Aravaipa Canyon

[goodtimes]

For the hikers/backpackers on the board, Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area is probably a familiar name (at least it should be for the Arizona croud). At a little over 19,000 acres, it is not that large of an area (compared to some of the nations other wilderness areas), but it's key attraction holds a special place in many peoples hearts and souls. With 1000 foot tall cliffs, heavily shaded floor, ever flowing water, 7 native species of desert fish, 200 species of bird, big horn sheep, bobcats, mulies and white tails, troops of coati's, and a slew of other critters, Aravaipa canyon is one of the premier hiking destinations once the weather starts warming up in Arizona. While it is noticably cooler in the canyon bottom, it certainly isn't cool enough to escape the summer heat. Late May is about the end of the season for all but the most die-hard of hikers. The average daily high temperature exceeds 90 degrees from June thru September.

In order to maintain the pristine nature of the canyon and the fragile ecosystem within the wilderness boundries, access is strictly limited. Permits are available on a first come, first served basis from the BLM Safford field office (on line here). Due to access problems with the east end of the canyon, the only access is from the west. Permits are limited to 20 per day, with a maximum stay of 3 days/2 nights. Maximum group size is 10 people, pets are not allowed. Pack animals are, but they are not allowed in the canyon overnight. Permits can be obtained up to 13 weeks in advance, cost $5 per person per day and they sell quickly, particularly for holiday weekends.


Despite warmer than expected temperatures, ever changing work schedules, and my backpacking partner in crime (my little sister) not being able to make the trip, I set off from Southwest tucson anyway. Being that I worked until midnight the night before, I didn't get the early start that I like to. Instead I opted for a little more sleep, and a good breakfast over in the shopping center at Tucson Estates (the chinese joint serves the best american breakfast on this side of town). It was about 8:30am before I pointed the dodge to the north and headed out of town (actually...I headed into town, then out the other side of town....). Not really sure where I was going, I had the GPS running with the turnoff marked on it. Of course, when I stopped for some cold water in Mammoth..the GPS shut itself down, as I had it running off of the trucks electrical system, not the GPS batteries. Back on the road, I didn't even think about it. About the time I see the sign marking Aravaipa road, I realize the GPS is turned off...oops. Glad the guy behind me wasn't following too close. 12 miles later, I was sitting at the trailhead, counting cars (5), and the number of people ahead of me in the canyon (15, according to the log at the trailhead). I made a mental note of this, donned my pack (which was really light this trip...thankfully), grabbed a walking stick from the stack at the trailhead, and headed down to the creek.

 

[BajaTaco]

:lurk:

 

[goodtimes]

As I was heading down the trail to the creek bed, I began to wonder about my timing. It was the end of May, just shy of 10:00am, and already it was just over 90 degrees. The trail was narrow, rocky, and lined with cactii of various sorts on both sides. In places, it was so narrow that my pack would rub against the cholla and prickly pears on both sides of me. Basically, this looked like so many other hiking trails in Southern Arizona (you know, the trails you avoid like the plague in the end of May). But, I had seen water flowing on the way into the trail head, and a endless string of healthy cottonwoods lay ahead and below me, so on I went, thinking how nice it would be to get my feet in the cool water, and not see anyone else for 2 days.

Once down on the canyon floor, I was not dissapointed. The shade was plentiful, the water was ankle deep, cool and flowing ever so gently (about 10 CFS, as I found out later). The birds were chirping, fish were swimming around, lizards were diving for cover, and life was good. As I headed towards the wilderness area (about 1 mile upstream from the trailhead), I quickly realized that what I had read was true. There is absolutely no way to avoid getting your feet wet on this hike. Crossing the stream was unavoidable. But hey, that is why I was here. So get wet I did.

