Elves Chasm April 1997
In April 1997 Daniel, Douglas, Tom and I went down the Bass trail
and out to Elves Chasm. We were in for 10 nights and had an incredible trip...
The view from the trailhead. (45.9KB)
Here I am, carrying 70 lbs!
I'd only been hiking for 20 minutes at this point so I was still smiling.
(29.4KB)
Here's Daniel shortly before he
ran me over. Only kidding...he's my best buddy and has led all the
wilderness trips I've taken into the canyon. He's also a wonderful
trail cook. (28.6KB)
We spent the night about a third of the way down, at about
4800 feet. Here's a view accross the canyon of
holy grail temple and Dox Castle. (44.5KB, 19.4KB)
A view of the trail that we were to
take the next day. Quite far down. (38.1KB)
Douglas (on L) and Daniel wearing everything they have as
the first day ends. Yes, that's snow on the rim in the
background. (47.7KB)
Sunset on the tonto, second night.
A storm had just moved around us but we stayed dry. (13.3KB)
Sunrise the next morning.
Still quite chilly. (20.1KB)
A view accross the river.
It was clearing but there was still enough moisture in the air to
give the canyon a rare sense of depth. (51.7KB)
The route from Garnet to Elves. Four days into the hike.
Very rugged and tiring for about three miles. That's the
trail in the lower left corner of the second picture. We had
cached a lot of stuff in Garnet canyon. (18.3KB, 25.7KB)
The required Elves chasm lower
falls photo. (53.3KB)
Afternoon light at Elves. It
was beginning to warm up but there was still a lot of moisture in the air.
(39.6KB)
Explorer's monument
accross the river from Elves. (33.0KB)
You're not allowed to camp at Elves, so we camped on the
beach about a quarter mile upriver.
Daniel is cooking. Every morning I woke before dawn and sat by the
river as it got light. (10.8KB)
Every night we got to watch
comet Hale-Bopp set over the moonlit canyon walls.
This is a 1-minute exposure on 200-speed film. Very bright comet. (5.4KB)
Elves chasm is a cascade of small waterfalls going up
a good thousand feet. The highlight of the trip is the climb
to upper Elves. You find beautiful
pools and waterfalls, like this one with Daniel. (42.3KB)
Here we are cavorting in one of the pools (this picture has
been censored). It had gotten quite hot by this time.
(35.5KB)
The crew. Left to right: me, Daniel, Douglas and Tom. (27.9KB)
Some of the native wildlife several hundred feet up elves. (13.1KB)
A very special spot. (55.6KB)
The first few hundred feet up elves are not too hard. To go
higher you have to be a very good climber. Douglas was the only one
of us who could get that far
without assistance, so he
pushed us and came after. I am forever in his debt for getting me
up there. (16.9KB)
Upper Elves is a wonderland of
rocks, water and textures. We all felt that we had entered another
realm of creation. (43.9KB)
A wall encircled us,
alive with water, color and shapes. We agreed that we had entered a
womb... (59.1KB)
We felt so small there, but completely at peace. (20.2KB)
Water dripping down the wall. The water falls maybe 50 feet. (55.9KB)
We stayed three nights at elves. Hiking back early
in the morning, I was leading and found a
small rattlesnake curled up on the trail. I saw it when I was about
seven feet from it. The temperature was cold and the snake was very slow:
it twice lifted its head to look at me then curled up again. We finally
got it to move off the trail by stomping our feet. It is a great honor
to see a rattlesnake, since they run and hide from us whenever they can.
This encounter didn't bother me at all. Of course I had just been
seriously frightened by a bighorn sheep about thirty minutes before...
(22.4KB)
Relaxing in Garnet canyon. It was now far too hot to hike during
the day. (14.7KB)
Reflections in Garnet canyon. (32.2KB)
The next day I left the campsite after the others had gone,
and then fell hard onto lava rock. A good definition of lava rock is
"rock that when you look at it you think 'I really don't want to
fall down on that stuff!'". I learned several things in this
incident: I can take care of myself in a crisis, that it really matters
where you carry your first aid kit (I had it right), that falling
on lava rock isn't as bad as it looks (though it's pretty bad) and that I can
fall and take a serious gash then hike and it's OK.
This is what I
looked like when I caught up with the guys two hours later. (33.3KB)
A very big agave plant. Daniel, 6'1" tall, is standing next
to it. (16.0KB)
On the hike out we took a shortcut known as the climber's
route. For the most part it wasn't too bad so long as we
stayed together and were careful. There was one place where
we had to take off our packs and do a
little climbing (36.0KB, 19.0KB)
In the end, a very happy group. (41.3KB)
back to Steve's Canyon page
The view from the trailhead. (45.9KB)
Here I am, carrying 70 lbs!
