Hiking Aravaipa Canyon is a must do for Arizona hikers. It is truly an adventure.
From Phoenix we took Highway 60 east to Superior, we then drove south on 177 to Winkelman, then south on AZ 77, 11 miles to Aravaipa Road. To hike Aravaipa you have to have a permit, it is is run by the Bureau of Land Management, and they limit its use to 50 people per day. (Thirty from the west end, and twenty from the east. The east end is 45 miles from Ft. Thomas.) The good news is we saw very few people as we hiked. We walked approximately 6 miles before turning around to hike back to our car. It is 24 miles round trip to hike the whole trail. What we hope to do in the future is split into two hiking groups starting from opposite ends, meeting in the middle and trading keys.The views are breathtaking changing from mile to mile. Most of the hiking is done in the water. We tried water sandals but ended up changing into our hiking boots, (too much sand and gravel in our shoes). On our way home we stopped in Winkelman at a little Mexican Food Restaurant, the food was fantastic or was it that we were starving?
It was a long full day, but well worth it!!
This looks and sounds like such a great hike. I had been looking for a new hiking trail in Arizona to try out and found a company that does hikes on a lot of Arizona trails on top of the Grand Canyon. I signed up for my hike to Aravaipa with Just Roughin' It for this fall, we're going to make it a 3 day hike and I can't wait. Now that I've read about another persons experience I'm even more excited and after 3 days of camping I'm sure that Mexican food place will be just what I need :)
ReplyDelete