Stop 16: Upper Falls was created by magma that cooled in the throat of the volcano as the eruptions ceased. This durable stone was resistant to erosion and withstood the down cutting of Frijoles Creek. This falls is approximately 80 feet tall.
This is as far as one can hike since the big floods of 2011 and 2013 destroyed the trail beyond this point.
Conclusion: Frijoles Canyon formed as “el Rito de los Frijoles” (little river of beans) cut its way through layers of ash deposited from immense eruptions of the Jemez Volcano. The amplified availability of water supported increased diversity of wildlife in the canyon. Today most changes are slow with the soft rock walls of the canyon being eroded one minuscule particle of stone at a time, the grains giving way to the actions of wind, water, or freeze-thaw cycles. Plants also play their role. Their roots penetrate areas of susceptibility and pave the way for water or ice to break a rock’s grip on its neighbor, gravity taking hold, and forcing advancing movement toward the stream. On occasion, this slow plodding down cutting is rapidly advanced by flash flooding, such as in 2011 and 2013. In these instances, volumes of material (rocks, trees, and water) are carried ever further on their journey to the Rio Grande and ultimately the ocean. The cacophony of such events soon quiets leaving the sounds of gentle water babbling and murmuring over rocks, the strident call of a Steller’s jay, and the thump of an occasional rock, its fight against gravity lost, but the battle just begun.
