In the winter the streams that run off the south side of the top of Red Plateau will freeze up. I have found 4 frozen waterfalls recently and I am still exploring to look for more.  One of the more interesting falls is at the end of a 2 km hike into a deep canyon between the Dewdrop Trail summit ridge and the Ragged Red Ridge.

 

 

I followed the Dewdrop Trail to the stile that crosses the fence, but then veered left onto an old double track which goes up the gully into Red Canyon.

 

 

Farther up the canyon, any sense of a trail is gone and we just follow the drainage as the gully became narrower and the slopes on either side became steeper.

 

 

Volcanic-origin cliffs lined the slopes on either side of Red Canyon.   Hoodoos, spires, and cliffs could be seen above.

 

 

The final section requires a bit of scrambling.

 

 

At the end of the hikeable section was a frozen falls higher up on the east side.

 

 

The stream that drains down the canyon comes over a waterfall, but frozen in winter.   From the west side additional snowmelt drainage from the upper slopes had created a third falls.

 

 

On the cliff on the west side a small stream seeped out of a crack in a rock layer..   All four falls converge to a small area deep in Red Canyon.

 

 

In spring all 4 frozen falls will melt and we will have some minor streams fed by spring runoff, but in winter, these are ice sculptures waiting to be witnessed.  Hikers will want to trace their steps back down the canyon for a moderate 4 km hike.  On this day, I took a different path, but that is a story for another day.