Black Canyon, Nevada/Arizona (Pt 3 of 3)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

On our final day, we left the Arizona Hot Springs campsite around 930am in search of a couple more notable adventures we highlighted on our map… The Catwalk and the Emerald Cave.

There were a ton of other things to see on the way down river, for instance, waterfalls and other canyons (which we didn’t have time to explore),

….as well as a plethora of wildlife, including several Bighorn Sheep,

…several pairs of domesticated mallards, and swallows. The swallows were too hard to photograph while paddling, so I just took a picture of what I believed to be their nests/burrows.

After a couple hours of paddling/drifting down river, we came to a pinch point…

Where we encountered one of the sought out destinations on our list, The Emerald Cave, where the color of the water that are observed while facing out of the cave. I’m assuming the colors would have been more radiant if it were later in the day and the sunlight would have entered the cave more. Since it was around noon-ish, the sun was directly overhead and much of cave was shadowed.

We paddled back out of the cave and docked ~50ft upriver by tying off to a small tree.

Just above the cave is “the Catwalk,” which is probably not one for those who are afraid of heights!

The Catwalk was supposedly a suspended walkway used by one of the river workers who had to measure the river depth in two locations daily. He used the catwalk to get to a pulley-cart and steel wire that was suspended across the entire river. Apparently, he had to pull himself on the little cart across the river since he had to either measure the depth in middle, or in multiple locations.

The drop from the catwalk could be up to 70-80 feet at points, with some areas more over hanging than overs. There are areas where I’m sure it would be safer to jump, as I hear this place can be a popular jump spot. I’d think right above ~ cave entrance has the best clearance, since it is overhanging.

While we were walking around the bend, some older kayakers warned us that the wood from below looked pretty rotten…

Which left us a little more hesitant than we were earlier to go further, so we decided bail out and continue to our rendezvous point at Willow Beach.

With only a couple miles left to go, we spend the last ~ hour or so drifting down river. Some other kayakers that saw us were probably wondering what we were doing since the wind was turning our kayak in every which direction. We were often facing backwards, but we didn’t care… We were just trying to soak up the last time we had in such an epic place.

Much thanks to Jerkwater Canoe Company for the drop-off at Hoover Dam and pick-up at Willow Beach on this trip, and such great customer service too! Mahalo nui loa to Scott Bowling for suggesting this adventure, surely one of the best over-night camping adventures on the mainland I’ve had thus far! Highly recommended for anyone interested in a quick outdoor adventure while staying in Las Vegas… If you have any questions, about what we did, just ask!!!

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!