My awesome husband, amazing puppy (I can say that for one more week until his birthday), a couple of great friends and I attacked the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness this past weekend. Our friends, Mike & Chad, flew in from Illinois. Vic aka Get Out N’ Do It - planned a multi-day backpacking trip in the gorgeous and overwhelming high desert in North Central Arizona. Gorgeous because the scenery changed with every mile and elevation change, and there were many of those. Gorgeous because of the blue skies and red rock and dirt and green foliage. Yes green foliage in the high desert and riparian areas! Gorgeous because we traversed the terrain on our own two (or four where Mater is concerned) feet. Gorgeous because the outdoor splendor never failed to amaze.
Overwhelming because this was my very first multi-day backpacking trip. Overwhelming because the temps reached the mid-80′s and we were in the mid-day desert sun. Overwhelming because we ran low/out of water on day two and day three prior to our destinations. Overwhelming because of the distance we traveled.
But we did it and I didn’t cry once! That is momentous! We did almost 22 miles on foot with loaded packs. And we have the pictures to show!!! Here is a small sampling.
130 lbs of gear. That’s equal to a person!
We walked all the way around this bad boy! First it was a rock, then it was a rock with an opening, then the opening got progressively bigger, then it got small again, and then it was once again just a rock.
Sycamore Creek is a seasonal creek, fed from snow runoff via the mountains. This was our water source. We had to cross it twice and to say it was cold would be an understatement. Mike was kind enough to make multiple trips and help get Mater across. He almost sacrificed a Croc. Almost, but not quite.
Taylor Cabin built circa 1880. We believe this cabin was the cattle ranchers’ seasonal hang-out. Very cool to explore and well worth the trek. We left our campsite and hiked almost 5 miles just to see the cabin AND replenish our water from the creek just past the cabin. Running out of water 7/8 of a mile before the creek was a little scary.
Finally, back at the car where we left additional water, could drop our packs and take off the boots. AHhhhhhhhh.
(L-R, Mater, Vic, Rachael, Mike, Chad)
These were all taken with my small point and shoot. In the world of backpacking, smaller is better. I love my Olympus 1035 Shockproof/Waterproof camera.