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| Snow Melt in Fletcher Canyon at Obstacle Rock |
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| Snow Melt curving around in Fletcher Canyon Narrows |
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| Muddy Snow Melt in Kyle Canyon Wash |
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| Finding our way into Kyle Wash |
Almost anywhere you hike in the Spring Mountains right now, you will find water in the washes ... lots of water! The snow is melting fast and there was a lot of snow this year! So, Mike and I decided to hike Fletcher Canyon, a beloved trail in the Spring Mountains. When you have hiked a dry trail oodles of times, it is very exciting when the trail is decorated with tons of water. We began our hike at the Mom's Trailhead located in the top tier of the resort hotel's parking lot. Mom's is a small abandoned store sitting just up from this parking area. We passed Mom's and turned left to descend into Kyle Canyon on an old golf cart path. Reaching the wash at the bottom, we realized, only then, that we had an adventure before us!
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| Obstacle Course in Kyle Wash |
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| Dirt Road up to Anemometers |
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| Anemometers at Mouth of Fletcher Canyon |
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| Trail Signs |
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| Griffith Peak at end of May '23 |
This hike normally routes up through a dry Kyle wash until it crosses Kyle Canyon Road just past the Fletcher Campground. We had our work cut out for us since the wash had a strong flow of running muddy water. Most of the time, we had small "islands" of shallow water and rock that we could hopscotch over and onto. But, at a couple of points, we hiked on one side or the other in the brush where the wild horses have made paths. (Well, that was fun!) Finally, with much extra weaving, we made it up to the old dirt road that runs up the hill to the anemometers site. Hiking around past the weather stations, we soon junctioned with the Eagle's Nest lower loop and turned left. Following the sign's direction, we veered left to reach the steep hill down to the Fletcher Canyon Trail.
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| Mike crossing Fletcher Wash early in Hike |
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| Beautiful Fletcher Canyon Wash |
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| Trail crosses above small Waterfall |
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| Beautiful Fletcher Canyon Wash |
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| Another Waterfall |
We turned right onto the Fletcher Canyon Trail and followed the familiar wide trail up through the canyon. There were a couple of wash crossings where we found a lot of water predicting what was to come when the canyon narrowed down. For the next mile, the wider portion of the trail continued up through the woods with the sound of the babbling brook not far from our ears. Once in a while, we would get near enough to the stream to see the gorgeous running water flow down through the rocks. We passed lots of small waterfalls before we finally came to the beginning of the hilly portion of the trail. The trail is much the same as before but the wash crossings made us think twice about which way the trail went from there. If we didn't know the trail as well as we did, I'm not sure directions would be obvious. However, as long as you stay between the walls, you will eventually make it up to Obstacle Rock. As the canyon narrowed even more, it became more and more difficult to stay out of the water. Your choices of pathways included water, brush and very small use trails that have been made by previous hikers. It was quite a fun adventure finding ways to hike up through the canyon. Our shoes became wetter and wetter!
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| Beautiful Fletcher Canyon Wash |
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| Kay crosses stream at Narrows Junction |
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| Trail climbs up above Wash |
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| Gorgeous Narrows Blockage |
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| Stream runs along Wall and Brush |
The first large rock obstacle seen in the photo above was deceiving. Thinking that the waterfall was covering the way through the blockage, I turned up to the right ... a path I had only done once before and swore I would never do again! Bad choice. As it turns out, the route is good to go on the left side of the waterfall. This is the way we went on the way down. Anyway, on up the canyon, we saw only one section with residual snow clumps that did not stand in our way. A few other hikers were in the canyon having just as much fun. One couple hiked past just in the water. Oh, ... yes, that's the answer! Stop trying to stay dry! So, my advice is to just go ahead and step into the cold water because you are going to get wet eventually anyway!
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| Luckily, there is a place to hike to the right of the log! |
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| Wall to Wall Water in Narrows |
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| Nearing Obstacle Rock |
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| Waterfall at Rabbithole |
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| Our "Group" Photo! |
By the time we reached the narrowest part of the lower narrows, it was wall to wall water. I have another bit of advice. If you want really nice photos, you will need a tripod unless your hands are really really steady. Until the sun starts entering the narrows, everything is in the shadows. (I braced my camera on rocks and logs to steady it. It sort of worked. Also, a wide angle lens would had been preferred to obtain some of the panoramas that I was attempting.) At Obstacle Rock, the rock chute was pouring out like a water spout. Everything was wet and slippery so we opted not to try the climb up to the next level. I climbed halfway up to see the impressive waterfall next to the rabbithole but was unable to get a decent shot (photo above).
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| The Chute and Obstacle Rock |
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| Decent Photo of Chute |
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| The only Snow in the Narrows |
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| Descending Fletcher Canyon Trail |
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| View up Kyle Canyon from Eagle's Nest Loop |
After taking a break, we vacated the prime location for the next hikers that were approaching from down canyon. Going down canyon, we didn't worry too much about wet shoes and it made things much easier! We passed several more hikers and made it down to the wide trail portion. After the mile on this part, we turned left to climb up the steep hill to Eagle's Nest Loop. A left turn at the sign took us along the upper portion to the other side of the loop. Finding the hidden old path that turns to the left after a few small switchbacks, we followed it down to Deer Creek Road. Our hike crossed the paved road and headed down to the next paved turnout. Here, there is an old dirt road at the back of the turnout that leads back down to Mom's. Today's hike was an excellent and fun adventure. Fletcher Canyon never presented so beautifully!
Stats: 6.25 miles; 1340' gain; 4 hours
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| Eagle's Nest Loop upper Trail |
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| Old Connecting Trail |
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| Old Road between Deer Creek Road and Kyle Canyon Road |
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| Mom's Trailhead at Resort parking Lot |
