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| Canyoneering | 13.60 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 13.60 Miles | | | |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | I think this might be my favorite backpack/hike!
Four of us did this as a backpack with an additional 5 miles each way. We didn't feel comfortable driving the road down through Meadow Canyon considering we bottomed out shortly before we stopped. We camped the night before our trip at the first Meadow Canyon sign. From there we hiked to the TH.
We made the trek down the route to the canyon. It was VERY, VERY steep and rocky. Our friend, Chris, slipped, fell, and dislocated his shoulder. He yelled "Shoulder" and made a horrible noise. He managed to put it back into place, thus the noise, and by the time I got to him he had passed out. I yelled at him several seconds until finally he came to and told me what had happened. I was sure our adventure was over before it had even started.  However, he swallowed some ibuprofen, rested about 15 minutes and then said he was ready to continue on the trip. We were luckily just a few minutes where we were planning on camping.
We found two spots on a shelf above the canyon bottom for two tents. The other tent was placed down close to the creek on a sandy beach. If you were only going to stay one night, you could probably get away with putting couple tents on the flat (yet slanted) rocks as a long as they were freestanding.
After we had set up camp, 3 of us decided to wander up canyon to check out the sites. I brought my backpack, pool float, snorkel gear, and flippers along. I was a sight! We stopped at a pool and played for a while before returning to camp.
The next morning we set out on our big adventure! We rock hopped down to the first pool. I put on my flippers and cruised across - only to have to return with the "Duck" tape to fix Chelsea's borrowed pool float.
We soon encountered the White Box! Nothing anyone can say can prepare you for the wonders of the White Box. It is simply amazing!!!!! As we swam through I wished I had my camera out but I had it safely in it's dry-sack. I decided when we returned I'd stop for a while and play and take some photos.
We continued on down the canyon swimming and rock hopping. We had to wait a few times so that Chelsea could catch-up as we didn't want to leave her behind. We figured we were going about .5 miles an hour. As we were closing in on the Hanging Gardens Chelsea almost decided to stop. We figured it was pretty close so we managed to get her to stay on her feet a bit longer. I'm sure in the end she was happy she had.
We made it to the Hanging Gardens!!!!! This is another wonderful place! The spring was gushing and creating a few waterfalls. There were Columbines hanging from the garden. It was absolutely beautiful. Others were also enjoying the pool. We saw a blow up raft with two passengers and a German Sheppard. We hung out on our pool floats getting a refreshing shower under the overhang. It was really hard to leave this desert oasis!
On the way back to camp, we started to see some storm clouds rolling in. We made it to the White Box and the rains started came down. It was magical to swim through the long, long pool with rain drops hitting the pool. While we were swimming the winds picked up and the thought did pass through our minds that this was probably the worst place to be during a Monsoon rain. Even that thought could not ruin the experience for me. I was in a heaven of my own. Because of the rain, I wasn't able to take pictures while floating in the White Box. I guess I'll have to return next year 
When we got back to camp it quit raining. Chelsea discovered that her tent had collapsed and most of the contents were wet. We still had a few hours before dark which was plenty of time to dry out. We spent a lot of time hanging out on the flat rocks next to our tents. We were lucky because there were not many bugs.
In the morning, we cruised up the steep, steep, steep route (did I mention it was steep?) to the TH and then headed back to the cars. Another wonderful adventure over... 
I have no idea how many backpacks I've done over the last few years, but this one will forever be one of my absolute favorites!!!! |
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