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| Hiking | 17.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I am a more recent HAZ member, and I thought I'd post a few triplogs of some past hikes I did before I joined, so I apologize if this is a bit "late to the party" 
I did this hike just after Memorial Day, 2011, with a good hiking buddy who LOVES ruins. This was the holy grail for him. As neither of us are experienced, or interested in, camping, we did this as an out-and-back in one day. We had already spent the prior week doing various hikes around Northern AZ, starting with the hike down and back to Supai, then Canyon de Chelly, finishing up here at Keet Seel. We were primed and ready.
I have read a few other very detailed triplogs so I will not repeat what is not necessary. I will, however point out some of the differences:
Thursday, June 2, 2011. We were the ONLY hikers headed down, there was NO ONE in the campground, NO ONE at the ruins, except for the excellent ranger Steve Hayden, who gave us a private 2-hour tour of the Keet Seel filled with all of those wonderful stories reported. He even let us move a few "do not enter" barriers solely to take unobstructed photos; we didn't enter anywhere not permitted.
Water in canyon: I wore Salomon river shoes, no socks, which were extremely comfortable going in and out of the water. At no point did it smell, and we did not have to walk for any lengthy periods IN the water, so it must have been lower than in other years reported. We did run into a few cows but generally no issues with smells.
Sand dunes: yes. They suck. Oh wait, that's no different than anyone else reported
Ranger Steve: we left him and his wife some Oreos and other treats we knew we wouldn't need for the hike out. Everything they have down in the yurt/hut near the ruin has to be carried in; bring your ranger a treat!
Weather: slightly cool and always breezy. I kept on a long sleeve lightweight windbreaker the whole time while my buddy went sleeveless. To each his own.
Time: We started our hike just before 8am from the parking area, getting to the first water crossing at the bottom of the cliff an hour later. We were at Keet Seel proper by about 11:30am, and spent about 2.5 hours there. At about 2pm, we headed back, and got to the top of the canyon rim just after 5pm. We were back at our car by 5:30pm.
Orientation: we did it the day before with a few others, which is why we were surprised there were no other hikers this day...we didn't even pass anyone on the way back. It must have scared them off. It was well worth it (and required anyway).
LOVED this hike. Will do it again someday! |
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