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| Hiking | 8.20 Miles |
1,118 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.20 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.17 mph |
| 1,118 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | | The weather looked questionable but we decided to go for it anyway. Arrived at trailhead at 9:30 cool temps and had a great hike to the ruins, we had a light drizzle by the time we arrived at the ruins. I had been on this hike 3 times over the years but this was the first time there was running water in the creek. usually we were lucky to find a stagnant pool.we spent and hour and a half at the ruins exploring ,taking pictures, lunch and in general watching the rain and scenery. the low clouds and rain completely changed the look of the canyon ,it was prettier than I had ever seen it. the fauna was a beautiful deep green and the rain wetted rocks brought out more deep rich color than I ever could have imagined.there is no doubt why the original inhabitants chose this site, while we enjoyed our mid day break the rain built in intensity but we were oblivious because the layout of the site ensures little wind and bone dry conditions in the ruins. that would soon change.One note: I havent been to the ruins in about 15 years and I noticed a section of the roof was gone, I assume people had been walking on it and it partially feel in. This trip was even more enjoyable than my previous trips, after 4 trips I would go back again. It was time to return to the trail head, we had been able to boulder hop all the way in without getting our feet wet,that was not the case on the way out. The rain intensified thruout our return with a little sleet and hale mixed in. Of course the creek rose as well, eventually we reached a spot where the boulders we hopped over were under water and we took the plunge and started fording instead of boulder hopping. the water was ice cold and each time we forded the pain in our feet from the ice cold water was extremely painful, what else could we do but continue on, I guess we had a dozen or so crossings that got a little deeper each time. luckily none of us fell in the rushing water. we eventually reached the trail head looking like drown rats, but at least we had a vehicle with a working heater. In the end we had a great time and some more great stories to tell. when I took photos at the ruins I found out my flash batteries were dead, so with the dark gloomy day I started taking some pictures with a tripod and some exposures as long as 30 seconds and was quite pleased how some of them came out, see my photo postings if your interested. Joel and Greg were my hiking partners and despite the soaking they both vowed to return to hike again. John |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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Route Editor
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