Snow Canyon

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10-26-2007 Snow Canyon
Woke up to smoke coming over the ridge from California. We decided we
better head out on the Grand Canyon tour sooner rather than later
because the smoke was only going to get worse. So off we went. Great
day for flying and Dave was a wonderful pilot as always. Forgot how
comfortable and safe the Cirrus felt. We headed out over the canyon.
The smell from the smoke was very strong while we flew through at
approx. 6-9K altitude. The smoke was channeling through the canyon.
It was eery and really amazing all at the same time. We soon realized
there was a fire right near the mouth of the Tuweep butte at the
Canyon. So the smoke we were seeing down below was from that fire
while the smoke above was from California. Weird. What are the odds
really? Didn't matter, once we cleared the low fire, we had some
great views of the canyon itself. Amazingly large. I can't get over
just how huge it is. We easily covered 150 miles and it was all
around us. Amazing.

We landed and decided it was time for a hike. Dave wanted to hit some
tennis balls so Eileen and I headed out. 3 hours later we found our
way back to the car. Spent most of the time in between lost but in
heaven. What an amazing hike. Surrounded by the reddest of red
mountains and tons of petrified sand dunes. It was like staircases up
the side of mountains. I was petrified to climb the first one. But
after that I was hooked. Such an adrenaline rush to make it to the
top of the dunes/rocks/whatever you were scrambling up. Great photos
along the way. A hike through a true beach-now there's a workout!
Really enjoyed it-one of my favorite hikes so far. 1500 calories.

Trail called Butterfly Trail, then hit lava flow canyon, then west canyon trail, then three ponds trail, last petrified dunes trail-high road.
Approx. 7 miles RT
3 hrs.

Headed to the Spa for dinner. Red Mountain Spa. Just amazing dinner. Yum!

Tomorrow is tennis day and then a hike around Pechico pass or
something like that. It's a scramble-which apparently means loads of
climbing on boulders and falling on my butt. Should be a blast. Will
be very surprised if I make it back in one piece.

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