Millard Falls, Saucer Branch Falls, Dawn Mine

Hiked: 3/1/2019
Distance: 7.1 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 3483' (high point in canyon)
Elevation Gain: 3367'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.69
Round trip time: 5 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 88 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Moderate

After a deluge of rain, Rod and I went to check out Millard Falls, Saucer Branch Falls, and to drop off a trailcam in bear territory. We started at the parking lot above Millard Campground and took a short connector trail down to the start of the Millard Falls trail. It was overcast, cool, and damp. The Millard Falls trail was only a half mile with the stream gurgling loudly all the way. The main 50' fall was flowing around both sides of the large chockstone. There were only a few people there, including a rock climber who was starting an aid climb up a sport route left of the falls. It looked like he was going without a belay. We took some photos, then returned a few hundred feet along the trail to a use trail on the right that takes you above the falls. I expected some scrambling, but it was class 1. With wet rocks, I didn't get to close to the edge above the falls. We could have continued up the canyon on a decent use trail, but decided to scramble up a class 2 section to reach Sunset Ridge Trail. We followed that to Dawn Mine and took a break there.

Millard Falls

Use trail to get above the falls

Millard Falls from the top

Scramble section to the Sunset Ridge Trail

Dawn Mine machinery

We continued up the trail and into Grand Canyon to place the trailcam. It was a slightly rougher go than usual because of extra water and debris. I wanted to show Rod the bear cub carcass but when we reached the GPS waypoint, there were several broken trees that had fallen directly over it and buried it. We crawled around in the piles of branches, moving stuff out of the way to try to locate it but had no luck. What were the odds that multiple trees would fall directly on the cub? Maybe this was forest karma so it could rest in peace. We returned down the trail, then took a short diversion to Saucer Branch Falls. The use trail leading to it was behind a wooden arrow sign pointing at the main trail. It was the only obvious side canyon above Millard Falls. Saucer Branch was a thin 3-tiered falls only a few hundred feet off trail. We climbed up above the middle tier to get a good photo, but it was a little sketchy and I didn't get the best shot. We returned to the truck after logging more than 50 stream crossings.

Trees that crashed down on the bear cub carcass

Looking down the bottom tier of Saucer Branch Falls

Upper tier of Saucer Branch Falls