Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Today we went on a hike along King’s Canyon trail. I was expecting the hike to be a lot more difficult than it turned out to be, I guess I’m used to Virginia mountains. At first, we hiked inside of an arroyo, which is an old dried out river bed. In the arroyo, it felt like we were walking on the beach because the ground was so dry and loose like sand. Our path was almost like walking in a canyon, and the walls on either side of us casted shade, and I was afraid to get too fair in the shade because of snakes. Eventually, we left the arroyo and hiked on a more traditional trail towards a mountain peak. Although we didn’t go all the way to the top, our group still got some amazing views along the way.
After that hike, we went to a scenic viewpoint located nearby, from which you could see a gigantic valley. To the right of the designated viewpoint was a steep mountain with no real path to climb it, but Evan, Pat, and I made our way to the top, and found a nice little bench to sit on and view the valley. Naturally, I got some awesome photos from up there, and I’ve attached one of my favorites below!
The hiking we did on this trip was one of my favorite parts even if I did find the landscape (slightly) less interesting than that of the East Coast. I especially enjoyed our little side adventure up the pathless cliff; the view was incredible. Just goes to show you that the best path is often the one least traveled (shout-out Frost). I am sad, though, that we ended up not going on the Organ Pipe hike choosing instead to work on our papers. The landscape there seemed much more filled than that we saw outside Tucson and would’ve been a cool place to see.
Sorry I had to miss the hikes. If I were only ten years younger… In my earlier days out there I did an incredibly amount of hiking, mostly in and around Gu Achi and Big Fields. I was either with one or two other people or alone and found the experiences as close to revelatory as I am liable to come.
I like that you guys made it to the top of that peak at the wayside rest. Sorry I missed out on that, but for some reason I can’t remember now, we were under some pressure to get back to the hotel.
Regarding the Organ Pipe hike, Evan, I’m sorry you guys missed out on it. When I said it was optional, I didn’t realize how pretty the hike would be. I had never been there. If had known, I would have more strongly encouraged you guys to come with. Still, hanging out in Ajo was a perfectly legitimate choice and something for which I wish we had had more time.