First Aravaipa Through Hike

Cindy and I have hiked Aravaipa, 4 times previously. But because you have to have a high clearance vehicle and a fair amount of coordination with others, we had not done a through hike. We finally did it yesterday! The above photo is from one of my favorite spots, towards the end of the day. The East end of the canyon is probably even more beautiful than the West end, but it's hard to get to.

A group of three, with a high clearance vehicle, left Phoenix at 1 am and drove the 5 hours to the East end of the canyon. The other 7 of us were supposed to leave at 4:30am. Due to me forgetting the permits at home, it was more like 5 before we left Phoenix. When we finally were ready to hike it was 8am.

 This is what the area looks like at the trail head at that time of day and this is our group, except me the photographer.

 The first couple of times that you step in the water, it was freezing, but then it was pretty comfortable for most of the day. Not that you felt like swimming. We had perfect tempertures for the hike. It was probably in the 50's when we started and stayed in the high 60's, low 70's the rest of the day.

 Lynnora with numb feet! She fell in once, but was able to get all dried off before the end of the day when it was chilly and she needed her jacket again.

Part of the narrows. This used to be my favorite part of the canyon, but now that I have seen it all, I have a new favorite area.

Not a good picture, but it's the only one I took of myself.

 Dale was brave enough to be our only male representative. We were glad to have him along.

 We saw some wildlife. Here is a blue heron drying it's feathers.

 Mid morning.

 We saw lots of these grey frogs.

 A colorful centipede.We saw a water snake and a garter snake, but they were fast and I didn't get any photos.

 My neice Keegan was in the front the whole hike. She was also the youngest.

 Pretty views

 We saw lots of butterfly's.

 I was always slow.....The rest of them got a few more breaks than I did, because they were always waiting for me.

 A little warmer Lynnora.

 Cindy.

 Tam wanted to climb the rocks, but we vetoed her idea as we didn't want to render first aid.

 We met the other three after we had been hiking just over 5 hours. We were dismayed to hear that we still had 5 hours to go. We had hoped we would be farther a long than that. That's Cindi, there in the foreground. She brought a gourmet picnic with enought to share with everyone! Wes Yule is right behind her. He was the nice guy who volunteered his high clearance vehicle and to drive to the East end.

 Lunch break

 Bernie came with the East end guys. Everyone was very impressed with his preparedness. He had a little of everything in his pack and it was still small! He even filtered his own water from the creek!

 Darryl was the last of the East End guys.

 Part of my favorite stretch. It was beautiful, with large cottonwoods stretching over the water. I had never been in the canyon so late in the afternoon before. The afternoon light was beautiful.

 Lots of sauguro up on the hill side.

 Everyone started wearing out, not just me. As I caught up to them at this point, there was only one rock big enough to sit on and so they got as many people on one rock as possible.

 Late afternoon, early evening, beautiful stretch.

We all loved what the light did to these cliffs. It took us 10 hours. We were nervous it was going to be dark by the time we got to the vehicle. It was 6:05 and we could still just barely see. We felt very lucky to not have to try and wade through the creek or try to find the way out to the road in the dark. Cindy Tanner kissed the vehicle when she saw it! It took us about an hour and a half to drive the 43 miles of dirt road to the pavement. We stopped a couple of times on the way home, bathrooms and food and gas, and I finally got home at 1am. A really long day, but beautiful. Now we are all ready for Halloween. We are so stiff that we look like zombies when we walk!

After we finished, I said I wouldn't do the whole thing again. But this morning, I think maybe. If I was a little more fit and ready, I would. I really would like to do a part way hike from the east end.

Arizona State Fair Photos 2012

I went to the State Fair today. I had invited several different people, but it didn't work out for any of them to go. So I went by myself. I am surprized how much I enjoyed myself.I didn't bother with any of the rides or games. I looked at some of the crafts, exhibits and animals. Walked through where they were selling stuff. Got some fair food and left. Today was opening day. I was surprized at how crowded it was. They had a special deal for admission and it was in the 70's. I am sure that had something to do with it.

Lots of photos.

First I looked at quilts and afghans. Here are some of the ones I liked best. Above is an unual Christmas quilt. There were quite a few Arizona themed quilts, since this year is our centennial.

Jeans pocket quilt.

Witches.

There was a lot of detail on this Arizona themed quilt.

Pretty, poppies around the edge.

These were all food prints. The green are lettuce or cabbages.

Some of the clothes that were entered.

I liked the little birds on the edge of this quilt.

Really nice appliqued bunnies.

Dogwood blossoms.

This crocheted afghan was this ladies original design. She did an awesome job.

 This one was amazing. Appliqued flowers on top of the quilt.

Pepe le Peuw.

Butterfly quilt made from vintage handkerchiefs.

This peacock quilt is not only beautiful, it has some amazing stitching.

Just really pretty.

Sock monkeys are fun.

There is definately sensory overload at the fair. Lots of colors, noises, people, smells and flashing lights. I liked how these fruit drinks looked.

Turkey legs cooking smelled great.

This was supposed to be one of the better rides for grown ups. I didn't have any inclination to try it.

Some of the midway.

Of course there are some animals. Not as many as there used to be when I was a kid. This is a view inside part of the kiddie petting zoo. This is an adorable baby burro. They had way too many people inside the petting zoo. Lots of goats. I think the animals couldn't help but be stressed out. There were some animals that were nursing babies. I think that could be trouble for the mothers and babies.

This wallaby was fenced off into a corner of the petting zoo. She was huddled into the very corner trying to stay away from everyone. She had a baby that was nursing. It crawled into her pouch afterwards.

Cattle

Baby goats

Goats in the beauty spa.

I've never seen guinea pigs at the fair before.

There were lots of rabbits.

All different kinds.

This one was pretty funny looking.

Piglets.

21 day old chicks.

 I had a strawberry Hawaiian Ice.

This ride was supposed to be a lot of fun for kids. They lay on their stomachs and it's like they were hang gliding.

 I wasn't hungry when I saw this sign, but I would have been game to try it.

 I bought this paper mache day of the dead lady for my Halloween display at home.

This isn't really asparagus. It's a cake entered into the decorating contest!

A fun house and farm in the contest.

This rattlesnake is a cake!

This sub sandwich is a cake!

This is my fair food. I just had a regular hotdog.I wanted onion rings, but the booth I was at only served huge portions for multiple people. I talked them into selling me a smaller portion of onion rings. I didn't get them all eaten.

 The have a zip line this year. It costs 20 dollars to go sliding by above everyone. It's pretty funny, the ladies go by with their purses over their shoulders. The lady with the bag over her shoulder took it on the zip line.

Grill master.

Cute ride.

 Sock Monkey's are a popular prize this year.

I have never tried any of the fried treats at the fair before. I decided to try it this year. These are two small fried reese's cups. I don't think I need to try any of those fried things anymore. My curiosity is satisfied and I didn't care for them.

My friends Beth and Jet always went to the fair a lot and enjoyed people watching. It really was quite interesting. I think I did more of that because I was on my own. It was remarkably enjoyable!