Angela, Wayne and I headed up Alamo Canyon Sunday morning after our summit of Mt. Ajo to explore the ruins of the old ranch and to check out the scene up canyon. The remnants of the old ranch were fun to explore, though the ranchers I was hiking with couldn't figure out why the inhabitants had built their house downstream of the corrals. Dunno - but I suppose there was probably a reason

Above the corrals Angela and I just followed the creek bed, boulder hopping and dodging for about three quarters of a mile further up stream (I think poor Wayne was broken from the climb the day before). It was slow going, but the canyon was incredible. It changed character about every 100 feet - with narrow, tree lined banks one minute, and wide open slick rock sections displaying incredible color the next. We kept being pulled on by the thought of "what's behind the next bend?". We ran into one other couple in the wash - and older lady and gentleman who said that they'd followed the "mountain route" into the canyon. Having no idea what they meant, we smiled and nodded and we went our separate ways.

When we hit our turn around time, we did just that and started hopping and scrambling back down canyon. We came to a spot where we'd spied a cairn earlier, and a trail going up the banks of the creek. We followed the track only to find the "mountain route" described by our friends. Much easier walking, with cool opportunities to view the canyon we'd just hiked through. The trail ended right at the corral - so if you're looking for it, just follow that corral fence around to the southeast.

Great morning hike, with shrimp, cheese and crackers for lunch. Gotta love it!