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| Hiking | 17.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.00 Miles | 9 Hrs | | 1.89 mph |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | PROLOGUE
After two weeks in Serbia hiking and seeing the national park sites and spending two weeks making weekend road trips to mark off hikes in the Scott Warren "100 Classic Hikes in AZ" book, I decided that my final hurrah hiking weekend before my family returns from Serbia and for my birthday should be Keet Seel. I planned this about 4 months in advance and actually getting to do was a bit of a challenge after I made the reservation for a permit since the monsoons decided to act up the week we were to arrive.
I called on Monday to confirm my reservation to find out that the area had just gotten hammered by a monsoon and it was currently raining very hard. I was also told that the people who had spent the night before had just barely got out due to the flow in the canyon. Yikes. I spent the week optimistic, but also planning a backup plan just in case. I originally figured to call on Thursday, but by Tues. afternoon anxiousness got the better of me and I found out that the trail was already closed. My plan was to take off work all day Friday and a half day Thursday to get ready to leave at 5am Friday. When I called on Thursday for an update, the trail was still closed but rangers were doing a recon. I told the attendant what my travelling and planning situation was and if she has an idea if it would stay closed or it might open. She replied, "It might open". Good enough. I gave my phone # and waited for an afternoon call to see if it would be go or no go. In the meantime, I had to proceed with my plans to take a half day off from work and do my chores at home as if I was going there even if I wasn't.
By 1:30pm I got the call that the trails were open. But it was cloudy. And if it rains, they'll close it. I asked about Betatakin and if that has been closed at all. I was told that had been open and would likely stay open. So I had a backup to the backup since once we left Phx on Friday morning for the orientation, we were committed to our trip. If we arrived and Keet Seel was closed, we would at least hit Betatakin.
Alan had originally asked me to reserve and extra spot for a friend of his who had to cancel about 3 weeks before. this gave me a chance to find another person who might be interested. I asked a new co worker, Gordie, who had just completed a trip to Costa Rica where he had talked about a lot of hiking he had just done. Gordie is a young man of 26 years and having hiked thru the Costa Rican jungles, I figured this would be a breeze for him. He was very interested and once he made the proper arrangements, he was in.
DAY ONE
This hike is 17 miles, so if you're a decent hiker, you have the option of doing it as a long day hike or an overnighter backpack. Since there's no potable water available along the entire route, I decided early to do this as a long dayhike. due to the Navajo National Monument's requirement for an orientation (and the only available times at 8:15am and 3:30pm) we needed to be there the day before for the 3:30pm orientation. This required an early start to leave Phx (well, maybe not, but I needed it to be comfortable). So on my birthday, I woke up at 3:30am to shower, eat, pack the car (only to need another shower, but oh well) and get on our way.
Now, this was my 43rd birthday. And, as a proper Steeler fan, I am required by Steeler Nation law to own a Polamalu jersey. Also by SN law, I must wear that jersey all day on my 43rd birthday regardless of all circumstances. The body odor that stayed in my jersey after packing my car had to be ignored. At our first gas stop in Flag, I pulled out the deodorant and cologne to mask the smell, which worked (kind of) until we had to unpack at the campground in 88 degree heat in the sun.
We arrived very early at about 12:30pm rez time (11:30am Phx time) so we were able to set up our camp at the Sunset View campground. Once we set up camp and cooked some lunch, we headed over to the Visitor Center for the orientation. We arrived early, checked out the vistas outside the center, talked and joked, and then got to the auditorium about 5 minutes early. There were 4 rows of chairs, so we all sat in the last row like a group of class clowns. As we were the only 4 for that orientation, the presenter didn't even give us the "lecture" from the podium at the front but from right next to our row. Good thing because even right next to us, his voice was SOOOO quiet that he was barely audible. This naturally fed into the class clown vibe that we had in the back row. At least I was sitting with a Stanford grad, justifying my college career irreverance. The only part of the presentation where I got concerned was where the presenter ended a sentence with the phrase "or else you'll lose your permit." WHAT?! What was the first part of that sentence?! Hey! What!? When he asked if we had any questions, I decided it wasn't a good idea to make a joke and ask "What's the maximum number of pottery shards we're allowed to take?"