About 1/2 mile up the canyon, I was listening to the lizards rustle around the dry leaves along the trail, when I realized that the latest lizard wasn't "running". Instead of the rapid sound of footsteps, it was a rather constant sound of leaves being crushed and pushed aside...you know, the kind of sound that snakes make when they are doing the whole "exit, stage left" thing. A quick scan of the area revealed a healthy rattlesnake that appeared about 6 feet long (which means it was probably about 3 feet long). As I stopped, so did the snake, we exchanged glances, and I moved on thinking it was odd that the snake didn't rattle when I got too close...it just slithered away instead. Make no mistake, it was a rattle snake...it just didn't rattle. Kind of unnearving. Fortunately, Chuck wasn't with me, so no one went diving wildly through the brush to catch it and play with it ( ), and on down the trail I went.

It didn't take long for the scenery to take over and snake #1 was pushed into the depths of my memory. A Blue Heron was out looking for food, and wasn't too keen on my following him (her?) up the river. Of course, that didn't stop me. I could never get closer than 20 yards or so...as I walked upstream, so did the bird. Always with one eye turned towards me. This continued for about 10 minutes, at which time it spotted a snack, and took it's eyes off of me for a second to grab it. Any good predator would have taken advantage of this and tried for a free meal...but alas I'm not a good predator, so I just snapped a couple of pictures, thinking how much I really need to get some better glass for my camara. The Heron took flight after swallowing its lunch, and I headed towards the shore to empty my shoes of the rocks stuck inside.

On a side note, I had a choice of wearing a pair of Keen Newports, or a pair of Soloman water shoes originally purchaced when I spent time in my kayak off of the California shoreline. I chose the Keen's because they have a more stable footbed, and stick to rocks pretty well. Since neither pair offered any ankle support, I figured I would go with the shoes with the stiffer sole. While this aspect of the Keen's proved to work well with 210 pounds of fat white guy, and another 30 pounds of gear on my back, what didn't turn out to well was the fact that I simply could not keep gravel out of the shoes. I hiked the entire trip with rocks in my shoes (sandel's???? whatever you want to call them). This proved to be a major problem, and the source of what was probably the funniest thing ever witnessed by a human being....if there was anyone around to see it.

So, there I was, standing on the shore of Aravaipa creek. Balanced between my right foot (which still had rocks under it), my walking stick, my left foot off the ground, with shoe in hand (off my foot), full pack on my back and I'm bend over putting my shoe back on. OK, this is bad enough. When you see a scene like this, you just know that someone is going to fall over backwards and the croud is going to be howling with laughter. But wait, it gets worse. There I am, putting my shoe back on...and my eyes change focus from my left foot, to the ground beyond that foot. Anyone care to guess what my eyes focus in on? Chuck....you know. Right there, less than 18" from my *right* foot (the one I'm balancing on), and less than 6" from where my left foot had just been...is rattlesnake #2. All coiled up and staring at me. Now....just so you have the scene right....fat white guy with full backpack is balanced on one foot bent over putting a shoe on the other foot....about 2 feet from the edge of the creek, and he sees a rather large rattle snake coiled up at his feet. Now, I'm thinking...."this sucks". Do I want to do the "one legged backpacker dance" and end up on my back in the creek? nope....not my style. I am usually in pretty good control of myself, and generally have no problem staying calm and executing the proper emergency actions....but when the buzzer in my mind went off....I just couldn't think of what exactly one should do when faced with this situation! Do I hop away on one foot? nope....to slow and will likely injure the other ankle. Do I run away wearing only one shoe? nope...too many dead branches and stuff laying around waiting to impale a bare foot. Do I fall backwards into the creek and hope I float away? nope...creek is to shallow, and I didn't really want to let my camara go swimming. So...what to do, what to do......well, I didn't have time to ponder the correct answer too long...so I shoved my foot back in the shoe I was holding (well, I sort of shoved it back in....), and backed into the creek, managing to not fall over in the process (sorry to dissapoint you, I know everyone was hoping I would...). Now that I am about 5 feet away from this snake, I get mad. Here was rattle snake #2, I damn near stepped on it, and the little bastard didn't have the common curtousy to rattle! What the heck is up with these snakes?!?! I am used to listening for the rattle as a friendly warning...and here these punks didn't have the decency to announce their presence! The nerve of them! So naturally, I walked back over to the shore where rattlesnake #2 is calmly curled up, and shove my camara in his face. Well, not really....I didn't get THAT close! The little bastard didn't flinch. He didn't move....AT ALL! Common sense was starting to take over, and I start to wonder if the snake is even alive. I start to think "what would Chuck do"? Well, that is an easy answer....Chuck would poke it with his walking stick! Of course! Lets see if we can piss this snake off! So I take the end of my walking stick......and common sense full kicks in. Chuck may like pissed off rattlesnakes, I do not. I head upstream and find a snake free spot to empty the rocks out of my shoes. And I live to see another day. Sorry Chuck, I'm not as crazy as you.

