HikeArizona.COM

My new address is........... My Cave above the Desert

I found this lovely piece of realestate last Thursday. Whenever I land and overnight in Page, which has been frequent in the last three weeks, I throw on my pack and take off bushwhacking. Well, there are not many bushes but the senery is always fantastic. As usual I did not make it back to my room before dark. I get to involved and loose track of time. Come on up and visit me sometime. It's fairly rustic but I'm sure a couple of good friends and a nice fire would spruce things up somewhat. The view just can't be beat.

I hiked around out here until I was totally exhausted. There are so many nooks and cranies to poke around and climb. When the sun went down, I was still a couple of miles out.

The place looks great, when can we come on out?

GTG

A few doilies and curtians and you could have a really nice place Nighthiker.

I prefer rustic Rick. By the way, I'm not Nighthiker. It's really me, BoyNhisDog.

I think it would have been a lot of fun to spend the night in that cave but I had at least 500 miles to make the next morning. On my route I flew over this tremendous sight. The flat ground just dropped straight down.

Canyon de Chelly

This is a place I would like to walk through some day. There are some other areas similar to this east of page. I love deep canyons with steep walls.

Sorry about the confusion Boy, I got caught up in the moment. My dream for my 'Fortress of Solitude' is to find one of those postage stamp sized privately owned squares you see on the Tonto National Forest Map and convience the owner to let me put up a small cabin on it. There is an old mine site on the way up to Mount Pelley that would be prefect but it's difficult to find out who actually owns the property.

Oh yeah, Canyon de Chelly is at the top of my list of places to see this year. Figure this spring or fall I'll do another two week meander in the motorhome and gotta do Canyon de Chelly.

Hooli, if you go there I would like to hear your thoughts on the experience. Is it possible to hike through by yourself or do you have to have an Indian guide? Generaly I am not too fond of following a comercial guide. Maybe this would be different. Let us know what you think of the whole thing.

The landscape looks surreal.

Think I learned about Canyon de Chelly from something Joe posted about it. Joe?

You do need a guide. I'm not up on the current status exactly who/where and such.

(White House Trail is open to the public)

I agree the guide thingy is less than desirable. On the other hand you gotta respect the reservations for keeping areas such as Keet Seel, Canyon de Chelly and upper Cibecue from turning into the Havasu groddy human waste mess. Of course they could put fees to real use and install facitlities but that would turn into a mini-disneyland. Whew I better shut! this is way too controversial!

OOooooh, so pretty! I just painted a few walls in my house that color!

Those photos are excellent! wow.

Thanks so much all. I love the outdoors, flying and photography. I have been an aerial photographer for 23 years now. That is a very technical kind of photography done with a 425-450lb Swiss mapping camera. This little digital camera that I've had for about seven months now is just a fun little sideline. If you ever get the chance to buy yourself a digital camera, research it and get a good, small camera. It sort of changed the way I take photos. No film means more freedom. Small means that I take it with me everywhere.

Whenever I spend the night away from Tucson, I throw on my pack and go off in some direction. Even if I have been to a place numerous times I always seem to find something new. Sometimes it takes a lot of leg work. Even places that look very blah and uninteresting can prove to be some of the best places to explore. I have a very special collection of things that I have found.

Mostly I just love to walk and revel in the visual experience.

RE: Canyon de Chelly, you can hike the White House Ruins trail without a guide, but that is the only main one. As far as hiking or jeeping into the canyon, you do need a Navajo guide, and they are available at the Visitor Center. Probably a good idea to call ahead. This area has always captivated me as well, and thought I havent made it yet, I have done alot of checking. Figured I would camp out and just go with the flow. I guess I dont mind the fact of a guide so much, as it is a Native and I hear they talk about alot of history, etc. I am psyched as I am in on a lottery in April for Crack in Rock Pueblo which is a 16 mi backpack trip into Wupatki ruins area. Unaccessible to the public and only 13 people get picked for each weekend. It is led by a ranger from Wupatki, but who cares, that means we have an entire area for only 13, and an area that hasnt been scrapped by others. Ruins, rock art, cool stuff and no crowds.
Have f
Hey Joe, I like the little devil faces on the emoticons...cute!
Sande J :D

Sande,

If you still have the lottery info around, could you could either post the details here, or e-mail it to me? I'd really appreciate it. I've always wanted to check out Wupatki, and haven't run across the lottery process until reading your post.

Thanks!

Matt

Guess I can just share it here on this thread...(wouldnt want everyone getting in on this now would I?)...actually, I sort of lucked out by chance, as I found out about this from a ranger at the Visitor Center when I was up there exploring around during the first part of Dec last year, I hope I get even luckier and win the Powerball...they offer this trip only in April and Oct for each weekend of that month. They start a waiting list and then mail out the lottery application to everyone on the list for the upcoming trip and then its up to the luck of the draw. You may be too late for the April draw, but I will would suggest calling them if you are interested. If you miss out, I bet you can get on the waiting list for October.
The roundtrip is 16 mi into isolated areas of Wupatki, (two day trip)..into 12th century Hopi pueblo ruins and archeological sites. Cross country, no designated trails, minimal elevation gain, but the usual off trail desert loose sandstone, washes, hills etc, etc. No water sources.
Oh by the way, there is a $50.00 registration fee:

Here is the contact info:
Wupatki Natl Monument
928-679-2365
6400 N. Highway 89
Flagstaff, AZ. 86004

That's excellent information! Thanks so much!

Great! Thanks for the information-I'm definitely going to get on the waiting list for October.

Thanks!

This little digital camera that I've had for about seven months now is just a fun little sideline.

BoyNhisDog, what kind of camera do you have?

Mike it has a title that belies it's tiny size. Here goes.

It is a Canon Powershot S100 Digital Elph. It is the size of a deck of cards and is a 2 megapixel model that weights in at 8 oz. The newer version sold now is the S110. It has a small zoom lens that is equivilent to a 35-70mm on a 35mm film camera.

There are cameras out there that will take a better pic but they all weigh a ton and are bulky. There are actually quite a few small digital cameras on the market now that will perform good. At the time I purchased this one it was the samllest 2 megapixel in the world.

Getting a good shot from the airplane is not easy with the haze and sunangles. Sometimes I'll take a dozen shots and throw them all away. That is the beauty of digital though. No real waste. It helps to be low to the ground too. On the ground this little gem really works very well. It will also focus up to 4' for a semi closeup.

Thanks, I'll check them out. I have a friend who has an Elph APS camera and loves it.