Afterwards, we hiked the rim trails there (separate pics and triplog to be posted soon) and headed to camp under clouds, thunderclaps and lightning flashes. The next day was again looking iffy. When we left the visitor center, we asked for a weather forecast. The desk attendant told us 20% chance of rain. I specifically asked for the temp. He said 85, which meant on the canyon bottom 95. He also mentioned about leaving early and what to do if we changed our minds. I told him we were planning on leaving early enough to prevent changing our plans if they changed they're minds. That got a laugh, go we all felt good about that (have you ever tried to make an Indian laugh?)
The rest of the day was my BIRTHDAY PARTY!! WOOHOO! The portable gas grill I bought kept going out from the wind, so it was a good thing I bought a whole new pack of grill matches. Alan had the good grace of buying me a birthday present, a wonderful 24 oz plastic thermo cup that I used to disguise my barley pops in since we were technically in another country (or not since it was an NPS park, but whatever). I brought some apricot brandy that my father-in-law makes and shared it with everyone since this was a special ocassion. Likewise, Alan shared some of his primo tequila. As I was cooking, I notice Gordie was continuing with the hard liquor. I advised him to take it easy as we had a 2nd very early wakeup but he continued. I continued with a few brews myself but kept the proper pace.
After dinner was made, I prepared my breakfast and lunch for the next day (flank steak, jalapenos and tortillas), and got things ready for the morning. During this point, I discovered that I had forgot my hiking shirts, which are long sleeves and of the light wicking material that will keep you cool. My only option left for the next day was to continue to wear my Polamalu jersey which was getting strong enough to walk.
After getting things together, I took my NyQuil to make sure I would and could sleep early and properly and after the sunset, was soon out cold. At some point I slightly awoken by the sound of falling rain. Or was that a dream?
DAY TWO
You can get a cell signal at the campground so I didn't realize that my cell phone we were on Navajo time and adjusted itself an hour ahead. So I set my alarm for 1:15AM (2:15am rez time), only to find out we had another hour to sleep. I quickly reset the alarm for an hour later and miraculously fell asleep again to sleep in until 2:15am Phx time and chug some Monster Rehabs to wake up and get ready.
Gordie soon asked me "How about that rain last night?"
"what rain? Oh yeah, that wasn't so bad."
"What!? Man it was pouring last night!"
Whatever. Chalk one up for "beer+NyQuil", the chemical rain fly. (special thanks to Jim Boerst, our co-worker who lent me his camping cots)
We started the hike at about 6am. From the TH it was just barely light enough to hike without our headlamps. Gordie lagged behind a bit down the staircase and just before we got to the water cache point, he had made a rookie move and missed a switchback and was suddenly on the side of the steep hill, in danger of a sprained ankle and killing our trip. Eric and Alan guided him verbally back to the trail and we soon cached about 2 liters each and made our way to the riverbed.
Soon we made our first stream crossing. I decided to make a footwear choice of my jogging shoes with Sealskinz so my feet would get wet. I had heard so much about the water here and the cattle waste that I expected really dirty water. The water was very silty and definitely not drinkable, but I would not say that there was a bad odor or alot of cow piles. the quicksand and mud was more of an issue along the canyon bottom. And the water was really not so deep that ankle high waterproof proof would not have kept your feet dry if you stayed careful along the steam crossings. My footwear choice was good enough (although I am considering invoking the REI return policy on the Sealskinz on principle) but I do think my boots would have been fine on this.
The first 3-4 miles we followed the white posts, which serve as good cairns to mark where you need to go. I could see the confluence at Keet Seel and Dowozhebetio Canyons and knew we had to turn left. Soon after, we spotted Battleship Rock and then Kachina Mother (Pointed Rock). After that, we passed the 3 water falls and were at the ruins.
