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| Hiking | 4.00 Miles |
900 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.00 Miles | | | |
| 900 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | After spending the morning working at the trail head, Lou and I always go 'out to lunch'. By that, I mean, out hiking. We spend much more of our time off trail, than on and this time we hiked off the Dutchman Trail nearly all the way up the ridge to the east of Barks Canyon. There are a few of what looked to be old mines near the top and we found a hidden clearing with a really large circle of rocks that had a rock anchored post in the center (which had fallen). You find some very weird stuff out there.
It was quite steep near the top with nothing but loose rock, so we decided enough was enough and climbed back down about halfway to somewhat friendlier terrain to take a break. That's when we noticed a couple of guys below coming down the canyon. Not too many people hike through there so we were watching out of curiousity. I could hear them talking, but we were much too high to see who they were and I heard one of them say, "There's somebody up there." Busted! I wondered what would make them even look up there in the first place (maybe it was the continuous rock slide generated by my feet trying to come down that slope!) Almost immediately, I saw them make a beeline out of the creek, drop their packs and start heading in our direction.
Lou's primary goal on any hike is to completely avoid human beings and he had been watching with only mild interest up to this point. When he realized their agenda, he says, "Are you kidding me? They're NOT coming up here, are they?" I am already thinking that I'm sure I will turn out to be the cause of this situation. The guys are still a long way off from being recognizable and I say, "Who would be crazy enough to climb up here?" After a sideways glance from my now slightly irritated partner, I added, "...I mean, besides us." At least that got a smile.
With nothing else to do but sit and watch their progress, only some of which we were able to see, I was really surprised at how focused they were on their spur of the moment idea and how fast they were finding their way up here. Still clueless, I'm now thinking outloud, "Who ARE those guys?!" Their tenacity was impressive, but at the same time, frightening (depending on who they turned out to be). For a few tense moments, I could no longer see where they were and then suddenly, out from the brush comes...
"Denny! OMG!" I laughed with relief that these crazy guys weren't coming to kill us and no sooner did Denny say, "Wally's with me," that Wally popped out of the brush right behind him. We exchanged greetings and I asked about their route then we recounted the various bizarre circumstances in which we've run into each other.
It was sure nice of them to go to all that trouble just to say hi. But, as is their nature, they had to keep moving and after quick goodbyes, they just vanished from sight. I don't know how they did it on that slope, but I never even saw where they went.
During my impromptu social event in the middle of nowhere, I'd been avoiding eye contact with my somewhat anti-social partner. Surrounded by silence once again, he finally spoke, "Boy, you just know everybody, don't you?" Somewhat defensively, I said, "They're from hikearizona." He cracks a little smile so I know he's just ribbing me and says, "Who isn't?"  |
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I'm at home in the wilderness... it's civilization I have problems with! ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") |
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