Monday, October 14, 2013 -- Hiking on Lee's Backbone

Sunrise over the cliffs, seen from the motel.

Although our motel is rather old, the rooms are clean and comfortable, and the staff clearly wanted to do whatever possible to give us a good experience. Unfortunately a fire in June completely destroyed part of the complex, including the restaurant and kitchen.  However, they have built a small kitchen and have converted a meeting room into eating space.  Each morning they provided us with a good breakfast buffet, with the usual items including fruit, eggs, pancakes, and oatmeal. 

       By 8:15 on Monday morning, we were loaded into two vans, ready for the short drive to the start of our first hike.  Mike described the hike as following "Lee's Backbone,".  However, all of the hikes this week are truly "off the beaten track" -- no trail signs, no official parking areas, and no other people except our group.  Mike leads many of the programs offered by Northern Arizona University through Road Scholar.  He has a love of the Arizona landscape and shares his extensive knowledge of the geology, plants, and history of the area during our hikes.  Charles, our assistant coordinator, is a retired motor company engineer who now lives in the area and helps with many of the trips.

We assume that Mike knows where he is going!

      After going onto Indian land through a gate from the main road, the vans navigated across the rough terrain and down into a dry wash, before climbing up via a narrow track to where we parked near the remains of some round stone enclosures.  We gathered around Mike as he explained that we would be hiking along portions of the "Honeymoon Trail," the route that young Mormon couples in the nineteenth century followed from this area to St. George, Utah, so that they could marry in the area's only Mormon temple.  We found it amazing that wagons and horses could navigate this very rugged and arid land.

       

Mike guided us up and down steep rocky slopes, down into a narrow canyon lined with stone sculpted by water and wind into fanciful shapes, and past the names of early travelers chiseled into the sandstone.  Along the way he pointed out some of the desert plants, explaining how the early native people and the settlers used them to help with survival in this harsh climate.  

Beauty in the dry landscape.

After about two hours hiking, we were rewarded with views of the Colorado River and the historic buildings at Lee's Ferry.  After enjoying our sack lunches while sitting on rocks overlooking the river, we returned to the vans for the drive back to the motel.