Day 1- We left Dimmitt around 2:30 after I got off from clinic and drove straight through to Bluewater Lake State Park, west of Grants, NM.
Day 2- We awoke Tuesday morning to our tent being pounded by high winds. We quickly broke camp and continued driving west. We stopped at Walnut Canyon National Monument where we hiked the loop trail through the
canyon among the Sinaguan cliff dwellings. Afterwards we continued south dow
n into Oak Creek Canyon to the Forest Service's Manzanita Campground. The Griffins (my college roommate, his wife and two girls) arrived at the campground a few hours later.Day 3- We woke and headed up canyon a few miles to hike the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. The walk was beautiful and no
t as crowded as I feared it might be. The kids had fun tossing rocks into the creek and Wyatt enjoyed learning a host of new trees. We drove back to the campsite in the afternoon to let the kids play along the creek. Jen and Missy went into Sedona for the afternoon while 
Brad, the kids and I stayed at the campsite.Day 4- After breakfast we broke down camp, loaded the packs and drove out to the Secret Canyon Trailhead. The eight of us slowly walked about two miles back through the fantastic red rocks of Secret Canyon before setting up camp among ponderosa and oak trees. We set up camp and then Brad and I headed further up canyon t
o explore and find water. We fouund a small pool of translucent green water. We brought this back to camp, boiled it and used it as our cooking water. As we cooked 
dinner a cold rain began falling. We quickly ate and jumped into the tents as a steady rain (and later sleet) fell in the 36 degree air.Day 5- Morning dawned to clear skies and a temperature of 33 degrees. Snow had fallen on the canyon rim, but we had only rain. We cooked oatmeal for breakfast before packing up for t
he walk out. We were able to supplement our water supplies with fresh rainwater. It was around 2 PM when we arrived back at the trailhead. We drove back into Oak Creek Canyon, this time to stay at the Cave Spring Campground. We cooked pigs in blanket over the fire before turning in for bed.
Day 6- Saturday brought our coldest morning of the trip at 29 degrees. We fixed breakfast and broke d
own camp. We drove east to the USFS V-V Heritage Site. The site has a wall of spectacular petroglyphs. Additionally, the Forest Service was sponsoring a gathering of Hopi, "mountain men" and others to demonstrate primitive skills, weapons and foods. Wyatt was most excited about the opportunity to eat agave (he liked the taste, but didn't like the 
texture). Afterwards the Griffins turned west to drive back to Pasadena and we headed east to Dimmitt (arriving at 3 AM). 
0 comments:
Post a Comment