| | -
-
| 1 label |  |
|
|
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
|
| | |
|
| Canyoneering | 11.00 Miles |
200 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 11.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 200 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| | |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | When I checked for BLM passes in August, there were only a couple left for the weekend and only for the East Entrance. Having never done Aravaipa before, I figured either side was a good place to start, as I just wanted to get into that water and splash around! My wife was game, so we planned the trip for the last weekend in September.
Day 1
We got (almost) to the confluence of Turkey Creek and Aravaipa Creek around noon on Friday. The last creek crossing just before the confluence is a dead drop-off and our subaru would have died a slow painful death had we kept going. We parked just off the road up against a Nature Conservancy cable/sign. . . not sure if that was kosher or not, but the car was there when we returned without a nasty note or anything.
Since we'd both never been, we started off with no plan for how far we'd go or what we'd do. We essentially just wanted to take the whole place in and plan for many return trips. That's what ended up happening. We made it as far as the opening of Hell Hole Canyon the first afternoon and decided to make camp. After a small issue with the bear bag (I brought a spool of measly twine instead of sturdy rope and heard about this all weekend), we tucked in for a cool fall night's sleep with an almost full moon bouncing lovely shadows and pale light off the canyon walls. We didn't cowboy because there were enough bugs to warrant some sort of tent. It did get a little too chilly for our +55 sleeping bag liners, but it wasn't so uncomfortable that we missed any sleep over it. We could have probably put the rainfly on, but the view out the top of the tent onto the canyon walls was too great to be sacrificed for a little warmth.
Day 2
We had plans to explore up Hell Hole the next morning and then try to go further downstream into Aravaipa in the afternoon. Instead, we woke up at 5am to pee, thought we'd go back to sleep just for an hour or so and then get up and hit Hell Hole. NOT SO! I shot awake at the worm-getting time of 10am! Shameful. So we decided to take it easy around camp, read, eat brunch, and then set out down Aravaipa. We were sad not to explore Hell Hole, but as I said, we had come to Aravaipa this first trip just to take it all in and plan for future ones. Top of the list next trip--Hell Hole, obviously.
We spent the rest of the day splashing down the creek sans backpacks, but with only our bladders full and no filter in our little waist packs, we only made it another mile and a half down creek. There was plenty of splashing and sitting in the water to be had. Mostly we just snapped lots of photos and marveled at how beautiful it really is.
We ended up eating something like 8 marshmallows each that night in a successful attempt to finish all that we brought. The moon was even brighter, and what with so much sugar (and some unexplained stuffiness on both our parts even though neither of us suffers from allergies), we each took a benadryl and passed out.
Day 3
Mindful of our very late second wake up from the morning previous, we made sure we actually got moving when the 6am morning pee hit us. We took our time though eating breakfast and packing up. We were both loathe to leave the canyon and to strap our packs back on, even though the hiking is so easy in Aravaipa. We hoofed it outta there by 9:30am. Real hunger set in halfway between Aravaipa and Wilcox, but we held it off until the Mexican place in Benson. Nothing to rave about, but cheesy and hot hit the spot!
The only real complaint for the whole trip was that we didn't see any wildlife!! I kept a squinted eye on the cliffs scanning for bighorn the whole time and nary a one. No bear, no lions, etc. Sad! All the more reason to go back asap! We saw only two other people the whole time on our hike, and they were just day hiking in from the East TH in our last 20 minutes on the trail. Overall our experience was picturesque, tranquil, amazing. As my wife said a day after our return--"That place was life-altering." I think after living in the desert now for over a year, we've truly come to appreciate the wonder of running water in a way that non-desert-dwellers can never understand. Can't wait to get back! |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
