This was an amazing trip, I enjoyed every aspect of it! The canyon we had to hike through was very pretty for 'desert standards' in my eyes. I'm not huge on desert scenery, but this was a combination of some green mixed in, so it made it for very interesting. Plus, hiking through water is always a nice change. It was a very easy hike, but it's kind of nice to do a 'relaxed' hike every once in a while. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and neither could have the company! We had the entire canyon to ourselves, which made the whole thing worthwhile! It wasn't a crowded, touristy type of place. That's the benefit of only allowing 20 people in per day. We did pass one group of backpackers, but it was very brief, and the rest of the time, we had complete solitude. The ranger gave us our own personal hour & 1/2 tour of the ruins, and it was very impressive.

With the exception of it being super cold at night and my air mattress donning a whole & deflating on night 2, the trip was a fantastic getaway!

My gps read WAY different elevation gain than Wally's, but I'll go with his.