February 22 -- Water, Water Everywhere -- A Hike To Ash Springs

Well, maybe not everywhere -- but it sure seemed like it. The snowmelt from the higher elevations are making the creeks run clear, cold and full, and this is probably the best time to be here if you want to see the creeks and waterfalls without all the bugs of the monsoons, with its summer rains. The forecast for the day was for 25mph-plus winds, so I headed out early and figured that if the winds did pan out,  I'd be somewhat protected in the canyons -- and I was. I knew where I wanted to go that day -- Ash Springs. I've done the hike many times before, but usually from the Greenhouse trailhead, approaching it from the other side. I tried the trail from the Herb Martyr trailhead last November, but it was blocked by a dead tree. Another reason I wanted to go to Ash Springs was to see the condition of Winn Falls. Two weeks ago it was a frozen sculpture, but it's been consistently warm so I figured it was "defrosted" by now. You can get faraway views of it while driving the road to Herb Martyr, but it's tough to see without binoculars and if you don't know where it is. Can you see it in this photo?

It's up there somewhere...It's at the top center in shadow, to the right and below the pyramid-shaped Spencer Peak. The grand scenery is impressive from here, but not the falls. I'd brought my 100-400 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter just in case there were any good birds, and to get closeup photos of the falls, one of the longest in Arizona with a 365-foot drop. So here is Winn Falls a bit closer -- 

You can just make it out in the center shadows.  A little closer --

And closer still --

Wow. Yes, I'd definitely say it's "defrosted"!  It's thin and ribbon-like, not thunderous. Airy, lacy and wraith-like. How's that for a description? However you want to describe it, it's beautiful. And somewhat unexpected here in the desert Southwest. But then, many things are unexpected here in the Chirichahuas. 

I reached the end of the road at Herb Martyr, strapped on my trusty ol' Mountainsmith fanny pack (it must be at least 15 years old, and still going strong), and took off in the direction of Ash Springs. 

I was planning on doing the loop back to Herb Martyr, a distance of only 2.5 miles. There was no wind yet, and the trail went through a mix of oak and pine trees interspersed with yucca -- a reminder that the Chiricahuas are a meeting place of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Not far up the trail is a pedestrian gate -- 

It has a bolt on it where the orange string is -- and it was jammed; I couldn't open the gate.  So I threw my pack to the other side, and climbed over. As I continued up the trail I could tell that water has rushed down it, cutting it deeper into the ground --

I'm always on the lookout for animal tracks as, well, I want to see what, if anything, might be nearby. I still whistle or cough while hiking, just so I don't surprise a critter around the corner. Hmmm, these tracks are...

Probably a dog's, as it turns out. And I'd seen horse poop further down the trail. My friend Helen said people take their horses up the Ash Springs trail, sometimes accompanied by their dogs. The print was old, anyway, as it was in the dried mud. I was both relieved and disappointed -- but I went on coughing and whistling. The views to the east opened up between the trees -- 

The trail goes into two drainages, with the first one being dry. Then it goes around a corner -- and you enter the Cima Creek drainage. It's a magical and somewhat unique place as it's a good example of a "microclimate"; it's protected and cooler than the surrounding land, so it has trees that you'd ordinarily see about 2000 feet above in the high Chiricahuas. This is looking up the trail; Cima Creek is below it, to the right in the drainage --

And this is looking back --

You can get some good birds in here; during past hikes I've seen Painted Redstart, House Wrens that are a Mexican subspecies, and head the hooting of an owl. The trail then dips and comes to the crossing of Cima Creek -- 

Absolutely gorgeous. And also, since it's running fast and a bit high, somewhat dicey to cross. As I'm hiking solo, I don't like to take chances, and those rocks look awfully slippery... So I take off my pack and take photos of Cima Creek.  I don't like to drag a tripod with me on hikes, and I'm getting pretty good at handholding my camera so I can use a lower shutter speed. And if I can find a tree or rock to further steady it, so much the better. This shot was taken at a shutter speed of 1 second --

I take one more look for the possibilities of crossing the creek. Nah, can't do it, so I head back. Have you ever noticed on an "out and back" hike that the "back" one always seems shorter than the one going "out"? All of a sudden, I'm back to the pedestrian gate. It's a bit harder to vault over as I got my leg into an awkward position. But everything's ok, and since I have time I head up the Herb Martyr Trail to Cave Creek --

It too has a somewhat dicey crossing, so I go back to the parking lot, stow my pack in Tundra, and visit Herb Martyr Dam and falls. 

It's a favorite spot of many visitors and residents -- and one can see why, especially when it's running so full. I experiment with shutter speeds and finally setting on 7/10ths of a second as the one that looks the best --

Here's looking down the canyon --

After having lunch at the dam, I head back down the road, come to the Southwest Research Station, and take a photo of another fork of Cave Creek that crosses the road --

Water, water everywhere...Here's the trans-Chiricahua road eventually going up and over to the west. Right now it's only open to the intersection with the road going to the tiny burg of Paradise (full-time population: about 3) --

I'd timed the hike perfectly; the wind begins to howl shortly after a return to Faranuf. The birds in the back yard seem to have glue on their feet; how can they stay on the exposed ground without getting blown away? You can see the dirt in the air as even Cave Creek Canyon looks hazy. It's a good time to stay inside and edit photos from my Ash Spring hike...