Cattail Canyon
Jeff Moore, Alan Cressler, Doug Strait, Paul Aughey, Manuel Beers
11-8-06 Cattail Canyon, TX
Brewster, The Basin
Park: NAD27 291657.39 1032058.86 +-12
Falls: NAD27 291622.24 1032007.89 +-22
I woke before sunrise this morning feeling cold inside my bag. I quickly donned my fleece and fell back to sleep. I later heard Alan depart. When I woke, Alan’s truck no longer sat beside our Jeep. He showed up later having arrived back from Santa Elena Canyon. He highly recommended that Jeff and I view sunrise from the canyon the next morning. We left for Cattail Canyon around 9:00 AM.
We parked at the trailhead for Oak Spring and Cattail Falls and hiked to the falls passing a lush oasis of cottonwoods on the way where the trail split. We photographed the falls and then got down to business. Geary told us that the pass into Cattail Canyon is accessed from the left of the giant scree slope to the right of the waterfall. We followed a faint trail away from the falls and scrambled up to the first possible climb up and began to ascend.
We reached a more difficult climb up and sent Manuel up to scout. He reported that we should continue so I followed. When I reached the top, I felt much less optimistic about the route than he. Paul called up for my assessment but I didn’t reply because I couldn’t tell for sure. I carefully slid down a scree slope and witnessed a scary traverse above an exposed cliff followed by a climb up to the unknown. My gut told me that cliffs blocked our path.
Paul came up and agreed with my assessment. While he descended, Manuel and I climbed to a fractured, rock pinnacle and beheld an awesome view of the desert far below. I felt less than secure atop the stacked blocks feeling that only a couple rounds of Jenga could send much of the pinnacle tumbling down into the desert far, far below.
I carefully descended the fractured mess avoiding cacti spines and soon heard Manuel yell, “clear.” I felt a slight flutter as I gazed down believing that the first climb down would scare me. The series of climb downs elicited less alarm than anticipated and after only a slight spin out I felt both feet planted solidly below me. We descended back down the chute and trudged toward the next potential climb up. I never heard Paul yell clear so judging it safe, I started up the shrub and brush-infested, scree slope clawing my way past each obstacle. The slope seemed steeper with each step and I found my way pioneering a route through tangles of trees until finally a few quick steps landed me on a narrow perch overlooking the desert below.
I saw no one ahead and knew I didn’t want to go back into the desert so after a couple steps, I starting looking around and saw Jeff and Doug ascending a scree slope 100 yards away. I worked my way back down and began where I’d gone wrong. I climbed up a sunlit scree slope to the left, barely visible through the shrub cover. I soon crested a pass where the group waited and took a GPS point, GPS: NAD27 291616.99 1032002.27 +-22. From there, we descended toward the canyon until reaching a loose scree slope.
We listened to loose, tumbling rocks as each person descended between yells of “clear” to the canyon floor. We had finally entered Cattail Canyon! GPS: NAD27 291620.57 1031959.54 +-17. Once inside, we followed a scoured rock floor upstream until it filled with gravel, boulders, and brush. I boulder hopped and scrambled ahead snapping pictures as I saw them. We hiked and climbed probably ½ a mile before finally reaching the “400 foot” waterfall. Once there, a discussion ensued about why everything is bigger in Texas and we determined it’s very simply because Texan’s exaggerate. From below, the waterfall appeared only 55’ tall though the topo map alludes that it may be much taller.
A side canyon choked with boulders continued ahead to the left but we retreated back down the canyon. Paul and I walked downstream of the rock cairn marking the pass. We passed several pools of bright green algae and eventually reached a drop off. When Manuel arrived, we pointed him up the possible continuation upslope to the left. Not long after, we heard scraping and rocks falling followed by the echo of footsteps below; Manuel made it.
After inquiring how bad it was and receiving a reassuring “it’s easy” I decided to give it a try. I climbed up the sloping rock grasping at a crack, worked my way across a ledge, and down into the top of a side canyon. The first climb down proved rather difficult with a backpack. I scraped my elbow holding myself in place trying to release my snagged backpack. I climbed down the slope below that rather easily.
Below, I could look up and see a 20’ waterfall trickling into a 6’ deep pool on the right. To my left, the water flowed over bare limestone down an 8’ slope which became nearly vertical for 12’ below that. I wrote down what I’d done and took a couple pictures. When Alan finished his photo shoot, I managed an 8’ climb up below the side canyon and ascended to a rock finger which Manuel and I followed down toward the canyon. Then I pioneered a route to the canyon floor climbing down to a narrow ledge and traversing for 6’ clinging to the wall on a thin ledge above a 20’ drop off. The ledge became easier as I followed it upstream and maneuvered down a steep climb down to the canyon floor.
