Salome (Sally Mae) Slot Shot

Salome (Sally Mae) Creek, seen from 3,200' near "The Jug" formation in the Sierra Ancha Mountains north of Roosevelt Lake in Arizona. Salome Creek has it's headwaters beneath 6,013' Redman Mesa in the Tonto National Forest. The "basement rock" of pink and white granite has been exposed in Salome Canyon, just below towering 5,021' Dutch Woman Butte. This makes a great canyoneering opportunity, but can only be reached by high-clearance vehicle from the A-Cross Road just north of Roosevelt Lake. Paragraph from CANYONEERING: ARIZONA WATER CANYONS by John Hart: "The Salome Jug is a short polished granite canyon with a lower narrows about a kilometer long. The descent is relatively easy as water canyons go. There are several swimming pools. These are appreciated in hot weather, but when we went in April it was still cool enough that we were happy to have wet-suits. Between the various hanging pools are a series of small waterfalls." When I first visited Salome Canyon in 1993, I went a little later in the season than I should have, and an Arizona Black Rattlesnake was observed near the creek. Luckily, it contrasted nicely with the polished white granite of this Arizona slot canyon. June 2006