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This page last updated on 06/15/2017
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| (Fig. 01) |
03/03/2016 Trip Notes: Today Robert Croke, Blake Smith and I made a second visit to First Creek in the Red Rock National Conservation Area. Click here for info on our first hike to this location ...
First Creek Canyon and Falls Hike - (RRCNCA). Our main goal of today's trip was to hike down into the wash of First Creek and approach the "plunge pool" (Fig. 01) below the area of the creek's "pour-over"/waterfall. We climbed down into the wash several hundred yards down stream from the plunge pool. As we hiked west up the wash , we estimated that the water was flowing downstream at a rate of nearly 3 to 4 gallons/minute. As we hike our way up the wash we encountered several small spillovers where water was collecting in small pools (Figs. 02-04). In some of the areas we even found some examples amphibians in the form of small frogs and water spiders (Fig. 05). After some minor scrambling we eventually found our way to the area of the pour-over. (Con't below)
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| (Fig. 02) |
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| (Fig. 03) |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
Trip Notes Continued: Though water was seeping through the rocks at the base of the cliff face (Fig. 06), no water was flowing over the pour-over cliff. After spending considerable time enjoying this area and taking pictures (Fig. 07) we decided to exit the wash by climbing up the cliff on the south side of the plunge pool (Fig. 08). As we climbed up this rocky cliff side we had a nice view (Fig. 09) looking back downstream where we had previously hiked up. Once we reach the top we hiked along the ridge line and then back down into the wash above the pour-over. Peering over the pour-over, Bob captured a shot looking down into the plunge pool, the same as he had done on the previous visit (Fig. 10). The pictures in (Fig. 11) shows how much more water filled this area than it did on our previous visit. (Con't below)
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| (Fig. 06) |
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| (Fig. 07) |
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| (Fig. 08) |
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| (Fig. 09) |
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| (Fig. 10) |
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| (Fig. 11) |
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| (Fig. 12) |
Trip Notes Continued: The red line on the map in (Fig. 12) above show the hiking route that we took out and back. As you can see, we continued hiking for a little less than another half mile past the "pour-over". As we approached the mouth of the canyon, framed by the expressive Wilson Cliffs (Figs. 13 & 15), we hiked through some heavy vegetation and impressive trees. As slow as trees grow in the desert, we imagined that some of the huge trees that we passed had to be quite old (Fig. 14). Over the course of this hike from the trailhead at the parking area along Blue Diamond Road (NV-159, we reached an elevation of 4,000 feet, a gain of 500 feet. Estimating that we still had yet another mile into the canyon to reach the beginning of the creek, and an additional uphill climb of another 1,000 feet, we a decided to maybe tackle it another day. After enjoying a great view of White Pinnacle Peak, elevation 5,550, we finally made a decision to turn back. Even though we found no water flowing over the pour-over area, we still very much enjoyed seeing the amount of water flowing down First Creek and the surrounding desert views.
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| (Fig. 13) |
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| (Fig. 14) |
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| (Fig. 15) |
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| (Fig. 16) |
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First Creek Canyon and Falls Hike - (RRCNCA)]
