INDEX

A complete hiking and climbing guide to the La Plata Mountains of Southwest Colorado. You will also find San Juan Mountain favorites as well as selections from around the Southwest. Link to the region you desire where you will find an alphabetical list of the hikes.

Feature Hike: Ascend through raw and untamed topography on a Class 1 trail to Silver Peak (an Arizona P2K) in the Chiricahua Mountains after checking snow levels.

La Plata Mountains, Colorado 

San Juan Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Colorado 

Durango, Colorado and Locations Nearby

New Mexico and Texas

National Parks and Monuments

Southern Utah, Northern Arizona 

Southern Arizona

Sierra Nevada Mountains, Basin and Range Province

   

Field Guide!  Debra and her partner Tomás have published a hiking guide to the La Plata Mountains. Buy it at our local bookshop, Maria's in Durango, CO, or use this link:

About Debra and this blog.

Special thanks to CalTopo for the web tools used in constructing the maps on this blog.

 

An important message from author Steve Allen about tithing for wilderness.

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. Tennessee Williams

Debra Van Winegarden (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

Silver Peak, 7,975', and Lookout Tower, 8,008', Chiricahua Mountains

Essence: Located on the eastern front of the Chiricahua Mountains, Silver Peak is accessed from Cave Creek Canyon a couple of miles west of the hamlet of Portal. The summit is a mere nine miles west of the New Mexico stateline as the crow flies. On the Portal topo map, "Lookout Tower" is the highpoint at 8,008 feet and Silver Peak is a subsidiary at 7,975 feet. However, on the Arizona P2K list, (prominence of 2,000 feet or higher) the summit is refered to simply as Silver Peak with a rise of 2,015 feet. (LiDAR has more accurately measured the Lookout at 8,002 feet.) You are encouraged to visit both summits. The Lookout Tower, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938, burned down in 1992 during a thunderstorm. Unimpeded views are swept up and disappear into the blue distance. The Silver Peak Trail is both impeccable and unusual. The Class 1 trail is as easy as it gets with a consistent mellow grade suitable for anyone in reasonable shape. While it propels you comfortably to the mountaintop, it preserves a sense of raw topography. There is nothing tame about the landscape. This is yet another peak in the range created by volcanism with concordant features such as curving sheets of smooth bedrock, monoliths, masses of clustered spires, sharpened blades, and globular blocks of weathered rock. The hike is within the Coronado National Forest.

Travel: For those heading east on I-10 (from the Tucson area) fuel up in Willcox. There is no gas station in Portal. Take Exit 382, signed for Portal. Follow the frontage road east for 0.9 mile. Turn 90 degrees south on Noland Road, paved but not striped. It is an empty road through empty country. Pavement ends at 10.2 miles. The fast gravel road is well graded. At a Y, 17.5 miles, go left onto Foothills Road. A sign, "Portal 9" is confirmation. The road bears southeast and at 24.2 miles is paved and striped. At the stop sign at 25.5 miles, turn right on Portal Road. Portal Store, Cafe, and Lodge is on the left at 26.3 miles. From the store, continue west on Portal Road for 0.6 mile and make a soft left onto Cave Creek Road. Enter the Coronado National Forest at 1.7 miles. Silver Peak Trailhead is on the right at 2.1 miles. Alternatively, if your vehicle cannot handle gravel, avoid Exit 382 and continue east on I-10 for 14 miles to Road Forks, NM. Drive south on NM-80 for 28 miles. Turn west on NM-533 which becomes Portal Road. The Portal store is 34 miles from Road Forks.

Distance and Elevation Gain: 10.7 miles; 3,100 feet
Total Time: 5:30 to 7:30
Difficulty: Trail; navigation easy; Class 1 with no exposure; Most of the hike is on north-facing slopes and would normally be ill-advised in winter.
Map: Portal, AZ 7.5' USGS Quad 

Date Hiked: January 16, 2026 

Poem:

Give me raw rock
Mountains. Impossible cliffs
Ponderosa. Piñon
& the silvery blue Juniper…
What works for the Wolf
Works for me
Art Goodtimes
 

Look closely to see a flight of steps rising to a platform where the Lookout Tower once stood. The highest point on Silver Peak is a chaotic jumble of angular blocks jutting abruptly from surrounding  timber. 

Route: From the trailhead in Cave Creek Canyon hike northwest, flanking the base of The Fingers on the northeast ridge of Mount Sceloporus. Circle to the southwest and cross a couple of ravines. Bear west directly under the north slopes of Silver Peak. Switchback south to contact the summit ridge. Mount the steps to the Lookout Tower and then take a social trail to Silver Peak proper. Retrace steps. 

I had been intrigued by Portal for years so we spent a night in town. I enjoyed walking the streets of this tiny enclave with homes made of river stone, a library and post office. We had a tasty dinner at the Portal Cafe. Locals said Portal was so named because it was the portal to Paradise, a mining town five miles west established in 1901, now a ghost town. If you have time, stop by the Visitor Information Center managed by the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon. Chiricahua Mountains Hiking Trails has an excellent description and map for Silver Peak Trail #280.

As we drove from Portal to the trailhead magnificent stone structures crowded both sides of the road. We could see snow at higher elevations which gave us pause. Would we make it to the summit? Cave Creek Canyon is affectionately called the "Yosemite of Arizona." I appreciate the love of place but having spent my childhood traipsing around Yosemite weeks at a time, it's a bit of a reach. Sierra granite and welded tuff are entirely different beasts. Signs from another era are posted at the trailhead. Some friends enjoyed staying in the Sunny Flat Campground. 

  

The sign at the Silver Peak Trailhead, elevation 4,980 feet, no doubt reflects the mileage to the summit before the trail was realigned. Substantially more switchbacks have been added since distance was originally calculated. Be prepared mentally for 5.2 miles to the Lookout, not 4.5. A local on a bicycle warned us she'd seen a couple of cougars recently. We adopted our cougar protocol, smaller person in front. We have seen more evidence of mountain lions in the Chiricahuas than any other range in Arizona. 

The footpath starts out due north. Watch for little tags identifying plants as you move up the trail: Arizona white oak, sotol, mountain yucca, alligator juniper, point leaf manzanita, honey mesquite, Emory oak, Arizona juniper, cholla, beargrass, and soaptree yucca. The sign for the Cave Creek Nature Trail identifies four life zones between here and the summit. In order they are: semi-desert grassland, oak woodland, pine-oak woodland, and pine-fir conifer forest. At 0.15 mile, the trail from the visitor center intersects and the trajectory shifts northwest. In the photo below there is a string of rocks intentionally set long ago. They appear randomly all over the lower elevations. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

There is a staggering variety of delicate native grasses the color of pale straw. In January, wildflowers had gone to seed. It would be fascinating to return to see this mystery cluster blooming.  (THW, photo) 

This is one of the more remarkable and beautiful approaches to any mountain. The folds of foothills flow out from the bases of staggering monuments paying tribute to the torments of volcanism. Cooled and solidified long ago, they weathered into softened forms that the human heart and mind can grasp at some level. The grouping shown below is the southeast wall of Cave Creek.

These monuments are composed of welded rhyolite tuff, the same formation as the standing rocks in the Chiricahua National Monument. Erosive and weathering forces are clearly different on opposite sides of the range. Here we see fewer rock stacks and more cohesive massiveness. (THW, photo)  

 

The trail takes us on a linear tour through Earth's sculpture gallery. (THW, photo)   

Beside the trail are many Palmer's Agave, a protected native plant. When flowering they attract nectar-loving birds during the day, nectarivorous bats at night, and Sphinx moths during the day and night. 

In the afternoon back-lit grasses soften the foreground while Portal Peak rises abruptly 3,000 feet off the canyon floor.  

An expert fence rider went to a lot of trouble to protect a large Arizona oak while securing his barbed wire fenceline at 1.45 miles. 

The cowboy made it easy for hikers to wiggle through the fence. Much appreciated. In the West, fence posts are typically crafted from juniper logs. 

My favorite trailside boulder is composed of basalt. Welded tuff and basalt have different magma origins but they frequently coexist. This boulder is covered in vesicles, round cavities left by trapped volcanic gasses. It is rather proud of its lichen paint job. 

The trail pivots around The Fingers so they are in view for a long time. And that's a good thing because they attract the eye and hold it. They look like many tall spires smashed together at the base but separated at the top by whimsical shapes. I've noticed all over southern Arizona that welded tuff is consistently covered in sunshine yellow lichen. This image was snapped in the morning as the sun was awakening. (THW, photo)  

 

When we passed the same location in the afternoon, shadows separated the fingers and highlighted the blobby nuances. (THW, photo)   

 

Looking south, the broad brush of green provided by the piñon-oak woodland contrasts with the higher elevations. Ever more blue, peaks simply meld into the sky. 

Directly east of The Fingers the slope is covered in uniform crushed rock, presumably exfoliated from the monolith. Look closely and you can see the depressions made by a large animal crossing the red chips at an angle.  

A few paces further, rubble shed from the brown ring below The Fingers has gathered onto slabs of stone.   

 

As the trail started curving around to the north slope casting us into the shade at 5,800 feet, the platform was covered in a thin layer of snow. We walked on snow for the next 2,200 feet, so grateful it didn't stop us. Cougar tracks stand out on snow and there they were. Cats appreciate trails too. Wiggle through another fenceline at 2.1 miles. Soon after, cross a ravine and arrive at a switchback with a directional sign. This was the beginning of the loose end that stumped hikers for years. Though the problem is solved, it is often referred to in trip reports. 

 

 

At 2.6 miles the pathway curves southwest and our elusive mountain briefly comes into view at last. Below, the linear cliffs of Mount Sceloporus are on the left and Silver Peak is on the right. The route bears west, passes under the mountain and then shoots south with a strong series of switchbacks to the summit ridge. Don't be alarmed by the idea of switchbacks. They are in place to moderate the grade for all of us. 

In fact, there are three sets of short switchbacks on the north slope of Mount Sceloporus. The path is thinner now and was covered in ice and snow. I don't recommend doing this hike in January. We got lucky but we were shivering in the shade most of the way. Leaving our tracks in a world of white, it was hard to conceive of a landscape covered in flowers. Below, I am heading downhill, about to cross one of the ravines below Mount Sceloporus. (THW, photo)  

You may not notice this 90 degree sheered off cliff on the way up but you certainly will going downhill.  It frames the Peloncillo and Animas mountains, and the Continental Divide in the Bootheel of New Mexico. 

There have been a few documented successful climbs up Mount Sceloporus, 7,993 feet (LiDAR 7,999'). The only description we could find was John Kirk's in LOJ. While the ranked summit (rise, 468 feet) shares a common ridge with Silver, the traverse is problematic. It appears that Kirk broke for the saddle at 3.8 miles, 7,000 feet. The curious name for the peak is explained on the placard at the trailhead. 

 

"The Chiricahua Mountains boast the greatest diversity of lizards in the United States, as well as the only peak designated with the Latin name of a lizard. In 1989, scientists from the American Museum of Natural History Southwestern Research Station named this summit for the Sceloporus genus of lizard. Four Sceloporus species, all covered with spiny scales, can be found in Cave Creek Canyon. (Yarrow's Spiny Lizard lives above 6,000 feet.) Watch for them sunning on rocks or doing pushups--their "territorial display." Alas, the lizards were in a cold-induced dormant state in January. This coupling of standing rocks is the closest I can come to replicating a lizard. (THW, photo) 

We'd been charging up through different biozones and were now in a pine-fir conifer forest. We were walking through four inches of fluffy snow lined with clumps of bunchgrass common elsewhere in the range. 

We passed some impressive trailside boulders. 

At 4.5 miles the trail hooks a sharp turn east and mounts the final set of switchbacks south. There are three sets of free-standing outcrops radical enough to fascinate. Unfortunately, foliage obscured and prohibited a clean shot. 

  

The blade on this standing slab is razor thin. (THW, photo)  

This is the sheer face of the sharpened blade. (THW, photo)  

Gain the summit ridge at 5.1 miles, 7,940 feet. We walked north toward the Lookout Tower first, the more dramatic and higher of the two peaks. It is literally a couple of stair flights away. We paused at a small storage building or perhaps a radio facility. (THW, photo)  

The outhouse with a view was falling to ruin. (THW, photo) 

There are two flights of stairs that once served the lookout. The first set is masterfully crafted with square blocks of stone. Once busy with the business of fire watching, they had returned to silence under a thin mantle of snow. 

The second flight made of cement is a miracle of engineering given the chaotic jumble of boulders they barge up. 

We topped out on the mountain at 5.2 miles. A cement foundation and round cistern are the only remaining vestiges of the not so distant past. The peak register is in an A-box. Three stuffed notebooks spoke to the popularity of this trail hike. (THW, photo, October, 2014)

A benchmark placed in 1916 was shattered. The one pictured reads: "Fire Control Silver Peak, 1939." Punched in the center is "Seen Area Map Point."  

Given a whopping rise of 2,015 feet, the view is mesmerizing. To the west is the great bulk of the Chiricahua Mountains. Below, just left of horizon-center is Snowshed Peak, 9,665'. It is a major contributor to Cave Creek. Chiricahua Peak, 9,759', is barely visible northwest of Snowshed. 

Dos Cabezas Peaks protrude mightily from a small wooded range north of the Chiricahuas. The twin stone monoliths gnaw at the hearts of Class 4 scramblers. (THW, photo)  

You don't have to climb atop the cistern to see into the far reaches of New Mexico and Old Mexico.

 

From there, the vertiginous nature of the tiny summit platform is obvious. It is literally placed amongst a pile of massive sharp, angular boulders. The feats of engineering the CCC pulled off never ceases to amaze me. Silver Peak proper is the very next roller to the south. You have to possess a very good reason to skip this little side trip. (THW, photo)  

 

The off-trail walk to Silver Peak adds 0.3 mile round trip. There is a thin and fragmented social trail. Just stick as close to ridgetop as possible. Negotiating brush is minimal. We found great clumps of hedgehog on the summit ridge, sure to dazzle when blooming. An authentic historic sign was resting on the ground. "Silver Peak, 7,975'." We found Reference Markers No. 1 and 2 dated 1957 (pictured below the sign) but no benchmark.  While this is not a ranked summit there was a peak register in a glass jar (with no writing implement). 

The little roller offers the best perspective on the Lookout Tower. (THW, photo) 

 

Below, I'm checking out Mount Sceloporus and Portal Peak. The ease of the trail lifting us so high is a fabulous introduction to the east side of the Chiricahua range. It lit up all sorts of options for further exploration. (THW, photo) 

Back on the Silver Peak Trail we skimmed quickly down through the snow, forever it seemed. I had that sensation I get every now and then. Did I really climb all this distance? It seemed so effortless in the morning but it's a long ways down! Compensating, was whole body contentment at the warm end of a deeply satisfying day. It is a contentment that is the purview of the desert and only the desert. Silent, still, and slow.

 

Chiva Falls From Redington Road

Essence: Joaquin Canyon gathers rainwater and snowmelt pulsing down the northern slopes of Mica Mountain, the highest point in the Rincons. A 95-foot waterfall plummets over metamorphic gneiss into a plunge pool. Ephemeral Chiva Falls can be thunderous or completely dry. Timing is critical. We visited within hours of two days of steady rain in Tucson. Walk 4.4 miles on a mixed-use track open to hikers, mountain bikers, and dirt-bikers. The technical road is popular on weekends with 4WD vehicles. The folded bajada rises and falls continuously between 3,680 and 4,180 feet, accumulating 1,100 feet of vertical to the base of the falls (and back). While the waterfall alone exceeded our expectations we couldn't resist further exploration. We climbed into a cave hollowed out from the encircling cliff wall and scrambled above the falls to see water pooling and surrendering to the drop. The hike is within the Coronado National Forest.  

Travel: Traveling east, measure distance from the intersection of Tanque Verde and Houghton roads. Tanque Verde Road turns into Redington Road in 3.0 miles at Wentworth Road. Redington Road winds up and over a pass between the Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains. Ascend steeply through super tight switchbacks (one posted 5 mph). Enter Coronado National Forest and pavement ends at 6.2 miles. Pass the Lower and Upper Tanque Verde trailheads. High clearance is recommended for rocks and ruts in the road. Go over unsigned Redington Pass. The road gets rougher as you close in on the Chiva Falls Trailhead. The large parking lot is on the right at 10.3 miles. The second entrance is easier on the tires. You must have a modified 4WD vehicle to continue out the road to the falls as bedrock often exceeds hub height.
Distance and Elevation Gain: 8.8 miles; 1,100 feet to base of falls and back. 10.0 miles, 1,400 feet to top of falls.
Total Time: 4:00 to 6:30 (We spent 1:45 exploring around the falls.)
Difficulty: Trail, 8.8 miles; navigation easy; Class 1, no exposure. Optional off-trail, 1.2 miles; navigation moderate; Class 2+, mild exposure. Hike on a cool day and carry all the water you will need. 
Maps: Agua Caliente Hill; Piety Hill, AZ 7.5' USGS Quads 

Date Hiked: January 10, 2026
Song Lyric:  

I can see my rainbow calling me, 

through the misty breeze of my waterfall

Jimi Hendrix, "May This Be Love"

 

The intermittent waters of Joaquin Canyon have carved a smooth channel in resistant Catalina Gneiss thrusting out into free fall. Green foliage clings to tiny shelves in the barrier wall, a water-stained tapestry with threads of variegated tans and pitch black. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

Route: From the Chiva Falls Trailhead, walk on FSR 4417 generally southeast to Chiva Tank. Leave the road and shortcut on a singletrack for 0.6 mile. Cross Tanque Verde Wash and continue on FSR 4405 to the falls. Sure-footed, navigation savvy hikers may scramble upcanyon-right into the cave and to the top of the falls. Close the loop by walking north on FSR 4405. Note, the Piety Hill topo labels the falls "Chivo." The World Waterfall Database notes Chiva Falls is the official name for this waterfall. The USGS lists Chivo Falls as an alternative spelling but indicates that Chiva Falls is the primary variant.  

Parking is spacious at the Chiva Falls Trailhead, elevation 3,940 feet.  

It is worth taking a moment to study the Redington Pass Recreation Area placard. It labels the trailhead as the Three Feathers Staging Area. The OHV routes spiraling from Redington Road are well documented on the internet. Of note, we saw Jeeps and Broncos but no dedicated OHVs. 

Forest Service roads to the falls require a modified 4WD vehicle--no getting around that. The track crosses a cattle guard immediately, rises 40 feet, and then winds down, losing 300 feet while bearing generally east on FSR 4417. Elevation gain (to and fro) is acquired simply by traversing across the rolling terrain on the northern slopes of the Rincon Mountains, specifically snow-capped Mica Mountain.   

The Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains form one of the largest metamorphic core complexes on Earth. The ranges are primarily composed of granite and gneiss, exposed by geological uplift. The hike begins within the Redington Road Granite Formation. While walking on crushed granite or hopping from one bedrock boulder to the next, notice the large interlocking quartz, feldspar, and mica crystals. The coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock formed from molten magma that cooled slowly deep underground, allowing large crystals time to grow. The hike stays within this formation to Tanque Verde Wash.

When we arrived on this platform three drivers were scouting the first serious 4WD challenge, image-left. 

On our return we watched a Jeep crawl up the pitch. To be honest, I was happy to be on my feet and not riding shotgun. (THW, photo) 

 

The scenery on this hike gets mixed reviews on the internet, some disparaging. Like most hikers, we avoid walking on roads if a trail is a viable choice. On our hike we had a friend along who was unfamiliar with the Sonoran Desert. He was smitten with the landscape, the "green trees, saguaros, snow on the mountaintop." He's a motorhead, so passing vehicles were a pleasure, not an annoyance. 

We hopped over a couple of flowing rivulets, an auspicious sign for water in the falls. Cross a tributary of Tanque Verde Canyon at 1.4 miles, 3,680 feet, the low point in the hike, shown. Be aware that none of the waterways on this hike are perennial so carry all the water you will need.  

 

Redington is cattle country which explains the cattle guards and numerous tanks named on maps. Arrive at exceptionally large Chiva Tank at 2.5 miles. The catchment captures rainwater runoff, a water supply for roaming cattle.  

The road crosses the earthen berm impounding the water. 

After passing the tank, bear right onto a singletrack, shown. It is a 0.6 mile reprieve from the road. The shortcut is shown on CalTopo's MapBuilder. 

For many years I have dreamed of exploring all the bare rock features on the vast summit expanse of Mica Mountain. Helens Dome, 8,364', is one of the objects of my desire, dangling 4,550 feet above us on the singletrack. (THW, photo)  

Off the road, no motos, the air untroubled, we were in an envelope of silence. Snowmelt on the upper mountain will coalesce in Joaquin Canyon and drop over the falls within the folds of the mountain. Below, the canyon is visible cutting north just left of the summit. It makes an arc to the northwest and comes to rest in Tanque Verde Canyon. 

(THW, photo)  

The hike passes through two biozones. The lower elevation is Sonoran desert scrub and above that is semi-desert grassland. From the intimacy of a trail I notice more detail than when I'm walking on a road. The footpath passes through a mesquite bosque with numerous tall barrel cactus, cholla, ocotillo, and an occasional saguaro. The attention-getter was a positively ancient redberry juniper. The shreddy bark is a distinguishing characteristic, so different than that of alligator junipers. Redberry juniper has a central erect stem with lower branches originating near the ground.

For a moment we were entirely enveloped in the embrace of the witness tree, surely hundreds of years old.

The pleasant trail rejoins the track at the intersection of three roads. Head south on unsigned FSR 4405. Tanque Verde Wash at 3.3 miles was braided and a little hard to sort with three crossings, including the confluence with Joaquin Canyon. We were not entirely successful in keeping our boots dry. 

Arizona Sycamore grow haphazardly along the banks of the wash. They like to keep their feet wet. They are prevalent in riparian areas of Madrean Sky Islands. I am forever delighted by the idiosyncratic jointed trunks with their mottled white and brown bark resembling puzzle pieces. These mature trees have reached their maximum height of 100 feet.  

When we returned to Tanque Verde Wash in the afternoon about 30 Jeeps from a club in Tucson were getting ready to bust back out the road. They were friendly and happy people, anxious to talk with us about the falls. This was their destination and turnaround. One woman said she'd "been out the road a thousand times but never to the falls." Imagine that! (THW, photo)  

The ephemeral nature of emerald green in the desert provides a sharp contrast with old trees and even older rock.

Not far beyond Tanque Verde is the contact zone between Redington Road Granite and Catalina Gneiss, an even more truly ancient basement rock. Gneiss forms from metamorphism, where intense heat and pressure deep within the Earth's crust recrystallizes older, original granitic rocks. This process causes minerals to segregate into light-colored bands of quartz and feldspar, along with darker layers rich in mica. Banding is characteristic of Catalina Gneiss, a Precambrian formation that makes up the core of the Santa Catalina Mountains and extends southeastward into the Rincon Mountains.  

At 4.0 miles FSR 4405 branches to the right, shown. Stay straight (southeast) on FSR 4405A. (Hikers who climb to the top of the falls will return on FSR 4405.)

 

The track pitches down toward Joaquin Canyon. Pictured below, the driver on the left is watching his buddy take the more difficult line. A couple of times we all thought for sure he was going to roll his vehicle but thankfully he pulled it off. Watching these exploits was highly entertaining for our visiting friend. Before doing this hike you have to wrap your head around the notion that this is not a wilderness experience. 

 

Looking northwest from the rim of Joaquin Canyon, Agua Caliente Hill spans the mid-point between the Rincon and Santa Catalina mountains. Learning that the ranges, right here and over there, share the same basement rock unifies them in a way I didn't understand until now. I realize this is nerdy but I find that deeply emotional.  

 

The road skims along the south side of the canyon. Reverberating tones preceded the careening fall. The bank of intimidating cliffs offered a clue to its whereabouts. Exciting!

 

Ah, there it is hiding in the shadows.

