5 weeks ago we were up at the Agua Fria National Monument for an exhausting hike down stream.

Today we drive up there again. Already on the part of the hike from the parking lot down to the Agua Fria river it is very clear that there is a lot less water. The creek is almost dry and at the river itself the water level is about 1.5 foot (50cm) lower. One more month and it will probably be mostly dry. Today we hike up stream for about an hour and then turn around so our hike this time is only about 3 hours, which is just about enough since the temperatures are rising again and by 11am it is already 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).

We see lots of cray fish, swarms of tiny fish, a few big tadpoles and even a sun perch (last time we didn’t see any fish at all). There are big pads of algae in some places, in other places the water is still crystal-clear. Looking at the washed out boulders and the drift wood high up on the rocks it is obvious that at times there must have been raging floods coming down this canyon, at least 20 feet higher.