TRIP REPORT PHOTOS
Entering the Fall Canyon wash. On the left side of the picture, you can see the long bank above the wash which I needed to get on top of and walk along:
Zooming in on the mouth of Fall Canyon. To the left, you can see the northern ridge cutting to the left which I would need to obtain:
I am now on top of the left side bank looking up at the first section of ridge terrain:
This first part of the ridge was too steep to go up, so I wrapped around to the left:
In order to obtain the ridge, it would be necessary to find a scrambling route up through these rocks:
After looking around carefully, I found a route that I was comfortable with and even spotted some cairns on the way up:
Now fully on the northern ridge, the terrain looked less intimidating:
View looking back down the Fall Canyon wash from the early part of the ridge:
View into lower Fall Canyon from the same vantage point:
The ridge route was clear as it circled around a small impassable canyon below. This small canyon is not considered Fall's 1st Side Canyon, but just a small wash:
View over into the badlands in between Fall Canyon and Palmer Canyon:
Once again looking into the small side canyon below which had dry falls and very steep terrain:
Looking back at the majestic towering walls of Fall Canyon:
Quickly gaining elevation along the northern ridge route:
The ridge eventually makes a wide turn and the small canyon comes to an end:
Looking over the opposite side of the ridge towards Palmer Canyon:
Eventually, the ridge flattens out up high and the walking becomes easier:
First view into the Fall 1st Side Canyon. At this point, the elevation was about 2,400 feet, which meant there was about a 1,200 foot elevation gain from the wash of Fall Canyon:
View from the ridge looking at the junction and two forks of upper Fall 1SC:
A stunning striped ridge with some vertical rock walls near the bottom as seen from here in a close-up shot:
There was an outstanding view of Mount Palmer from this spot:
Finally getting into the Fall 1st Side Canyon after a long and challenging ridge bypass route:
First stop was the narrows in the lower part of the canyon:
These narrows were mostly shallow and had similar rock type to Fall Canyon:
Notice how there were some beautifully polished rock surfaces on the walls:
Zooming in on some of the patterns reminiscent of what is found in both Fall Canyon and Titus Canyon:
The lower narrows were quite lengthy to check out:
A massive block of rock that has fallen off of the wall into the wash:
Continuing to head down the lower narrows which proved to be very scenic:
Check out the variety of rock colors and shapes on display through here:
A small gully drops into Fall 1SC and has carved a dry fall into the rock:
Looking over the edge of the largest dry fall which separates Fall 1SC from Fall Canyon:
Looking down below, it was obvious that there is a second dry fall separating portions of Fall 1SC which can be hiked:
A picture of Steve at this very hard to reach overlook point:
One more look down the largest dry fall and grotto area of Fall 1SC:
With that, it was time to hike back up to my drop-in point and then progress farther up canyon to see what was there:
In this picture, you can clearly see the major junction in the canyon where it splits into a left fork and right fork:
Since I was on this side of the wash, I decided to hike up the right fork first to check it out:
The first thing I noted was the arch seen at the right base of this pointed rocky peak:
Zooming in on the large arch which creates a small cave from one side to the other:
The right fork of Fall 1SC starts out with wide open scenery:
A pretty layer of pink rock cuts down the hillside:
Passing by the pink layer of rock and taking a close-up shot:
Spotting another rock arch up on the hillside to the right:
The right fork of Fall 1SC began narrowing down considerably:
I came across some unexpected flat layers of conglomerate rock walls:
The canyon wash began filling with small boulders everywhere which slowed down progress:
The canyon stayed narrow but the canyon walls were not vertical on both sides:
At this point, the canyon entered a small section of true narrows to the left. It was a bit overgrown and easier to bypass on the right side instead of going through it:
The canyon appeared to form a slot just ahead:
Sure enough, I was pleased to find a nice section of slot narrows:
The first passage was quite impressive to walk through:
It is always nice to put forth a lot of effort to reach an area and have it pay off with fantastic narrows:
A small boulder jam that had to be climbed on the left side:
More spectacular narrows to walk through up ahead:
This truly was a beautiful section of undocumented narrows:
Two pictures showcasing one of my personal favorite spots in these narrows:
Continuing through the polished narrows towards a sharp bend:
Notice the white stripes in the midst of grey and tan rock surfaces:
Looking back down the narrows from the top of a small boulder:
Abruptly, my hike through the slot narrows came to the end at this dry fall:
This picture shows the complete dry fall. There was no way that I could climb this safely and continue the hike up the right fork of Fall 1SC:
Thus, I hiked back down the right fork and found a way to cross over into the left fork without going all the way back to the junction. This was my first view into the left fork:
And a view looking down the left fork towards the merged canyon. On the right side, you can see the small ridge which separates Fall 1SC from neighboring Palmer Canyon:
Dropping down to the wash and beginning my hike up the left fork:
The left fork had a nice variety of colors up on the canyon walls:
I couldn't help but wonder how this huge boulder could have rolled down the canyon wall and ended up so perfectly placed on this small rock shelf:
Amazing scenery looking up the left fork of Fall 1SC:
This spectacular ridge with vertical and diagonal lines can be seen from several different areas. From right here, though, it was the most impressive that I have ever seen it. The left fork of Fall 1SC seems to head straight for it:
Much like in the right fork, the left fork wash soon began filling up with boulders:
The left side of the canyon had some towering walls rising above the wash:
Here there were some false narrows as the wall broke away and formed a passage to walk through:
The wash started to get noticeably steeper as I continued to gain in elevation:
And the boulders began getting larger and harder to deal with:
An impressive small peak above the canyon which has no doubt seen few if any visitors over the years:
The wash eventually disappeared completely and gave way to an endless field of boulders:
Looking back at one of the impressive rock walls that I had passed by:
Climbing some short rock steps before entering another section of large boulders:
It took a lot of energy to constantly climb boulders or work my way around them:
This major junction in the left fork of Fall 1SC is located at about 3,500 feet in elevation:
I stayed to the right, which appeared to be the main canyon:
The canyon got very narrow and slotted up just past the junction:
The steepness nearly doubled and progress was very slow:
At this spot, I decided it was best to turn around for the day. I had seen everything I wanted to and didn't want to push things beyond a reasonable limit for the day on a solo hike:
A while later, I was crossing over the small ridge into Palmer Canyon to loop back to my car:
