Lower Sycamore Canyon is ablaze with fall colors. [photo by Dave]

16 intrepid Trailblazers begin their descent into colorful
Sycamore Canyon. [Picture by Wayne]

From the spectacular fall colors seen in this picture taken by Dave near the trailhead, it appears that we made the right call by delaying the trip for a week.

On this beautiful mid-November day, we’re still a week or two away from peak fall colors, but the seven additional nights of near-freezing weather in the canyon have prompted the towering sycamores, cottonwoods, and Arizona walnuts sprawled along the creek bed to transform their thick canopy of leaves from a bright green to a gorgeous golden yellow.

Reflection Pool on Sycamore Creek. [photo by Chuck]

The first 3.7 miles we plan to explore today will be a bit challenging for many, but the remaining 16+ miles of Upper Sycamore Canyon beyond Parsons Spring is even more rugged, daunting, and challenging for the most experienced of backpackers. But our goal for today is simply to reach Parsons Spring, take a rest break, and then make the return hike back to the trailhead before nightfall descends into the depths of Sycamore Canyon.

Shortly after reaching the canyon floor and doing a bit of impromptu exploring, we discover this perfectly still and mirror-like pool of water without even the slightest of ripples to disturb the virtually perfect reflection of the sky and surrounding canopy of thick foliage hugging both banks of Sycamore Creek. In addition to Parsons Spring, several smaller springs along the trail feed a steady flow of year-round water into Lower Sycamore Canyon, creating one of the richest habitats in the natural world for a wide variety of wildlife ranging from great blue herons, black bears, and Golden eagles to badgers, bobcats, and mountain lions.

Parsons Spring pumps 5,000 gallons of fresh spring water per minute into Sycamore Creek year-round. Summers Spring and a couple of other smaller seeps and springs along the creek add their own waters to the mix, resulting in a continuous and constant flow of water into Lower Sycamore Canyon. Most of this water flows within the first four miles of the canyon as it forms numerous pools, varying in size and depth, small waterfalls, and long stretches of creek bubbling and gurgling over large moss-covered boulders lining the creek bed. This is what it looks like under normal and ideal conditions. What it looks like after a heavy summer rainstorm has pounded the Upper Sycamore Canyon watershed with up to six inches or more of rain is another picture altogether, and not a pretty one at that. At this point we’ll just say the canyon floor along the creek is about the last place you would want to be under such conditions.

Isaac, Diana, Cyd, and Regina do their best to hold up a huge section of cottonwood that has split off from the main trunk and is about to collapse onto the trail at any moment. From the blackened areas around the split, it appears that lightning probably struck the tree. When this happens the water within the tree trunk turns to instant steam, causing some trees to literally explode into hundreds of fragments. In this case it simply split off a major fork from the main trunk, leaving the rest of the tree intact. This section of tree trunk weighs at least a ton or more, and every fiber of arm muscles is straining to the breaking point trying to support its massive weight and bulk and keep it from crushing them right into the ground like insects. I take their picture for the record and then casually move on in search of something more exciting to photograph. I would help but I have a bad back, so good luck guys.

Trailblazers negotiate the first of five creek crossings between the trailhead and Parsons Spring. Fortunately for us, the water level in Sycamore Creek has dropped after last Saturdays rainstorm in the area, exposing all of the critical rocks and boulders at the crossings and enabling us to stay high and dry as we criss-cross back and forth across the creek on our way to the spring. After the hike was completed I realized that we had collectively made 160 individual crossings over this creek without a single mishap. I would call that a pretty darned good track record with both a lot of skill and a bit of luck involved.

[photos by Wayne]

This canyon has a long and torturous history of violent flash floods, which periodically send 10-20 foot walls of raging muddy water and debris roaring down the full length of the canyon and into the Verde River. Severe flooding in 1980 wiped out most of the Parsons Spring Trail, uprooting hundreds of giant cottonwood and sycamore trees and sending them tearing down the canyon like great battering rams. Then in the spring of 1993 the stage was set for another monster flash flood which sent an even larger volume of floodwater sweeping through the canyon, almost totally obliterating the trail once again. This time it was completely realigned with large segments relocated higher above the canyon floor to minimize future destruction.

Scenic view from the ledge. [photo by Cyd]

Scenic view from the ledge. [photo by Chuck]

The ledge narrows down considerably in several places, requiring a delicate sense of balance, some fancy footwork, and even a little butt-sliding to avoid an impromptu plunge and a swim in the creek. Large chunks of rock submerged in the dark waters just below these narrow sections of ledge are testimony to rocks breaking away from the main ledge at some point in time.

When we last did this hike ten years ago I don’t remember encountering these really narrow sections of ledge, which leads me to conclude that the collapses occurred within the last ten years. So a good point to be made here is not to spend any longer than necessary getting across these ledges.

At the same time, though, some of the best photo-ops and best scenery along the entire trail are to be found along this same ledge. Cyd and I take advantage of that and stop only long enough to take in the spectacular views and attempt to record them with our cameras. She is performing The Great Canon/Samsung Shoot-Out on this day to determine once and for all which of her two cameras takes the best overall pictures. It’s a pretty tough job all right, but someone has to do it. The combination of the beautiful yellow fall foliage against the red rock background, reflected on the still waters of Sycamore Creek, is definitely one of the high points of this hike.

We arrive at the largest of the pools along Sycamore Creek a little past 12:30 and decide this is the perfect spot to stop and eat lunch. As I look around and soak in this magnificent landscape, I can’t recall a more beautiful lunch spot on any of hundreds of previous hikes throughout Arizona, with the possible exception of somewhere along Bright Angel Creek on the North Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon.

Isaac and his Mom, Regina, pause after lunch for a quick family photo op.

This is their first hike with the Arizona Trailblazers, and they are having such a great time today I’m sure we’ll see them both again on a future hike.

As tempting as it is to spend the next few hours right here, we need to keep moving if we’re to have enough time to reach Parsons Spring and then turn around for the 3.7-mile hike back to the trailhead before it gets dark in this canyon. And when the sun dips below the rim of the canyon, especially at this time of year, you don’t have a whole lot of time to dawdle before you start losing light.

So Diana and Cyd saddle up and prepare to hit the trail once again for the last leg of the hike to Parsons Spring. Let’s move out, Trailblazers!

This picture would have been a nearly perfect “face in the rock” except for the collapse of the left “eye”. But it’s still a good example of the many holes and caves we see in the Redwall limestone walls and cliffs throughout the canyon.

In addition to the visible holes and caves seen from the trail, some of these walls are also riddled internally with numerous caverns, both large and small, created by either rainwater or groundwater flowing through and slowly dissolving the rock over eons of time.

Of course this is the exact same process that produces vast cave systems everywhere, including Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave, as well as Kartchner Caverns right here in Arizona.

What can we say here? If Rudy is involved no explanation is actually required. It just goes without saying.

The real Parsons Spring at last. [photo by Wayne]

The spring continues beyond this point for another 100 yards or so, and it’s possible to bushwhack your way up the canyon for another mile or two. But thick plant growth and large boulders choking the canyon make the going pretty tough for all but the most determined and persistent of hikers. So, like most, we make this our turn-around point and after a short rest break begin the long trek back to the trailhead. It’s tempting to stay longer, but we certainly don’t want to be caught down in this canyon after dark.

If you can positively identify this little critter and just how it came to be here in the middle of the trail, this is your lucky day, pal. Because then you get the # 8 Combo at Concho’s Mexican Restaurant (see last picture below). Not sure just who’s going to pay for it, mind you, but we can discuss that later.

I cannot resist taking one last picture before making our way out of this magnificent canyon. But one thing is for darned sure. We are definitely not going to wait another ten years before putting Parsons Spring back on the calendar again.

The last of the Trailblazers manage to make it out of Sycamore Canyon before dark, but just barely. The sun is already below the horizon as we struggle uphill to make that last stretch of trail and finally the set of log steps to the very top of the trail. Then we have to deal with the Hunchback, and he is one ornery son-of-a-gun. He always waits for stragglers coming out of the canyon after sunset. Sorry for not elaborating more, but what happens next will be the subject of a future trip report.

After the hike some of our hikers decide to call it a day and head back to Phoenix, while most of the group finally arrives back in Clarkdale well after dark, almost hungry enough by now to eat boiled boot leather.

However, since we don’t have enough fuel on hand to boil that much water (heck, we don’t even have a camp stove either for that matter), we settle instead on some good Mexican food at Concho’s Mexican Restaurant in the heart of downtown Clarkdale.