I'd only been hiking for 20 minutes at this point so I was still smiling.
(29.4KB)
Here's Daniel shortly before he
ran me over. Only kidding...he's my best buddy and has led all the
wilderness trips I've taken into the canyon. He's also a wonderful
trail cook. (28.6KB) 
We spent the night about a third of the way down, at about
4800 feet. Here's a view accross the canyon of
holy grail temple and Dox Castle. (44.5KB, 19.4KB) 
A view of the trail that we were to
take the next day. Quite far down. (38.1KB)
Douglas (on L) and Daniel wearing everything they have as
the first day ends. Yes, that's snow on the rim in the
background. (47.7KB) 
Sunset on the tonto, second night.
A storm had just moved around us but we stayed dry. (13.3KB) 
Sunrise the next morning.
Still quite chilly. (20.1KB) 
A view accross the river.
It was clearing but there was still enough moisture in the air to
give the canyon a rare sense of depth. (51.7KB) 
The route from Garnet to Elves. Four days into the hike.
Very rugged and tiring for about three miles. That's the
trail in the lower left corner of the second picture. We had
cached a lot of stuff in Garnet canyon. (18.3KB, 25.7KB)
The required Elves chasm lower
falls photo. (53.3KB)
Afternoon light at Elves. It
was beginning to warm up but there was still a lot of moisture in the air.
(39.6KB) 
Explorer's monument
accross the river from Elves. (33.0KB) 
You're not allowed to camp at Elves, so we camped on the
beach about a quarter mile upriver.
Daniel is cooking. Every morning I woke before dawn and sat by the
river as it got light. (10.8KB) 
Every night we got to watch
comet Hale-Bopp set over the moonlit canyon walls.
This is a 1-minute exposure on 200-speed film. Very bright comet. (5.4KB) 
Elves chasm is a cascade of small waterfalls going up
a good thousand feet. The highlight of the trip is the climb
to upper Elves. You find beautiful
pools and waterfalls, like this one with Daniel. (42.3KB)
Here we are cavorting in one of the pools (this picture has
been censored). It had gotten quite hot by this time.
(35.5KB) 
The crew. Left to right: me, Daniel, Douglas and Tom. (27.9KB) 
Some of the native wildlife several hundred feet up elves. (13.1KB)
A very special spot. (55.6KB)
The first few hundred feet up elves are not too hard. To go
higher you have to be a very good climber. Douglas was the only one
of us who could get that far
without assistance, so he
pushed us and came after. I am forever in his debt for getting me
up there. (16.9KB) 
Upper Elves is a wonderland of
rocks, water and textures. We all felt that we had entered another
realm of creation. (43.9KB) 
A wall encircled us,
alive with water, color and shapes. We agreed that we had entered a
womb... (59.1KB) 
We felt so small there, but completely at peace. (20.2KB) 
Water dripping down the wall. The water falls maybe 50 feet. (55.9KB) 
We stayed three nights at elves. Hiking back early
in the morning, I was leading and found a
small rattlesnake curled up on the trail. I saw it when I was about
seven feet from it. The temperature was cold and the snake was very slow:
it twice lifted its head to look at me then curled up again. We finally
got it to move off the trail by stomping our feet. It is a great honor
to see a rattlesnake, since they run and hide from us whenever they can.
This encounter didn't bother me at all. Of course I had just been
seriously frightened by a bighorn sheep about thirty minutes before...
(22.4KB) 
Relaxing in Garnet canyon. It was now far too hot to hike during
the day. (14.7KB) 
Reflections in Garnet canyon. (32.2KB) 
The next day I left the campsite after the others had gone,
and then fell hard onto lava rock. A good definition of lava rock is
"rock that when you look at it you think 'I really don't want to
fall down on that stuff!'". I learned several things in this
incident: I can take care of myself in a crisis, that it really matters
where you carry your first aid kit (I had it right), that falling
on lava rock isn't as bad as it looks (though it's pretty bad) and that I can
fall and take a serious gash then hike and it's OK.
This is what I
looked like when I caught up with the guys two hours later. (33.3KB)
A very big agave plant. Daniel, 6'1" tall, is standing next
to it. (16.0KB) 
On the hike out we took a shortcut known as the climber's
route. For the most part it wasn't too bad so long as we
stayed together and were careful. There was one place where
we had to take off our packs and do a
little climbing (36.0KB, 19.0KB)
In the end, a very happy group. (41.3KB)