When we arrived at Chiva Falls at 4.4 miles, they were cranking. Agitated water flushed into a circular plunge pool. We located a social trail upcanyon-right and clambered over boulders to the pool's fringe where spent water passes through a boulder squeeze. The encircling wall of hard ancient rock is softened by flora tucked in crevices. The total height of the falls is widely held to be 75 feet but according to the World Waterfall Database recent LiDAR data (January 19, 2025) indicates the tallest drop is 95 feet. The website documents other waterfalls within five miles of Chiva: Bridal Wreath and Tanque Verde. High on the wall to the right we spotted a cave. (THW, photo)  

 

This image of the spillover was snapped from the plunge pool. Sharpen your eyes to differentiate between banding and streaks of black, water-varnished patina. We visited the falls on a post-frontal windy day. Gusts whipped up fluvial mists into broad and random spray clouds that evaporated high in the sky. The falls face north-northwest. They are in full sun for a few hours in late afternoon, April through August. Fun fact contributed by my partner: there is a whopping 47 degree difference in the angle of the sun between the summer and winter solstices, stemming from Earth's 23.5° axial tilt. (THW, photo)  

The cave looked appealing so we worked up and over to it upcanyon-right. The traverse is short but it is exposed and the rock is slippery even when dry. Be sure your hand and footholds are secure. The optional spur is not for everyone. 

This multi-stitched photo was snapped from the slippery ledge near the cave. It gives an excellent perspective on water streaming freely for 95 feet. (THW, photo)  

 

The cave is surprisingly deep with what appears to be a thickly smoked ceiling from prehistoric times. From the opening we could view the falls from behind the ribbon. Be mindful for your safely. A slip would be catastrophic. There are reports of successful 15 to 20-foot downclimbs from the cave to a ledge behind the falls below the cave entrance. This might be a viable option when the rock is dry. For us, the wind blew water onto the friction pitch and it was too treacherous to attempt. This maneuver is not recommended by Earthline.   

We wanted to stand on the lip of the overfall so we traversed back out from the cave and found a very faint social trail pitching up the slope. We climbed steeply for 150 feet on slick rock (some literally covered in ice) and helpful platforms of resurrection moss. We found ourselves in a floral micro environment. Coralbells are favored by hummingbirds and prefer living in the shade of large rocks. They have traditional medicinal uses as powerful astringents and anti-inflammatories. 

Even more unusual were multiple pine-needle milkweed plants growing on the slope. The clustered white flowers (March through December) provide food for Queen and Monarch butterflies and caterpillars. The fruit of the plant is a tear-shaped sack that splits open vertically to release seeds, shown. Please note that this milkweed is poisonous to humans and animals and its sap is a skin irritant.  

This image looks down on our upclimb and a group of people admiring the falls.

 

We've more yet to climb. (THW, photo)  

Bypasses are rarely efficient and this one put us well above the pouroff. But what a rapturous and dazzling view! 

(THW, photo)  

 

It took some finagling to the east to drop safely down into Joaquin Canyon. We moved toward the top of the falls on Catalina Gneiss showing off its white and gray banding. 

 

We could sense the frothy excitement and anticipation of water. (THW, photo)  

We wiggled through gigantic blocks hoping to stand at the pouroff but that proved to be impossible. This image gives a clear view of how far we got at 5.1 miles, 4,040 feet. We were surprised to learn the waterfall has two tiers. That was not decipherable from the plunge pool. The first is a 12 foot drop into a small pool guiding water toward the freefall. Our wish to stand at the lip of the falls was denied but we did get a closeup view of the top of the waterfall. We chilled out there for a long time eating our picnic lunches while celebrating Chiva. (THW, photo)  

 

To return, we walked upstream a few steps reveling in the waters of Joaquin Canyon, resurrection moss on slabs of stone, and the shear massiveness of Mica Mountain.

We did not want to descend on the steep and slippery slope back to the plunge pool. Instead, we climbed away from the stream to the southwest and contacted the end and turnaround of FSR 4405B. It may seem counterintuitive but gently ascend on the track southwest (shown) to the high point of the hike at 4,180 feet. Turn north on FSR 4405 at 5.6 miles. The helpful road passed through a lush environment adorned with beargrass, Arizona oak, turpentine bush, Engelmann pricklypear, and rainbow mammillaria. We closed the loop at 6.0 miles and retraced our steps to the trailhead. 

 

I'd like to thank our friend Tom (on the right below) for joining us on this hike. Walking on a road may seem subpar for a strong hiker but he was enthusiastic every step of the way. He actualized Jimi Hendrick's profound words. May Chiva Falls work its rainbow magic on all of us who travel there, one way or another.

I can see my rainbow calling me, 

through the misty breeze of my waterfall