Great hike near the Folz cabin @ Washington Park 07-04-10
I woke up just before the sun was up so I decided to take off in the Polaris RZR by myself on a trail that goes near the base of the Rim. As I arrive at the end of the trail I can hear an elk making a barking sound. It sounds like it is close to the edge of the hill I am on so I grab my camera and take off to see if I can get a shot of it. As it turns out I think it was on the other side of the canyon.
When you view the photos, they are taken in the order of my hike to tell the story of what I saw in pictures.
As I sit looking at the majestic rim I am in awe as the sun is starting to peak over the rim. The color changes from the rays of the sun are spectacular. I even took a few shots in black and white just for fun. It is now getting bright out and I can see a stream down at the bottom of the canyon that I am looking into. I hadn’t noticed the water before and since the elk was calling near the stream I decided to hike down to the water to take a look around. Fortunately I brought some extra water with me and I had a long sleeve t-shirt but no hat. I did have a micro fiber cloth that I took which I was glad as I kept getting it wet and put it around my neck.
The decent down the mountain was interesting as it was thick with Manzanita bushes in places and I had to scale down red rock faces like you see in Moab Utah also. I was following an elk trail that was well used. There was very fresh elk poo on the trail in several places.
I made it to the stream and was blown away with the beauty. There were small waterfalls, slick red rock formations with large fallen trees around every bend as I made my way upstream. I took a few fun photos using the camera timer so I could be in the shots. Along the bank there were tons of animal tracks. I saw deer, elk, raccoon and bear tracks.
I was having as ball walking up the stream soaking up all splendor mother nature could throw at me. There was a flash flood in the area last fall that uprooted the large trees and made huge mounds of boulders.
I was a couple of miles upstream trying to take a slow motion photo of the water cascading down a rock when I heard a rock fall behind me. I turned around and was surprised to see a coyote about 30 feet from me. I turned the camera on him but had the wrong setting to be able to get a photo of him. I noticed it and quickly changed and got a few shots of him running across the stream in front of me and up the opposite bank. For a minute I was looking around to see if there were more and wondering if he was stalking me or just came across me as dumb luck. Since I wasn’t sure and I was by myself I figured I better at least get a good stick which I did. I also thought I should turn back since I had been gone a long time and nobody knew where I was.
I stopped to take a timer photo a huge rock pile. When I had the camera set I pushed the button and stepped on a boulder to run for the pile but 2 large rocks gave way. As I was falling I could feel one hit the back of my leg. For a moment I thought I might get trapped but I got lucky. There is a photo I took with my foot on 2 white rocks which are the ones that fell.
On my hike back down stream I was amazed at the change in colors with the sun getting higher in the sky.
I made it back to where I needed to cross into the sun and climb the mountain back to the RZR. I had 3 bottles of water with me but drank 2 of them so I filled the empty ones with water from a waterfall just in case I had to use it. I made sure I knew which bottle had the good water in it.
The decent wasn’t too bad I just had to take a few breaks along the way. As I was about half way up I noticed my footprints in the sand from when I was climbing down. As I made it to the top I could just see the RZR poking out between the Manzanita bushes. I was glad to see it for sure.
I drank my last water and poured another bottle from the stream over my head before jumping in my ride and heading back to the cabin.
I got back as the rest of the group was just finished with breakfast. Thankfully they saved some for me. I was covered in dirt and my legs were all scratched up but I had a huge smile on my face. I was feeling very thankful to live in Arizona.
What a wonderful was to celebrate the 4th of July.
Read MoreWhen you view the photos, they are taken in the order of my hike to tell the story of what I saw in pictures.
As I sit looking at the majestic rim I am in awe as the sun is starting to peak over the rim. The color changes from the rays of the sun are spectacular. I even took a few shots in black and white just for fun. It is now getting bright out and I can see a stream down at the bottom of the canyon that I am looking into. I hadn’t noticed the water before and since the elk was calling near the stream I decided to hike down to the water to take a look around. Fortunately I brought some extra water with me and I had a long sleeve t-shirt but no hat. I did have a micro fiber cloth that I took which I was glad as I kept getting it wet and put it around my neck.
The decent down the mountain was interesting as it was thick with Manzanita bushes in places and I had to scale down red rock faces like you see in Moab Utah also. I was following an elk trail that was well used. There was very fresh elk poo on the trail in several places.
I made it to the stream and was blown away with the beauty. There were small waterfalls, slick red rock formations with large fallen trees around every bend as I made my way upstream. I took a few fun photos using the camera timer so I could be in the shots. Along the bank there were tons of animal tracks. I saw deer, elk, raccoon and bear tracks.
I was having as ball walking up the stream soaking up all splendor mother nature could throw at me. There was a flash flood in the area last fall that uprooted the large trees and made huge mounds of boulders.
I was a couple of miles upstream trying to take a slow motion photo of the water cascading down a rock when I heard a rock fall behind me. I turned around and was surprised to see a coyote about 30 feet from me. I turned the camera on him but had the wrong setting to be able to get a photo of him. I noticed it and quickly changed and got a few shots of him running across the stream in front of me and up the opposite bank. For a minute I was looking around to see if there were more and wondering if he was stalking me or just came across me as dumb luck. Since I wasn’t sure and I was by myself I figured I better at least get a good stick which I did. I also thought I should turn back since I had been gone a long time and nobody knew where I was.
I stopped to take a timer photo a huge rock pile. When I had the camera set I pushed the button and stepped on a boulder to run for the pile but 2 large rocks gave way. As I was falling I could feel one hit the back of my leg. For a moment I thought I might get trapped but I got lucky. There is a photo I took with my foot on 2 white rocks which are the ones that fell.
On my hike back down stream I was amazed at the change in colors with the sun getting higher in the sky.
I made it back to where I needed to cross into the sun and climb the mountain back to the RZR. I had 3 bottles of water with me but drank 2 of them so I filled the empty ones with water from a waterfall just in case I had to use it. I made sure I knew which bottle had the good water in it.
The decent wasn’t too bad I just had to take a few breaks along the way. As I was about half way up I noticed my footprints in the sand from when I was climbing down. As I made it to the top I could just see the RZR poking out between the Manzanita bushes. I was glad to see it for sure.
I drank my last water and poured another bottle from the stream over my head before jumping in my ride and heading back to the cabin.
I got back as the rest of the group was just finished with breakfast. Thankfully they saved some for me. I was covered in dirt and my legs were all scratched up but I had a huge smile on my face. I was feeling very thankful to live in Arizona.
What a wonderful was to celebrate the 4th of July.
