Desert Cascades

You know I LOVE waterfalls.  And I prefer hiking in more rugged terrain rather than walking along a manicured path.  Well, I finally put the two together here in southern New Mexico.

I have been hiking "off the beaten path" just following my whim, looking for interesting topography and getting closer to it.  Yesterday I wandered into an area which I now know is called Rock Canyon.  Today I went back with my camera.

I started at the bottom, nearly at the level of the lake.  Above me was the last dash of a dry stream bed. 

With a desert cloudburst, the stream would drop over this last ledge in a waterfall that would be about 10 to 12 feet high.  Looking at it from above and the right of the drop, I picture in my mind the stream, running like chocolate milk, leaping into the air from the left, then dropping to the delta below.

From further above, looking downstream, it is easier to see the drop that the stream would run off, with the lake below the delta in the distance.

From that same point, looking further upstream, another ledge can be seen which would form a second waterfall.

The stream bed continues to rise in its excavated bed.

Here is the uppermost significant falls.  The drop here is about 5 or 6 feet.

There are a number of smaller falls along this drainage channel.  OK, I know, there is no water.  Well, it IS the desert.  But I bet this area would really be something to see with a flash flood running.