The Beauty of the Catwalk — Part 2

The Canyon

Along the Catwalk Trail the hiker will find colorful placards explaining both the history and the geology of the area.  The area in and around the Gila National Forest is home to not one, but rather four supervolcanoes.  For more on these massive explosive calderas, see Supervolcano – Wikipedia.

A Local Geology Lesson

I mentioned in previous articles in this series that the Catwalk started out as a support for a pipe carrying water for a lumber operation.  And here’s what appears to be a remnant of that operation:

Old mining infrastructure?

Just inside the Catwalk Recreation Area is a nice picnic ground, a great place to have a bite to eat following your hike:

Catwalk picnic area

This picnic area is just a short distance from the footbridge that crosses back over Whitewater Creek after your return hike:

The footbridge back to the picnic and parking areas

But let’s get back to the Catwalk, which I’m sure is what interests most of you:

Catwalking through the Canyon

This treasure is just an absolutely wonderful way to spend a couple of hours.

Above Whitewater Creek

Now for today’s gallery:

Creek and Cliff

Whitewater Creek

The Tree

Catwalk

Catwalk footbridge

Hikers beneath the Trail

Lava Cliffs