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| Backpack | 16.79 Miles |
300 AEG |
| | Backpack | 16.79 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 300 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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| partners | | This one came up at the last minute, and having never through-hiked the length of the canyon, I decided it would be fun. Despite the dry season leading up to this one where we knew there wouldn't be a lot of water up top, we figured it was still worth it. The forecast called for monsoon storms, but after looking at the detailed atmospheric readings and forecast, it was clear that any rain would not be able to cause flooding. So we left a car at Call of the Canyon and headed up top. Roads are in great shape and it only took 30 minutes which made us feel good about the return shuttle.
After not going to bed at 8pm like senior citizens, and still somehow waking up at a reasonable hour as planned, we set off down canyon. I was surprised at how overgrown it is up here. Nonetheless there was a pretty good use path most of the way. I was frustrated that the bears aren't bigger though, since much of the brush above the waist isn't nearly as nicely broken through as it is lower down.
Oh, and poison ivy. Everywhere. I just gave up and decided to do a solid scrubbing at camp and hope for the best. I'll report back later! 
We hit the first swimmer and it was a pleasure to cool off. So was the second one. It appeared that there are sometimes a few others that we were able to wade through, or simply walk on dry ground. The geology was great even without the upper pools.
After making about 1mph we reached the area we were hoping to camp. We passed a great spot and decided to set up. It turned out perfect as I went for a short hike to explore a bit later, and the next 3 possible spots were already occupied by people who had hiked up from the bottom.
After a pleasant night at camp, we set out in the morning. The scenery here was beautiful, as it always is, and as the miles wore on, the other hikers were, as they always are here, increasingly frequent and diverse.
Patrick and I pushed out quickly and took care of the shuttle while Jon took his time to make some photos along the way. This turned out to be perfect. A good monsoon storm rolled through around noon and dropped the temps into the 50s.
For the apple watchers, the orchard at the trailhead was looking like a bumper crop. All the trees were loaded, and I had a pretty tasty sour green apple that I thought would be way ahead of ripe at this time of year, but was actually really good. I don't know what this means for the Reavis orchard, but it can't be worse there than last year!
It was good to adventure with Jon and Pat again, and of course Daisy, the only 12 year old schnauzer that can rock a 14 mile canyon with only occasional minor complaints.  |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
