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| Hiking | 16.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | A two day, 16 mile, back-packing adventure to Crack-In-Rock Ruins led by Ranger Mary and Volunteer Ranger Linda.
Felt privileged being selected to go on this restricted, twice-a-year, lottery trek. Also got to spend the weekend with a great group;
from left to right
1. Linda
2. Clark N.
3. Ambika (aka desertgirl)
4. Todd K.
5. Eric C. (aka abfan1127)
6. Matt B. (aka mcbond)
7. Todd G. (aka GTG)
8. Mike M.
9. Riley K.
10. Volunteer Ranger Linda
11. Ranger Mary
12. Mike R. (aka AZHikr4444)
13. Aida from Tucson
14. Glen from Tucson
15. Randal (behind the lens)
Started the weekend Friday around lunch time, gathering our group of 8 into a convoy of 4 vehicles. Made good time up the I-17 and arrived at the Hampton Inn in the east end of Flagstaff by mid-afternoon. Todd K and Mike M were feeling a little under-the-weather, but a hit of medicinal beverage and they were ready for dinner at the Beaver Street Brewery.
We headed back to our rooms early for a restful sleep - NOT! I should point out that 120+ trains pass through Flagstaff daily and can report that most of them pass through the evening and blast their horns at each and every level crossing. I should also point out that a level crossing is located just outside our hotel room window!
We planned to leave the hotel by 7am at the latest, but due to check-out snafus we were on the road at 7:25am! With some stellar driving, got to the Ranger Station/Visitor Center at 7:59am for an 8am departure...
We left for the 4WD track to the trail head where Ranger Mary checked that everyone had packed the required minimum of 2 gallons of water and also reviewed "leave no trace" principles. Mary also requested that anyone carrying a GPS should leave them behind and we were soon on our way!
The first day featured multiple ruins. Unfortunately the "unstablized" ruins are off-limits, but there are many stabilized ruins to compensate. The second day features multiple rock art sites. Manyartifacts were stumbled upon both days. There are also multiple historic Navajo sites to investigate along the way. Some desert wildlife was also encountered!
We were fortunate that the weather was perfect until near the end of the second day as the winds began to pick up speed to the point that wearing a hat was impossible. Many of the washes had deep, black volcanic sand making the hike that much extra of a work out!
We were back at the Visitor's Center by 3-ish giving us an opportunity to explore Waputki Pueblo.
Thanks again to Mary and Linda for taking us to this special place. Would very much like to do it again and will make sure Riley doesn't forget the canned beverages... |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
