Bright Angel Resthouses

Let me blog again about my trip Out West last June. I’ve been quite derelict on finishing that up.

While I was at the Grand Canyon I ended up doing less strenuous hikes than I planned. Most of that was because it was hot (and I’m aware of the dangers with heat in the Grand Canyon).

But I did make sure I had fun with whatever hikes I did.

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See Da Cedar Ridge

Continuing writing about my recent trip out west, on June 5 I was still at the Grand Canyon. On all of my previous trips I’d backpacked to the bottom, but my knees (going down) and my hips (coming back up) are appreciating that extra weight less and less as I’m getting older, so this visit I decided to take it easy and just do day hikes.

Fortunately, the Grand Canyon offers plenty of opportunities.

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Blunder Bus

On my second full day (June 4) at the Grand Canyon I decided to do a bit of sightseeing. While I’ve tended to go there for the hiking, that has meant that it’s been easy for me to miss many of the other fascination things that go on there.

So I did some of their special programs, rode the buses, and caught some new views.

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Agave Up

On my 2017 trip Out West, I’m now up to blogging June 3. (I’m also back home now and have the ability to edit pictures and stuff much more easily.) I had arrived at the Grand Canyon on the previous afternoon.

On the 3rd I descended the Tanner Trail (one you probably haven’t heard of). I had great intentions of going a long ways down and then back up, but discretion is the better part of valor.

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Ventana High Way

When I visited El Malpais last year I visited La Ventana. What I didn’t manage to do that I kind of wanted to do was to go to the top of it.

On this trip I managed to do so.

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Old Woman. No Shoe.

My last post was of just the campground at El Malpais. I got there at about 10 in the morning, which left me plenty of time to do an exploration that was on my to-do list. I wanted to visit La Vieja.

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Skeen and Bones

I am now off on another of my world-famous trips Out West. I left on Tuesday (May 30) and arrived at El Malpais the next day. Again, I stayed at the (free!) Joe Skeen Campground.

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The Real McLean

We’ve now progressed in my trip Out West to the second hike on my last day, August 31, 2016. I’d camped at Hovenweep and planned on trying to visit a site at the Canyons of the Ancients.

It’s nice to leave the best for last.

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To the Back Cave!

August 30, 2016 was a rest day, a hang-out day, for me. I deliberately inserted a number of these into my schedule. What I ended up doing that day was heading to the Anasazi Heritage Center about 30 miles east (as the raven flies) of Hovenweep just outside the town of Dolores.

There is a nice museum there and I arrived just as one of the local experts was starting a tour.

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Making the Cut

The day after visiting Painted Hand Pueblo I decided to visit Cutthroat Castle. You may recall that from the parking lot I headed east (and north) while Cutthroat Castle was in the other direction, north. However, I wanted to do something a bit more challenging and I didn’t want to repeat myself driving to that parking lot.

So I did something else.

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Painted Back

On my trip Out West, August 28, 2016 was the day I started exploring the Canyons of the Ancients. As a reminder, this is a very large, fairly new, National Monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

This was the day I was going to learn if my bushwhacking skills from Ohio transferred to the desert Southwest.

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Petroglyph Program

One of the really nice things about going to National Parks as opposed to other federal locations like National Forests is that the National Parks have educational programs that they put on pretty regularly. These are almost always worth going to (and well-worth the price of admission).

On the late afternoon of my last post I made sure to attend the “Petroglyph Walk” at Hovenweep.

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Holly and Horseshoe and Hackberry at Hovenweep

Continuing with my trip Out West, on August 27, 2016 I was starting my first full day at the Square Tower Campground at Hovenweep National Monument.

It was time to head out exploring.

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And They Hove Into View . . .

On my trip Out West, I left the Grand Canyon on August 26, 2016 and headed for Hovenweep National Monument. What? You’ve never heard of Hovenweep?

Before I planned this trip, neither had I.

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I’m Movin’ On Up

After spending the night of August 23, 2016 at the Bright Angel Campground, it was time to head back up to the top. While heading up is a change in elevation of about a mile, in some ways it’s not as hard. For one, you’ve eaten some of your food so your pack is lighter. For another, you don’t have to carry as much water, since you can refill at Indian Garden (and then at the 3-mile and 1½-mile Resthouses).

On the way up I did get quite a few people asking how my bare feet were doing. My answer: “They’re just fine; it’s my hips that are hurting. I’m used to hiking barefoot; but I’m not used to carrying this pack uphill all the time.”

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