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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
1,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | | | |
| 1,600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The forest closures in Southern Arizona caused us to venture north to Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness. We went on our first ever "swimpack" and discovered the joys of playing all day in the nice cool water.
We followed the Bell Trail to the Crack. We spent some time swimming, jumping, and having a good time in the water with our inner tubes. Once the people started to arrive, we decided it was time to move on. I decided to keep wearing my inner tube and so we figured out a way to attach it to the bottom of my pack. I enjoyed swimming through a few spots with my pack on. Thankfully, my down sleeping bag and clothes were nice in dry in their dry bag.
Wet Beaver Creek wilderness has some strict rules regarding camping thanks to the hordes who trash the place. They still trash the place; although I suspect it is a lot better since they can't camp. I carried out a paper plate, nerf football, bread bag, and several cigarette butts that were found near the Crack. We saw a volunteer ranger who also was collecting trash between the TH and the Crack both Saturday and Sunday. Please people, pack in - pack out!
The restrictions require you to be at least a half mile from the Crack if you want to camp. Therefore, we went further up creek to a dry flat spot with room for 4 tents. We setup our camp and then went to explorer further up canyon.
We swam across the Phish Bowl so that we could continue up stream. I discovered that my Gortex Keen "Buckets" (hiking boots) really are not good for swimming - next time I'll have to bring flippers. After the Phish Bowl, we continued on until we reached Balanced Rock. We put down our packs and swam there for a bit and then returned to our camp.
Highlights of the trip included: caterpillars raining on us, petroglyphs, a small ruin, and of course all the swimming.
What an awesome way to spend a hot weekend in Arizona! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
