Thursday, March 23, 2023
Ice Box Canyon, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, NV
I've hiked this canyon before, and once, during active rain, when the water was flowing even higher than on this day.
Still, it was great hiking weather, a bit cool, but not cold, and, as mentioned, the water was running strong. With continued rain, I expect at least a decent flow on into April. Unlikiely I'll make this particular hike, again, but I wasn't able to visit Lost Canyon falls this trip, so likely I'll want to hit that by the end of the month. Maybe also Oak Creek, another short hike to a small falls.
On a somewhat related note, my America the Beautiful pass expires this month, and I always like getting in as many hikes as possible before it does. Yes, I'll buy a new one later in the year. But, who knows? Might be able to put that off into May, if I manage to schedule only not-federal fee area hikes in April.
Of course, because the recent rains have been so persistent, I wasn't the only one who had this idea of visiting Red Rock's waterfalls. The preferred parking area for Ice Box Canyon was full when I drove by that afternoon, so I had to continue on the one-way loop. But, no problem, I figured. I got the idea that I could just start from the Pine Canyon trailhead, then take "Dale's Trail" up to intersect with the Ice Box Canyon trail.
On the plus side, yes, this will work. On the minus side, I forgot how up-and-down Dale's trail is. Although probably less than two miles from Pine Creek trailhead to the junction with Ice Box, it took me about ninety minutes to get there. And since I started late (entered just before 3pm), I knew I was going to be pressing things to try to get to the waterfall, then back to my car, and out the gate by 7pm (when, in March, the loop road officially closes).
I mean, Dale's trail scenic enough. But I had forgotten how up-and-down this trail was, and it sure felt longer than I thought it would be. Also, even once on Ice Box, the high water meant there were lots of stream crossings, and detours up canyon side trails to try to get around the natural barriers in the creekbed. So, despite this being at least the 4th or 5th time up this trail, I wasn't moving very quickly, even once I was on the trail.
I think it was about 5:30pm by the time I got to the waterfall, which meant getting back to the car and out by 7pm was going to be tough. It would have been easy if I was parked at the Ice Box trailhead, but I already knew it would take me nearly 90 minutes just to get from Dale's trail back to Pine Creek (maybe a little less, since it's a net downhill hike on the return). So I walked rather swiftly. And, it being somewhat downhill, and over familiar ground, the return down Ice Box Canyon was definitely quicker than the way out.
I then decided I could move quicker along the paved road (despite it being longer) than along Dale's trail, so I went that way. After all, two miles on pavement, downhill, that's less than 40 minutes. So I wound up getting back to my car about 6:57pm, and reached the exit in my car at 7:01pm. No ranger handing out tickets, and the gate was open.
I don't know how strict they are at ticketing, but, so far, and I've never been more than a few minutes late out the gate. Do things change if you're 15 or 20 minutes late? Don't know, but prefer not to find out the hard way!
So about five miles of hiking for the day. As noted, great day for hiking, and very scenic with the water flowing.
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