The biggest issue along this hike that seemed to get worse as we got closer was the quicksand. This might have been because of the recent rains, but I think this is a normal condition here. We were soon able to tell which ground looked ok and which didn't but the rule of thumb seemed to be stay away from the big boulders and step on the clusters of small rocks. for some reason, the boulders seems to gather eddies downstream that collect pools of silt that create the quicksand. there were many times you would have to take your chances and walk on what looked stable. Usually the sand in the middle of the stream was stable but sometimes on the bends it wasnt. There were a few times when you would venture beyond the safety of rocks to find yourself in the middle of some chocolate pudding that looking like the surface tension might give way at any second and engulf you. Alan an Eric were usually about 100-200 yards ahead of us. At one point, we came around one bend to find Alan yelling, "Go to the other side, this side is bad. Eric almost died! Go to the other side! No stable ground here!" I saw a steep shore and alot of rocks on the side I wanted to go. On the other side it looked really dicey. We barely made it through there with much cursing of Alan's advice. On the way back, we took the "bad" side and made it peacefully.
that last half mile to the ruins was kind of soupy. Gordie had said it was getting nerve wracking and I had to agree. The level hike itself was nice, but the quicksand and 8.5 miles one way was wearing on us psychologically more than anything else.
Finally we got there. Alan and Eric were there first and met Patrick, our NPS guide. He was Indian, but I can't remember if he was Navajo or Hopi, I think he may have been Hopi (Alan, comment and correct please). I do remember that he said he was of the Sun Clan.
After we had some lunch and rested, we knocked on the cabin door to roust Patrick and he took us on our way. Around the first bend you get the first view of the site in it is absolutely outstanding. It was one of those "Oh my God" moments. After an extended Q&A period where I could hardly sit still, we made our way to the ruins.
I had been stessing over the climb up the 70' ladder but I think its only more like 40' and its not nearly vertical. The climb up the AZ Hot Springs laddder was more scary than this.
At the top, the pictures were snapped non-stop as I and everyone else went into Japanese tourist mode. I had to catch up with Alan and Eric talking to Patrick and had to sometimes ask him repeat answers to questions. Just before we left he said "I have to show you one more thing". This was some beads and cords that the Anasazi made he or other guides had found. He had them hidden under some rocks. He also metioned how below the ruins was a burial ground that was the top of a huge arroyo that has grown over the last 100+ yrs. There's a ladder by the benches that give a view of the site descend in the wash. Patrick said that this ladder is to provide access to archaologicialists a way to survey the wash for remains from the wash and from trash, as this was also a trash site. Its amazing to see the pics they provide to show how much the arroyo below has grown in the last 100 yrs.
On our way out at the bottom, Patrick showed us the several pottery shards at the bottom that we passed on our way in. On your way in, you're totally absorbed by the view of the ruins and you miss the shards. Then on your way out, the guide shows the shards and you feel like the total tourist you are, 17 mile hike or no 17 mile hike.
On the way out, we had some better views of the canyon, which we expected. The climb up the "staircase" was easy for me. I turned on the jets and left only Gordie and Alan behind. Eric gave a head start only because he was changing socks and was soon on my tail like Jason Vorhees until I got to the top. For all my "Speed", Alan and Gordie only got to the TH 10 min after I did.
That night we got to Tuba City for our hotel rooms, showers, dinner, and sleep. After dinner, I invited Eric and Alan to our hotel room for celebratory Serbian brandy. Gordie, the youngest man of the group, had blisters on his feet and was too tired to get drunk. As Alan, Eric, and I imbibed, Gordie faded out. I was happy to finally get a good 9 hour night of sleep afterwards after a summer of pushing the envelope.
Overall, very great weekend doing the hiking of a lifetime. Very glad that this is one of several hikes of a lifetime that I've had an opportunity to do. |
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