After we were done at the trail, Jbee showed Ken the place he had picked to go on a hike. It was Grapevine Canyon, south of where we were. Ken lead us as we headed out about 2 miles into the desert and parked at the 1st parking spot. Here Ken and I left our vehicles and we all piled into Jbee & DF's 4WD and headed to the trailhead.
This 2nd leg was a 1-1/4 mile bone jarring trip to the trailhead over ruts, exposed rock face and deep puddles of standing water from the recent rains. My cityfied SUV would have gone catatonic on this road. Good thing we had a 4WD. It was fortunate that we were getting along pretty well, because in the back seat we were bumping into each another frequently.
Grapevine Trail, MayerGrapevine Canyon TrailGrapevine Canyon is a riparian zone and is a protected site open only to hiking and equestrian traffic. We passed through a gate, that was open, and found the trailhead after another 1/2 mile where we parked by a stream, Grapevine Creek.
See
Kensunwalker's blog for a short report.
Jbee has posted a report on his website
here along with some excellent photos from him and DF.
We step out and are greeted by a canopy of green. Large trees spread their branches over the trail and stream providing a welcome shade. Again we all abandoned our clothes in the truck. I am not accustomed to leaving my clothes behind, so that's another new experience. I carry a small cover-up. Considering the difficulty in driving to the trail it wasn't likely that we would bump into anyone, but we all carried something, just in case.
According to the kiosk, this area was the location of more natural springs than any other spot in the state of Arizona. Water in the desert is a luxury and after living in one for 30 yrs. it is an unexpected experience to walk into the presence of flowing water. It always make me stop in wonder.
The water was cool and constantly flowing. On the road (ah ha! ha! ha! ha!
sorry!) in, there had been no water in the wash. Here upstream of the kiosk, the water had surfaced and provided a refreshing change from the desert.
A few birds and insects were around. Jbee had told us that a flower known for the area was located here, but I think we missed the bloom by a bit. I didn't see any. This time though, we all had our cameras. There were many other plant wonders to see.
Walking along in the shade and by the stream with temperatures in the low 80's made a perfect afternoon all the better with the lack of clothing. Air, wind and sun on bare skin, conversations back and forth, all combined to make for a hike like none I have ever had.
We stopped along the creek at the pools to look at the stream and scramble down to the edge to take pictures. Most pools had a small water fall in or out of it. It was clear and cool. Jbee bemoaned the fact that even though we saw a few pools large enough to at least lay in, he was hesitant as we had seen ample evidence on the ground of cattle in the area.
The gate we came through had been open when we arrived, allowing freerange cattle access. They were not supposed to be there. More than likely the cattle had been in the water.
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| At parking spot #2. We took only one car from here. | The beginning of the trail not far past the kiosk. | The group headed towards the creek. |
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| Constantly stopping to look at what the trail offers. | Our group under a large pinion pine. | One of the many pools we passed. |
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| Shaded path for most of the hike. | Jbee in the creek. | A very strange tree. |
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| Three trees from one trunk. | and a different tree growing in the middle. | A profile of the Grapevine hike. |
As we headed up, we wandered about, slowly making our way without any hurry. Stopping if we had a mind to and then moving on. There was no desire to remain in a group. We each seemed to seek a different path to explore this oasis.
I found it remarkable how normal everything seemed. If this had been on any other hike while clothed, nothing would have been different. This had the benefit though of the extra sensory input from no clothes. How could anyone not like this?
We were into the hike almost 2 hrs. and the canyon was getting narrower as we climbed higher. On the way we passed a couple of rock walls of what appeared to be shale. The point where we decided to turn around had another high wall on the north side of the canyon. We had walked in maybe 1-3/4 miles with a climb of about 475 ft. From the websites I had seen, we may have gone about halfway in. Yet another reason to come back and finish this hike.
Ken and Amy had turned around earlier. I walked all the way to the high wall and then turned back. Jbee, DF passed me on their way up and I headed back alone while they spent time at the wall. I walked for a while alone in the woods, enjoying the solitude and sounds from all around. It was like when I hike alone except that I had shade, water and friends nearby. I finally stopped at a large tree to wait for the two sonians to catch up.
After a bit they wandered in and together we walked the rest of the way back to the truck. Ken & Amy were patiently waiting for us, sitting on boulders in the stream. We made our way back and climbed into the 4x4 for our carnude trip back to the other vehicles. I can assure you that being naked didn't alter the experience of being in the rough ride back. It was still a bumping and twisting ride.
After arriving back at the 1st parking spot, we climbed out and stood around discussing what to do next. Ken & Amy had dressed already but the rest of us I don't think wanted to end the naked time just yet. Ken & Amy were hungry after the hike and headed off to a meal at a favorite restaurant.
We hadn't made an effort to locate a better campsite for campsite FRN, so Jbee, DF and I headed back to our previous camp to see if the site was unoccupied. When we got there, the site was taken. So we drove all the way to the end of the road with no luck. We headed back out and at site #1 Jbee got out to ask the camper there if he was familiar with the area. John, the occupant, being from Flagstaff said he wasn't aware of anything nearby.
After a bit of a conversation he invited us to pitch out in a small spot next to his site which we did. We organized where tents were going and then looked to making some supper. DF was making some kind of Indian dish with grains and vegetables and told me I didn't need to make the veggie stir fry I brought as they had enough for everyone. Indian sounded good!
Jbee went over and offered John some supper and asked if we could sit by the fire and visit. He agreed and we took the meal over and visited with John next door and listened to him tell about his hobby. Panning for gold. We had a wonderful evening talking and visiting by the fire. Unfortunately no FRN here, though it was certainly warm enough by the fire. But, we were back in textile country.
Our neighbor needed to leave in the morning so we packed it in and I went to bed and slept great, except for when it rained during the night and woke me up. It was a light rain, not heavy. For me a light rain on a tent is soothing. I went back to sleep. Tommorrow morning, another naked hike!
Duane
