White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Waterfall Canyon Trail, Arizona- March 2011

[Dr. Nebz]

Well I finally made it out for my first hike for 2011. We traveled to Arizona for spring break, and I was able to take a day with my wife and go for a walkabout. The White Tank Mountains sit north of Phoenix, and they are a beautiful range. Saguaro Cactus and tons of desert fauna and flora. We had a limited amount of time, so we decided to head for the Waterfall Canyon Trail. The reason why they call these mountains "White Tanks" is that the rains have scoured out a series of step down pools that have cleaned off the "desert varnish" as the ranger called it(rocks coated with magnesium and iron). The run off strips this coloring off where the pools are and they really are white tanks of water. It was a pretty hike and a perfect day to be out there. 88 degrees, sunny skies. As we headed in the trail about a 1/2 mile, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake came sliding over the trail about 25 ft in front of us. I scrambled to get the camera out, and the pic in this report is the best one I got. He was quick, and only gave us a shake of the tail, it never really got agitated. Just a "Hey, I'm coming through, please don't step on me" rattle. There are 8 species of rattler in this range- crazy! We continued up and there is a section of the trail where there are petroglyphs. We continued on, just taking it all in. We did see, right before the upper section, 3 Turkey Vultures circling the drainage. They were awesome, but not easy to photograph. We continued on, and finally made it to the falls and the tank they fall into. It was just a trickle, for they have been really dry for a long time. To see the tank, you have to do a 5-7 foot free climb on really slick granite with sand all over it. Man, that was a workout. As you would expect, the down climbing was much harder. But we made it, and scrambled up the east side to find a spot to just relax. We ate lunch and took a ton of pictures. Finally it was time to go, we had tickets that night to spring training for MLB with a Cactus League game Mariners vs KC Royals. It was great to be hiking again, and I can't wait till Utah warms up and I can go get lost here. Cheers!

[bowjunkie]

nice TR !!!

[americanhero]

I love the park, one of my favorites for sunrise shots. Tons of photo opportunities.
I guess no water was running down the fall. It's best viewed after some heavy rain.
By the way, great shots, I wanna go back.

[Dr. Nebz]

I love the park, one of my favorites for sunrise shots. Tons of photo opportunities.
I guess no water was running down the fall. It's best viewed after some heavy rain.
By the way, great shots, I wanna go back.

Thanks!

Yeah, last year we did the Mesquite Canyon to Ford Canyon Loop as well, because we had more days to hike last year. There was a lot more water in the tanks last year because of how wet their winter was. It was gushing last year when we were there. It was just a trickle this year. This was the first time I have seen a rattler there. Usually see lizards and maybe some other snakes, but never like the one I saw. It was awesome! I love it down there this time of year. It was 88-90 everyday we were there. I wore socks snowboarding today for the first time in 6 days. Was such a weird transition from summer temps to freezing cold snow and wind today up LCC.

[americanhero]

There was a lot more water in the tanks last year because of how wet their winter was. It was gushing last year when we were there. It was just a trickle this year. This was the first time I have seen a rattler there. Usually see lizards and maybe some other snakes, but never like the one I saw.

totally agree!!
Last year there was lot of winter rain in the area and also many wildflowers.
Did you see any so far?
I did some hiking in the White Tanks as well beside my Saguaro photo shooting.

It was awesome! I love it down there this time of year. It was 88-90 everyday we were there. I wore socks snowboarding today for the first time in 6 days. Was such a weird transition from summer temps to freezing cold snow and wind today up LCC.

Yeah, I'm also missing the cozy temperatures. Instead of heading to the Phoenix area I spent a few days in Death Valley. And coming back to Buffalo was one of the hardest things I had to do. So I can figure out how this transition feels.

[Dr. Nebz]

totally agree!!
Last year there was lot of winter rain in the area and also many wildflowers. Did you see any so far?

It seemed because of the record cold they got down there this year, that everything was just blooming there. I bet in a week or two it will be amazing. I did shoot a couple of wild flowers there, but mostly everything was still green, no flowers on most of the plants yet.

[Wasatch]

Nice pics.

[accadacca]

Looks like an excellent trip. Cool pix!

[Dr. Nebz]

Looks like an excellent trip. Cool pix!

It was nice to just be out there again. Thanks!