2003-11-07 Lost Mine and The Window 2003-11-08 Pine Canyon and Ernst Tinaja 2003-11-09 Cattail Canyon 2004-11-04 The Journey 2004-11-05 Casa Grande and Lost Mine 2004-11-06 Cattail Canyon 2004-11-07 Santa Elena Canyon and Cattail Falls 2005-06-01 Chisos Mountain Lodge 2005-06-02 Emory Peak 2005-06-03 Desert Views 2005-06-04 The Window at Sunset 2005-11-03 Cattail Canyon 2005-11-04 South Rim 2005-11-05 Santa Elena Canyon by Canoe 2005-11-06 Santa Elena Canyon by Canoe 2002-11-08 Emory Peak and South Rim 2002-11-09 Cattail Falls and Santa Elena Canyon 2002-11-09 Terlingua and Lajitas 2002-11-10 Old Ore Road and Hot Springs 2002-11-10 The Window at Sunset

Day 2 (Saturday, 11/6/2004)

Armed with information about what we believed to be the correct route up the talus field, Robert G. and I made our second attempt to get to the Cattail Canyon overlook.  Satellite photographs of the area had revealed a second talus slope which descends at least part of the way into the canyon on the backside of the ridge, but after the problems we had had last year, we were going to be happy just getting to the top of the overlook.

The good news is that, as predicted in 2003, the correct route up the slope is indeed to the right.  The bad news is that in 2003 we were only halfway up.  The talus field dog-legs left around the rock outcropping that had trapped us in 2003, and it ascends about the same distance above the outcropping as below (and at a steeper angle.)  It was a difficult ascent, requiring most of the day to get to the overlook and back down again.  We couldn't see the canyon floor from the overlook, not a surprise since the canyon is a slot canyon with a very narrow floor, but we could see the half-mile-long sheer vertical rock wall that formed the other side.  The satellite was right-- there is indeed another talus slope leading down into the canyon.  However, it's somewhat more overgrown than the slope leading up to the overlook.  Just getting to the overlook and back down took the better part of a day, so exploring the canyon would require a multi-day expedition.  Maybe next year.