 

[whitethaiger]

Great story GT.

You are right about the Keens and the little rocks/sand on dry trails. In water the stuff washes out relatively easy.

I've come across the silent stealth rattlers. Probably an evolution thing, they got smarter :elkgrin:

 

[goodtimes]

Soon after snake #2, I passed the first 2 people that were ahead of me. 2 down, 13 to go. Right as I crossed into the wilderness area, I passed the 2nd group, immediately followed by the 3rd group (who were heading out). Down to 8 people in front of me. Virtually every trip report I have read regarding Aravaipa canyon, people always remark how great it is to not see any other people the entire trip. Here I was, less than 2 miles into it, and have already seen half a dozen people. But at least I knew that there werent' too many more ahead of me. I have also noticed that only 2 of the people that I passed had substantial amounts of gear on them. So it appears that the rest were only there for the day, and they didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, so maybe there was hope for some solitude after all.

Once I passed Hells Half Acre Canyon (on the south) and Cave canyon (on the north), the canyon narrows significantly. The progress slows quite a bit as you are forced to spend more time in the water and crawling over downed trees and brush left over from the last flood. It didn't escape me that there was debris stuck in trees an easy 15 feet above the current waterline, indicating how high the water was at some point in the not too recent past. It was hard to imagine how this peaceful little canyon looked with that much water flowing through it. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be there when it happend though!

Somewhere not to far west of Javalina canyon I came across a large group of people playing in one of the deeper pools. They were a bit on the young side, and I really had no desire to walk through the middle of them and their water fight, so I skirted around them and headed upstream. Around the next corner, there was a sole young woman just kind of wandering aimlessly around the creek by herself. She was with the group having the water fight, but seemed more interested in hiking than the others. Turns out that it was a school group who were out on their last hike of the year. We chatted for a couple of minutes before I headed upstream. I was sure that they wouldn't make it farther than they already had, so it was probably going to be the last human contact I had until I headed out in 2 days (they made up the remainder of the hikers who registered at the trailhead).

I stopped for a few minutes just west of the confluence of Virgus Canyon and Aravaipa canyon to have a snack, filter some water and empty the rocks out of my shoes for the 500th time. This may have been a mistake. After drinking 2 liters of water, stretching out on a rock by the creek and closing my eyes for a second....the siesta was on! I woke up some time later...not really sure when...and it really didn't matter when. I don't track time when hiking, unless I need to be somewhere at a certain time. Fortunately, I had 5 days off, and nowhere to be. I packed up my gear, filtered some more water, put my shoes back on and immediately changed my mind. My right foot hurt...bad. Off came the shoe, and a closer inspection revealed that the rocks had taken their toll. Not a blister like you would expect, but a nice hole rubbed in the skin, right behind the ball of my foot. It was pretty small, but felt like I had a spine from a cactus stuck in it whenever I put pressure on it. So, out came the gear, and camp was set up. Not that it took much to set up camp....I unrolled my thermarest sleeping pad and tossed a fleece jacket at the end to use as a pillow....camp was officially set up!

