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| Hiking | 10.50 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 10.50 Miles | 8 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.24 mph |
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| no partners | | Just wanted to get this triplog down so I don't have to worry about it. I'm in the middle of writing a more detailed trail description of the entire route based upon my two hikes, the information on Simblissity and whatever other stuff I can make up. Hopefully should get that posted in next few days - though really I should actually be studying for my big test on Tuesday. What fun is that?
We camped about 2 miles up stream from the first creek crossing - and we had a cherry spot. Shade all day, secluded from view and close to a number of fishing honey-holes. Unfortunately, because of the holiday weekend, every yahoo for miles around was out riding their ATVs up and down the creek. Our spot was not near any deep swimming holes where drunk hicks could jump off of rocks or try to drown their little brothers, so other than the parade, we weren't too bothered by the populous. I would imagine on a non-holiday weekend that this would be heaven for car camping. So many spots, and access is difficult enough to keep the hoards away. It's hot, though, and unless you're in the water, you have to be willing to sweat a little 
From camp, I took Lilo further upstream to explore some of the side canyons and sites that I blew past when I came through here on my GET hike. We left before 6:30, so we missed all of the day-use atv-ers. However, about a mile in from our camp was another camp, and these guys had all gotten back there on their ATVs. As we approached, they took of on their gas-powered steeds and headed upstream ahead of us. Well - that piqued my sense of competition. Now I was determined to hike further up this pumpkin canyon than they could ride. Poor Lilo had no idea what she was in for.
We kept moving up canyon, past the ruined ranch buildings I explored briefly last time, the ranch house (which I found the correct route around this time) and a short ways up several side canyons. Birdlife was amazingly prolific - I especially enjoyed watching some swallows defending their mud-nests on a cliff over a deep pool. At the ranch house, I came across a few horses grazing on the creekside. The first one was actually in a corral near the house, and when it harumphed the first time, I thought Lilo was gonna come out of her skin it surprised her so much! I was proud - no barking though. She just kept a watchful eye on that corral fence and gave it a wide berth.
I caught up with the ATVs at about 10:30 - but they were parked alone...no sign of the fishermen. So I kept walking, and about another 1/4 mile upstream, I found them. They looked more than a little bewildered at my presence, but we just waved and kept walking. I found the next deep pool up stream, took a cool dip and sat on the grassy bank for lunch.
The fishermen made their way upstream, checking out the deeper pools as they went. It wasn't long before they were fishing in MY swimming hole... And they didn't move on for more than half an hour! All they were catching were little guys - small mouth bass no longer than my hand. But, they kept on casting and chatting and I wanted to just smack them around for messing with my solitude! After a while, I got bored of the live WFN show and packed up my gear to move on. Lilo emerged from her hiding spot under a bush and the fishermen were shocked. She finally barked at them - after like 30 minutes! What a nut. We turned and headed back down stream at about noon-thirty.
I made much better time heading back because I didn't stop nearly as much. It was about a mile downstream from lunch that Lilo started to dance around kinda funny. It hadn't occurred to me how hot the sand must be getting - it was over 90 deg out and so sunny. So, I started trying to keep to the shade or the creekside as much as I could. This slowed me down even more, and often sent us a considerable distance out of our way. Her feet got very tender, and though she never complained, she did get in the habit of running ahead to a shady, sandy spot and laying down until I was well past and out of sight. I felt bad, but she's much too big to carry, so she was forced to take care of herself and try to find the best routes. Luckily for her, her smaller stature made it easier to stay in the shade more.
On a side note, Lilo loves the water but has never really been a graceful swimmer. She smacks at the water with her paws on each stroke, making all kinds of splash and noise which in turn makes it even harder for her to swim. Well, there were enough swimming crossings on this trip that she finally started to get the paws-in-the-water technique down. It was such a pleasure watching her enjoy the swimming part, and we got more than a few laughs from all four of the dogs we brought and their excitement for the water.
I continued downstream, stopping at some of the bigger pools to dip myself in the cool water - clothes and all, which helped me keep cool on the walk. It was getting quite hot, and that mid-day stillness had killed all the little breezes that had kept the morning so nice.
As I got closer to our campsite, I ran into a large (30+) group of ATVers, all parked on a big gravel bar, playing very loud music and obviously very drunk - it looked, sounded and smelled exactly like a biker bar. They were sitting right on the trail, so I had to go right past them. They were friendly enough, offering me soda, water and beer. As I wasn't really ready to let go of the quiet solitude of the canyon, I politely refused and kept moving. I think they thought they were being discrete as I walked past and they began to joke about my hiking poles, my silly hat and whether or not I'd found the Lost Ark. I just kept going. Lilo, however, who has always been very wary of loud, drunk people (hmm...where did she learn that I wonder?) disappeared. Turns out she was smarter than me and decided to avoid the jerks altogether. Problem was, she didn't ever show up beside me. So, I had to go back through the gauntlet, up to the bench beside the biker-bar. There she was, tucked under a bush, looking for all the world like I was asking her to venture through the lowest level of hell.
We found another route through the mesquites and thorn bushes on the bench, then down a steep cow path back to the water beyond the ATVers. From there back to camp was a depressing walk - beer cans, litter, broken bottles and even a leaking gallon jug of motor oil (I handed that to the next group of ATVers I saw with strict instructions to carry it out).
When I saw the silhouette of Mr. Wendy fishing in the creek ahead of me it was almost 4pm. He had the little dog with him, and enthusiastic greetings ensued. Evidently, after I left, he'd climbed onto my chair by the campfire and howled for several minutes before curling up and falling asleep. It's nice to be loved.
What struck me as I took another dip to get the sweat off, was that while I had anticipated that this hike would be a breeze without a pack, I was dead wrong. The water was much shallower than my last trip, and as a result, there was a lot of algae on the rocks in the creek, making each crossing much more difficult. Also, when I hiked it before, we attacked the 9 miles of Eagle Creek in the GET in 4.5 mile segments. 10 miles of this kind of hiking is a lot - particularly in the heat. Finally, I grappled with the doggie paw problem. Though Lilo's feet didn't exhibit any major injuries, she did as little walking over the next couple of days as she could get away with, and she was obviously in pain. How much of that I could have or should have prevented I'm not sure, but I will definitely be more aware in the future. Too bad she just never took to the boots.
Final note, regarding the side canyons: The ones that I explored were mostly in the narrow section of the canyon between Horseshoe Canyon and the ranch house. Without exception, I found that they went back a short ways in a tight narrows, only to encounter a difficult-to-bypass waterfall not far back. I suppose without the dog I might have tried going further on a few, but the payoff didn't seem worth it. Dry canyon with thorny brush, hot walls and difficult climbs vs. large swimming holes and clear paths. Hmmmm... Which would YOU choose? |
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Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.- Barack Obama |
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