Hiking up Escondido Falls

Today Gina and I decided to hike up the falls in Bisbee, instead of hiking down Sandy Bob Canyon. She had done that yesterday with Steve A, so why go back there again? The falls turned out to be an idyllic setting, as we sat there a long time taking photos.

This time Gina showed me the trail to get to the falls, a discreet, unmarked trail across state land that one accesses from the highway. I was worried about the dogs as I only had one leash, and traffic was busy here. I parked on the side of the trail and we quickly ascended.

The trail is very easy to follow. Several impressive rock formations hang out there. Gina and I took lots of photos. The dogs enjoyed this short trail, as no one else was up here. Everyone else was down at street level, where I had been a few days ago. Being up close to the falls today was more fun!

These falls are quite impressive from above. The water plummets in stages over slab rock. The water was still coming down hard, but we were able to sit on the rocks for a long time and enjoy the scenery. The dogs stayed nearby, although once Minnie found a stick she was unstoppable in wanting to play fetch again.

Another photography couple were coming uphill from the street, taking the hard way up. The dogs began barking at them, so when they got closer, I moved away so that the dogs wouldn't be a nuisance. As it turned out, once the couple got to Gina, the dogs were fine. They were just giving the couple their warning bark.

I was wet from the back side, and the jeans wouldn't dry too easily. We easily spent two hours here, talking and taking pictures and looking at the falls from various angles. We didn't hike as much as we sat and just enjoyed the surrounding beauty. Dark clouds lingered over the hills but no rain fell. Skies over Sierra Vista were clear

We opted then to drive to Bisbee and do the hike up to the cross, but the dark clouds over the town only got darker. The rain clouds hovered only over Bisbee. We then opted to walk up Brewery Gulch to follow the water, which was coming up from Zacatecas canyon. Flash floods had eroded the rock road quite badly, surely stranding the people in the upper canyon. I have never seen water come down the road like this.

We turned around at the trailhead, returned to the truck that was parked in the road, and stopped at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company for two beers each. We sat and chatted, chatted with others, ate popcorn, watched locals play in the water coming down the street, all while the dogs rested. A short but intense downpour did come down, but all was dry again when we finally left town at 4pm. There's still some flood damage in Old Bisbee, with one home owner's retaining wall dirt collapsing. Every time there's a massive flood in Bisbee, someone loses a retaining wall and part of their home as the hillside flows into their home.