Upstream, the rock floor led to the waterfall I’d previously stoop atop. Downstream, the canyon floor gently descended to a seven foot climb down. Below that, a deep pool of water halted further progress unless you swam. Alan and Paul both joined us below. Paul spotted a snake below the waterfall. Manuel eventually swam across the pool below and continued another 300’ downstream barefoot and in his boxers. There, a ~100’ waterfall above the main falls stopped further downward exploration. Manuel returned and I followed Paul straight up the rock wall to the rock finger. I ripped my pants on the climb down but maneuvered back up the side canyon quite skillfully.
Paul and I walked back to the rock cairn and I ascended the scree slope and waited above on a flat ledge near a small rocky pinnacle. I spotted the picture almost immediately but doubted that Paul would stand atop the rocky pinnacle so I ended up posing for Jeff’s picture. The three of us climbed over the pass and slid down the scree slopes on the other side. I snapped a couple pictures and then climbed the rest of the way down. I pioneered a direct route back to the trail and Paul, Jeff, and I hiked out as the sun descended low on the horizon. Here’s a more concise account of our route which I’d written on my notepad:
From Cattail Falls, we climbed up slope to the right and climbed up the first very steep canyon we encountered. It led to a steep slope scary traverse, and then probably a cliff. We went back down and continued to the next steep canyon and climbed up and to the left to a pass. We descended a scree slope to the canyon floor. We climbed up the very beautiful canyon and found a 55’ high waterfall. Water trickled down from above into a pool next to small trees. A side canyon choked with rock ascends to the left. Downstream you eventually reach a 20’ waterfall 22’ vertical slope above a 6’ deep undercut pool. You can climb the slope up and to the left to a narrow 4-6’ wide slot which bypasses the drop. You must chimney down a couple places. Just below the first waterfall, you encounter a 2cd waterfall with steeply sloped rock for a vertical 12’ below an 8’ slope. At the base of the 1st waterfall, you can bypass the 2cd waterfall by climbing up to your left and following a rock finger down toward the canyon. Climbing down around the bend from the now upstream waterfall work horizontally on a ledge toward the point of the finger 200’ horizontally to the canyon floor. Below the second waterfall is a 8’ climb down to a pool you must swim across. Manual went 300’ downstream from pool and found a ~100’ waterfall before the last waterfall.
We stopped occasionally to photograph each other. During one shoot, I first snapped a picture of Paul as he caught up. I had him recreate the shot less than a minute later but in that short span of time the sunlight receded over 90’ behind him. We hiked back to the car. Alan and Manuel were close behind. Regrouped, we began to discuss plans for the remaining days. Alan suggested staying in the park and not dealing with the Texas political bull shit shrouding access to Devil’s Sinkhole. Doug strongly concurred and the rest of us felt the same way.
Our first decision, however, led us to a small Mexican restaurant where I dined on a delicious chicken fajita. We finalized our plans deciding to stay in Big Bend. After dinner, most everyone enjoyed ice cream and started back to camp. Jeff and I lingered at the gas station for some reason and then quickly drove back to camp. We slowed while passing Alan alongside the road and just as we pulled away Manuel yelled “wait, you have a flat tire.” It took a few seconds for those words to sink in; it made far more sense that Alan’s truck had a flat since they sat parked alongside the gravel road. But when I got out and looked at our rear, driver-side tire, the sight of crumpled rubber expelled all doubt; the rim sat flat against the ground crushing a deflated mass of black.
Jeff grabbed the car manual and located the jack. Once the car lifted, I began unscrewing the lug nuts but jumped back when Manuel voiced warning as the jeep lurched off the jack. With emergency brakes in place, I re-jacked the car discovering we’d chose the wrong spot to jack it. Jeff apologized and he cranked the jack below the back axel. I now could remove the lug nuts and detach the tire. The full size spare replaced it and soon we were back in business. Manuel spotted the puncture, a small L-shaped, 2 millimeter split between the tread. I inflated the flat and screwed it behind the jeep thus completing my first on-the-road tire change.
We drove the rest of the way into Terlingua Abaja campsite # 3. Later, Alan, Manuel, and I walked down to Terlingua Creek where we spotted a soft shell turtle that Alan had also found the night before. It must have remembered him because almost immediately, it begun burying itself in the river bottom. We finished our hike circling around camp to investigate a service road which led up a hill to a few older campsites.
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