After cleaning and dressing the hole in my foot, I did exactly what I intended to do. Nothing! I milled around camp, took another nap, and generally pondered the universe. What a great way to end the day! Just before sunset, I took out my recently aquired Jet-boil, and wondered how I ever lived without it. This thing rocks! I don't do much actual "cooking" when backpacking, so this allows me to leave my traditional MSR wisperlite stove and white gas at home along with the frying pans I usually carry. Since all I needed was hot water, the jet-boil works fine....and fast! Including setup time, it took less than 3 minutes to boil 2 cups of water (all that was needed for my freeze dried dinner).

As the sun set, so did I. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up and decided it was a bit cool, so I pulled the 45 degree sleeping bag that a friend had loaned me out and used it as a blanket. It was still a bit warm to sleep inside of it...but sleeping under it was perfect as I could "stick a leg out" if it got too hot. A great nights sleep ensued.

 

[Ursidae69]

Wow, you've thought about me like 4 times in the first 2 miles of your adventure, I'm flattered!

Can't wait to see the pics of the snake so we can see what species you had. I've only camped on the east and west side of Aravaipa a few times, never hiked through it yet. It's on my short list. Maybe this fall or next spring.

Those stealthy rattlers are scary. Glad you had your wits about you and didn't get bitten. :Wow1:

 

[goodtimes]

Whenever I see a snake, I'm reminded of you. I'm not sure if that is something to be flattered about or not Chuck.

 

[goodtimes]

The next morning I wake up long before the sun comes up, well rested and ready to go. I gave a fair amount of thoght to the days activities. The original plan was to take a day pack and head farther into the canyon, and possibly look for the springs up Booger canyon. But with my foot, and knowing I had a few miles of hiking through the creek bed and fighting off silent rattlesnakes, I decided it was probably best to save the upper half of the canyon for another day, and another pair of shoes. So I packed up, and headed down stream. As it always seems to work out, I make much better time going out than I do going in. What took me 1/2 a day one day earlier, took a much shorter time today. Again, I don't really keep track of time while out in the boonies. I left camp well before the sun made it to the highest peaks around me.....and I crawled out of the canyon not long after the sun found its way to the creek bed. The trip out was absolutely uneventful after the day before. No rattle snakes waiting to ambush me, no groups of school kids having water fights, no great blue herons snacking on fish. On the way out I passed through the camp of the 2 women I passed the day before, exchanging hello's as I walked through...and came across 2 other groups that were on their way in. Just your basic walk in the park with one injured foot and one mildly sore knee. I was back at the trail head early enough to catch the last few minutes of the morning show on the country station out of Tucson. The drive back home was equally uneventful.

So, in the end I cut my trip one day short, but left about 1/2 of Aravaipa canyon, and all of the side canyons, unexplored. But I did learn that the Keen Newports are not the appropriate footwear selection for this canyon, late May is just a bit too late in the season, and as much as I enjoy solitude, I think this canyon will be better experienced with the company of a good friend. It is a spectacular section of the low desert, one which I will visit again. Next time with better shoes.

 

[brittan]

Enjoying the read...thanks for sharing...

 

[goodtimes]

Great story GT.

You are right about the Keens and the little rocks/sand on dry trails. In water the stuff washes out relatively easy.

Yes, the small stuff washes out fairly easily. Unfortunately, the larger gravel does not. When I was on dry ground, I had little trouble. Once I had to cross the creek, it generally got ugly. In may places I crosssed, the bed was basically pea gravel that was deep enough that my foot would sink several inches deep, and then gravity did its thing, and I cussed. On the way out, I was more selective about where I crossed the creek, and didn't have as many problems with gravel, but in exchange I had more trouble with trees and undergrowth along side the creek while trying to get to a more suitable spot to cross (generally, in the areas where the water was flowing faster, all the small gravel has been washed downstream, leaving only the larger rocks....as you would expect).