Visited Tanque Verde Falls Yesterday
Cross posted.
I hiked in today, starting at 10:20am and 92F. I parked at the "third" parking area; which is really just some small parking spots on the edge of the road.
The hike to the falls took 30 minutes. At the trailhead, I saw a couple leaving on the trail that I think goes straight to above the falls. I saw others hiking on this later in the trip.
I was the only one there and shed my clothes and hung out in the shade under the cliff. After about 20 minutes, a guy walked up, looking for the falls where you could cliff jump. He stood about 20 feet away, me sitting turned to the side. We talked for just a few minutes as I could not really hear him well over the sound of the water. He then turned and headed back downstream. I later saw him hiking out.
After about an hour, a military helicopter started a low pass up the canyon from downstream. I put my shorts back on, wanting to avoid possible trouble. I am sure they saw me anyway. As I watched it pass overhead, that is when I noticed a man standing on the cliff above the falls. He was nude, so I returned to my nude state also. He was watching the helicopter, not me. He then turned and continued up the trail. He was the only other nude person I saw the whole time.
Later I saw one other person up above, wearing shorts. I later saw him also hiking out.
After staying two hours, I then prepared to hike out. I put on some sunscreen, put my hydration pack back on and tied my shirt to my head for sun protection for my head and neck. Since I saw so few people the whole time, I carried my shorts rather than put them back on. I watched carefully for others the entire hike out, but saw no one. Hiking out nude was nice. I finally put my shorts back on when I got within sight of the road, near the top of the hill.
The day before, Tuesday, I hiked from the lower parking area up to the falls where people cliff jump. That hike took an hour and was more challenging. On Tuesday I also saw more cars up at the third parking area than I did on Wednesday.
Overall, I would definitely go again. I would like to test out the trail going straight to the beach area. But I definitely like being below the falls, in the shade. There was a nice breeze also.
Yeah, I hiked it once about a month ago. No running water at the time. Will check it out again soon.
Tanque Verde had lots of running water and many pools. I want to go again to the upper portion and enjoy a long, nude hike.
I bet a dip in the water felt good on such a hot day. I've been Tanque Verde Falls in the spring when it was warm but not hot. The spring runoff water was COLD! Not as cold as glacier water but cold enough that I didn't want to stay in it long.
I went to Sycamore yesterday, late afternoon. It didn't compare - was very dry. On the way out, I did find a well used trail outside the creek bed that led from a deep pool (empty now) to near the parking area. Only other person was a photographer near the entrance. It may have been the time of day and time of year. We are supposed to have rain early next week. Although I think it will take a lot of rain to rejuvenate Sycamore Creek.
Tanque Verde, even though it is an hour further for me, was a better venue.
@UrsaMajor: there were so many pools available and not being used (during the week). And the water gets warmer the further downstream you are. Hiking from the lower parking lot to the middle falls has several spots were it is necessary to just hike through the pools. Meaning you get wet from the waist down.
I have read about an "olympic" sized pool above the upper falls. I would like to hike in and find that on my next visit.
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