April-June 2008

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It's been several months since I've written anything on this blog. Not for a lack of material, but I suppose just a lack of motivation. I haven't traveled in the past 9 months as much as I traveled before.

All of April and the beginning of May was spent in Idaho, working and spending time in Boise. I got instructor of the month at my job, which felt good after working there for about 9 months.

At the end of May I headed down to Ruidoso, New Mexico to interview for another wilderness therapy program started by a couple of guys that had left Idaho the year before. I had only worked with Seaver and Jon once, but Seaver is a solid instructor and Jon is a phenomenal therapist. I really enjoyed working with them and after hearing some of their ideas about this new program they were starting up I was interested in working for them.

The seminar was great, the actual property is in Timberon, NM, which has a climate very much like Flagstaff, AZ. Tall ponderosa and pinon pines mixed with alligator juniper. In the drier areas there are yucca, agave, and some prickly pear. The seminar was fun and I met a few cool people. Since I had experience in the field I ended up helping out Seaver with most of the demonstrations and it didn't really feel like it was an interview for me, more like I was learning the differences between this new program and my current job in Idaho.

After the seminar I headed to Phoenix where I went on a two week backpacking trip with my brother Bryce. It ended up being more like two 5 day trips with some driving in between. First we went to the Blue Range in North Eastern Arizona. Our goal was to hike down Raspberry Canyon (and hopefully find some Raspberries) and then hike south along the Blue River. The hike down Raspberry Canyon was great, but there weren't any raspberries. The hike was about 8 miles if I recall and it was all downhill. I just kept thinking it was going to be a bear hiking back out along the same trail several days later. At one point we lost the trail when it crossed the creek. After realizing the trail ended in steep canyon walls we backtracked a bit and then climbed up, figuring we'd cross the trail at somepoint, which we did. My brother was a great hiker, we probably hiked six miles that first day, including that bushwhacking, which wasn't easy. Bryce just pushed on through like a champ, but was definitely beat when we decided to make camp after the trail returned down to the creek.

The next day we hike a few easy miles to the Blue River, which I was very disappointed with. Granted it was May, but I had expected there to be more flow. The "river" was maybe 15 feet wide and a couple of feet deep in most places. Regardless we were thankful for the cool water and made camp on a shaded beach.

The next couple of days we headed south gathering materials to make a bowdrill set for Bryce and some additional woods that I hadn't bowdrilled on before. We ended up both making complete Aspen sets from a downed Aspen in the riverbed. We found a really nice campsite with a strangely shaped tree and a small nearby pool. We spend a couple of days at the site, playing in the water, building a small dam, working on Bryce's fire-by-friction skills, learning orienteering (map and compass), and reading "Where the Red Fern Grows". Bryce never quite busted a coal, but came close and did well for just doing it a couple of days. I taught him some bear safety and he seemed to enjoy hanging the bear bags in trees each night.

We left most of our gear at our camp and decided to day hike farther south. During the hike we jumped into a decently large pool where I was startled by a fish touching me in the pool. It was pretty funny and Bryce continued to make fun of me for the rest of the trip. We decided that the terrain wasn't going to change much continuing south and that returning north of Raspberry canyon might be more interesting.

The next day we packed out gear and headed North. Bryce had never backpacked or even hiked much, but he is a strong boy and we made good time passing our original camp.

There were a few cowboy ruins, an old barn here and there, a little corral in a canyon, but after walking several miles north we encountered a small ranch. Following the road out of the ranch for most of a day we realized it was just going to head to other ranches and there wouldn't be many places to camp…so we turned around and headed back to our original Blue River camp on the beach.

The next day we headed up Raspberry canyon. I thought it was going to take us two eight hour days to get up it, but Bryce amazed me with his strength and endurance and we made it out of the canyon and back to my truck in about 7 hours, I was impressed.

Not wanting to eat another freeze dried meal we headed to Alpine to find some food before everything closed in the small mountain town. We had some good burgers while we debated over where to camp at. We thought we'd head to another town and maybe catch a movie, but there was no movie theater there, so we just kept driving and ended up camping near a small lake on the Mogollon Rim, just north of Payson, AZ.

The next day we headed down to Payson and up to Strawberry where our next destination was. We went down to the lower part of Fossil Creek and camped, explored, and swam in the blue-green water. I think we had the most of our trip here. Exploring the creek was exciting. I had been there before, but never explored it so much. We swam small pools, climbed small water falls, and bushwhacked along cliffs, avoiding claws of Manzanita and spines of various cacti.

Rope swings were everywhere and we made use of most of them. I had an accident on one of them. While trying to swing across the creek I slipped on the bank of the creek while still holding onto the rope with my left hand. I ended up in the water and upon resurfacing I looked at my left hand and the tip of my left ring finger was bent about 45 degrees to the left in a very unnatural position. It didn't really hurt, but I showed Bryce and then pulled on it and popped it back in place. A couple that had been swimming near us saw it and asked if I need to go to the emergency room. I politely declined as I search the bank for a thin sturdy stick and proceeded to make a small splint with the stick and some athletic tape.

The next day my finger swelled up pretty good and was more than uncomfortable, but I knew it wasn't broken. Bryce and I packed up camp and went into Payson to my other brother Vincent to see if he was going to be able to join us for the last few days of the trip, which he wasn't. While in Payson we went to the movies and saw the new Indiana Jones flick.

After the movie and some good pizza we headed back to Strawberry and this time headed into the Fossil Creek Wilderness Area. It's the headwater of Fossil Creek. After hiking down the path about 5 miles and walking down a dry creek bed for about a mile you get to lush greenery like I've never seen anywhere else in Arizona. It felt like I was in Washington or Oregon. There were ferns and the path was shadowed at the height of the day by tall trees.

We found the spring, a small hole in the ground where water literally explodes from the ground. You can put your hand down the tunnel, feeling the water pressure.

After that we found a nice camp along the bank, made camp then continued on exploring. The dam in the creek had a nice rope swing from it which Bryce made use of, but my finger was fairly throbbing and I didn't feel like risking injuring it more by fall from a rope about 15 feet into a pool.

The next morning it was cool and we dreaded crossing the creek to get to the path out. Finally we plunged into the creek to find that the water was warmer than the air. Fossil Creek constantly puts out water at 72 degrees, so it was a welcome surprise to wade in the water for a ways upstream.

I can't related the beauty of the area enough. It's definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to and is probably tied with Havasu Canyon for my favorite place in Arizona.

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Photos

White Sands, NM
This is a view from the property down to the White Sands park.

Primitive Sheltermaking
This was a group of us working on making a primitive shelter...I'd sleep in there.

Brothers
Me and Bryce

Crawling
Crawling around while we were exploring

Fossil Spring
This is a freshwater spring

Shadows
Shadows in the water