 11 (aka 95) in Nye County, Nevada. The rains rose the water levels in Lake Mead by 4.1 mm (0.16 in).
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| View up toward Hidden Falls as we passed back through the Wash |
In the Mount Charleston region of Nevada, workers spent $11 million to reopen roads to the mountainous communities. At the Lee Canyon Ski Resort, workers used dump trucks to restore damaged ski slopes, reopening the resort on November 4.
Phew! After reading that summary of Hurricane Hilary's aftermath in damage, I don't know about you but I realize now why it is taking so long to rebuild the trails. We are only a flea on the map. Still, we miss our trails and hope that the rebuilding will be worth the wait! Btw, as we were returning, we saw workers on Mary Jane Falls Trail hiking up to their day's worksite. Most of the workers were the boys from SMYC. They are very good workers! YOU ROCK, boys! We love you!
< 4 miles of rocks!; ~700' gain; 3.5 hours
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