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| Backpack | 17.00 Miles |
1,200 AEG |
| | Backpack | 17.00 Miles | 11 Hrs | | 1.55 mph |
| 1,200 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We made a mad dash to make the 4pm orientation only to discover that Clyde, who had come up earlier, could be our representative for the ABC group. So it was on to meet up with him at a camp spot he had already checked out for us. Friday nite's dinner and beverages (margaritas with ingredients supplied by Clyde) were top notch.
Our rise time was 4:40AM with hopes of getting on the trail by 6AM... well okay, 7AM. We loaded our packs with 6-7 liters of water for the entire weekend. We would stash some water toward the bottom of the trail going down. This would be my heaviest pack ever and I was truly worried I would not be able to put the darn thing on my back and still remain standing but I did. 
After hiking the first mile/mile and a half or so we finally came to the sign at Tsegi Point before descending down into the canyon. After getting off the road, this hike's scenery started out with a bang and kept on giving. It was just fabulous. I tried to be good and not take too many pictures  so I could try and keep up with the group. Fairly quickly we came to the stairs I've seen in other pictures. They are a bit steep so having those trekking poles made them a tad easier.
As we rounded the corner we came across some natural somewhat enhanced bedrock steps. While walking down these we are greeted again with some incredible views of the sandstone walls and canyons to the east and south. Eventually we came to the more primitive part of the trail where keeping your balance was a bit of a challenge at times. And then there's the sand. While it is totally cool to slide down it, you know all the time that coming up is going to be a bear... but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
We stashed our water and had a snack before heading down the last few hundred feet to the bottom of the canyon. And what a canyon view... to your left (west) is the Praying Hands down Long Canyon and before you Laguna Creek with Tsegi Canyon to the east and Dowozhiebito Canyon ahead. Almost immediately you are hit with a challenge as to how to make your first of 50 creek crossings if you stay creek side the entire way. We made our way east a little and then got down to the water. And as with most creek trips, for some strange reason, you try not to get your hiking shoes wet even though you know the likelihood is 100% you are going to get your shoes wet...oh, unless you're Te-wa  . And you might as well make your long pants shorter or zip off the bottoms cuz on this trip, your lower pants will get wet and probably muddy.
Now mind you, this isn't your lovely flowing clear water creek. In fact, the only time this resembles what you like to think of as a creek is the occasional cascade of water and waterfall. This creek is a little on the smelly side  due to the cattle that roam freely in these canyons plus it's gooey underneath in some places and there is a lot of quick sand. You quickly learn to stay away from the area around boulders as you will start sinking up to your ankles in no time.
In a short while we started heading east into Keet Seel Canyon marked by a tall white post. The trail leaves the stream on occasion as we keep an eye out for the white post markers to indicate where the trail is headed. Some of the white posts were quite tall; I presume so that you could see them at quite a distance in case you got off the beaten path.
Shortly Battleship Rock rises to the right and beyond is a pinnacle known as Kachina Mother. This marks the 1/2 way pt of the hike. We continue to follow the creek bed until we came upon a 50 (I'm not good at footage so this is a guess) foot waterfall splashing down the wall formed by a resistant layer of Windgate Sandstone. From what I read this area was formed some 200 million yrs ago and the Windgate formation resulted from giant sand dunes. The canyon walls above this layer consist of the Kayenta and Navajo Sandstones. This is where we decided to take our lunch break as we would only be 2.5 miles from the campground. To get above the waterfall and continue hiking along the creek you go off to your right and then head up a very deep sand trail through bee weed of which there would be a lot of here and there along this hike.
Surprising enough we will encounter 3 more waterfalls before getting to our campground. After this water fall (why doesn't it have a name? - it's surely big enough), in about 15 minutes of hiking or so, we came to the fork where you can opt to avoid the creek and hike above it. The sign warns of Flash Flood and Quick Sand dangers. Heh, we were all about staying low near the creek. Little did we know we would be entering "quick sand alley"  but onward we went. It was starting to get pretty hot but the occasional breeze would be enough to cool you for a moment or two.
Another hour later and we would get the chance to go up a smaller waterfall. Tiffani and Anne stayed below initially and got caught up in the muck  until we told them to come up around the falls. I'm not sure where they would have ended up but I think our trek was much easier. Lo and behold we would come across another cascade of waterfalls in about 15 minutes. We were surprised by these encounters so it made our trek up "quick sand alley" that much more adventurous. We finally saw the sign for the campground and trudged up a sandy hill into the campground area that was covered in bee weed.
We settled in somewhat and then realized it was 3PM Navajo time and we needed to be at the ruins by 3 for the last tour. Clyde offered to make a beeline through the bee weed the 3/10ths of a mile to the Ruins to meet the ranger. The rest of us followed soon thereafter. We had to cross the creek AGAIN  , climb up another sandy hill and make our way through a field of bee weed where we found a gate, more bee weed and then the ranger. Once we were all gathered it was up the 70 ft ladder to the ruins. Going up that ladder was fun, coming down, not so much.
The ruins are quite spectacular  as is the view. A 180 ft retaining wall supporting a walkway, runs the entire length of the alcove. The rooms are many (they say about 160), some large and some small. There were six kivas I believe, storage chambers, tons of shards & corn cobs, and some great artwork. The last people carefully sealed storage rooms containing corn-filled pottery vessels before moving on. Perhaps they intended to return 
Once back at camp, we all take a break and then Wendy, Mike and Clyde headed out to see if they could find a spring for some water. Those of us that stayed behind didn't think they would be successful but not only were they successful, they found a spring very quickly. Clyde came back first while Wendy and Mike did a little exploring before bringing us back the Mother Lode. I screamed softly with delight when I took my first drink of the spring water. I thot Wendy had put ice in it 
The next morning we arose at 5:30AM. I, however, had gotten up at 3AMish as my watch said 5:30 and had started to prepare for the hike out when I realized no one else was stirring, it was still pretty dark and the moon was still to the east and obviously we couldn't start hiking until we could see the ground... so I went back to my tent, fiddled with my watch and then saw the time as 3 something  . GREAT!
The hike back was just as much fun altho Anne and I started ahead of everyone at 7AM. Mike caught us at the 4 mile marker and praised us for our hiking skills  as I was sitting on a rock above the creek trying to catch my breath and rest my weary bones. Anne eventually went ahead and I was passed by Clyde and then Tiffani came up but stayed with me and then Erin and Wendy came along.
Accompanied by Wendy I made it up the hill in 1.5 hr vs the 1 hr down. In spite of the grueling task, we had fun and stopped to smell the  es and soak in the incredible scenery. The funniest thing though was when Wendy went around a corner and asked me, "Do you still like me?" and I of course said, "Why yes" and then I saw the stairs ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") . I thot we were nearly home free....I had forgotten about these steep stairs. So up we went. Shortly thereafter it's a long road that you have to walk on as you get back to the TH. It started to sputter rain but never rained.
My longest backpacking mileage trip ever and I felt pretty good but since most of the hiking was on level ground, the 17 miles didn't seem so bad. Coming back with overcast skies and even more important, coming out of the canyon made for a nice hike. Someone was smiling on me this day.... 
And here's a little video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UknH4ke2ABA |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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