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| Aravaipa Canyon. View from our campsite near Booger Canyon at sunset |
Back in March a good friend of mine said she had four permits for Aravaipa Canyon and she asked me to go along. I knew nothing about this canyon but quickly said yes! Janelle has done several thru hikes and I knew I was in good hands. I only knew the trip would be May 22-24 and we would spend two nights in this Canyon. I had a busy spring and forgot to look anything up about the area. About a week before the hike, I was on vacation in Seattle with Todd and his parents. We were enjoying Olympic National Park (hoping to do a blog post on that trip soon!). Janelle started a group text. The trip would be Janelle, Kate and I. I had just met Kate a few weeks prior. I finally started doing some research. Quickly I realized we would be in an epic canyon that many people don't realize is only a few hours from Phoenix. Janelle thanks for securing us permits and inviting me to join in on this epic adventure. We would be hiking in and out of a creek the entire time. We put a plan together and I was looking forward to hitting the trail with these ladies.
Todd and I got home super late from Seattle on a Friday night. After sleeping in and catching up on sleep, I spent Saturday unpacking from that 10 day trip and packing my pack for this trip. I knew work was going to be super busy catching up from being gone so I needed to get things done over the weekend. My final pack weight was 20.6 pounds! My base weight without food and water was 12 pounds. I have collected ultralight gear over the years and was excited it seems to be all coming together for a lighter pack. I have been hiking on average once a week with a 20 pound ruck to train for the AZT800 bikepacking race (more on that craziness later) so I was hoping that training would be enough because I didn't do any specific training for this hike. I was looking forward to trying out my new pack. After many hours going down the google rabbit hole, last fall I purchased the Durston Kakwa 40. I had not had a chance to use it yet. I was excited about this pack because it was considered an ultralight pack but it also had a minimalist frame and many pockets. Most ultralight packs don't have pockets on the hip belt but this one did. Plenty of room for all the things I like having easy access to while hiking. Here is a list of all my items and weight using Lighterpack website. I am super proud of the final weight and base weight. Havasupai back in 2018 was my first true backpacking trip and my backpack was about 35 pounds and my average pack for trips has always been around 30-32 pounds fully loaded.
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| Everything I packed https://lighterpack.com/r/vim00q |
Aravaipa Wilderness area requires permits and they can be obtained through recreation.gov. Even if you are a day hiker you need a permit. Only 50 people a day are given permits to enter this wilderness area. This keeps the foot traffic down in the area. I also noticed how clean the area was. I loved seeing that everyone was truly practicing leave no trace. I am glad this place is protected. It was absolutely serene. I felt like I was in a different world. I couldn't believe I was in such an amazing place only about two hours east of my home. This was the first backpacking trip I have done in a long time that it wasn't crowded with people. I felt like we had this entire wilderness area to ourselves. We saw only a few people as we were hiking in and then didn't see anyone again until we were hiking out. Aravaipa Canyon trail goes along a Aravaipa creek between the West and East Entrance and it is about 12 miles in length. There really isn't a defined trail. You hike either in the creek or along the banks and follow sometimes very faint game trails. We parked at the West entrance and started hiking about 11AM. It was hot when we started and I was so glad when we reached the water. We walked in the creek for a bit because it felt amazing.
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| Prickly Pear Cactus! My favorite cactus flower I couldn't believe we found one in perfect bloom. |
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| Janelle, Kate and I near the beginning of the trail |
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| Janelle at the first river crossing with many more to come |
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| I was amazed that the Saguaro were just growing out of the rock. |
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| After a few miles of hiking the canyon walls were starting to close in around us. |
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| The flowers in the Canyon were amazing I couldn't believe how many things were in still in bloom. |
Janelle and Kate enjoying a water section
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| A cool rock ledge we were able to walk on |
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| Selfie with the amazing canyon walls in the back. The pictures really don't do this canyon justice. |
Janelle walking through the overgrown game trail along
the creek. It was fun finding which trail was better.
When we reached the West parking lot we had a quick snack and then headed out on the trail. It was amazing. After about a mile the canyon walls appeared. Pictures just don't do this canyon justice. We took our time enjoying the canyon. We didn't have an exact plan about where we wanted to camp but we had ideas. All of us did a little research before the hike and we talked about all our options. Janelle and I carpooled to the trailhead and Kate followed us in her car. Janelle and I game planned on the way drive out. We initially thought we may camp around Horsecamp canyon, set up camp and then explore Horsecamp side canyon. Horsecamp canyon is about five miles into the canyon. We passed about 4-5 campsites around Horsecamp. We decided to keep hiking and see what was beyond Horsecamp canyon. There really is not much once you leave the entrance to that side canyon. Around 7-8 miles into the hike you come upon Booger Canyon. There was one campsite there. After exploring the area we decided that was a great place to make home for the next two nights. It was a big shaded site with amazing trees for our bear hang and for my hammock. After setting up camp it was about 5:00pm. It was time to relax in camp and make dinner. I was in my happy zone resting in my hammock and reading a few magazines I had on my kindle app on my phone. Golden Hour lit up the canyon walls. It was hot but the shade was nice and it did cool off as the sun went down.
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Our campsite near the entrance to Booger Canyon
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| Enjoying Golden Hour from our campsite. I loved this view my hammock. |
We saw so much wildlife. More than I ever have a backpacking
trip. The mule deer liked to hang out with us. We saw so many
throughout the three days. We could hear them running in the stream.
Janelle working on getting the Bear bag hung from the tree.
We had to move to a different tree but Janelle was successful!
Day two I woke up 6am. Janelle and Kate were already awake so I decided to get up. It was a nice cool beautiful morning. Before the trip I was able to download some maps using Gaia app. I was also able to download the articles and blogs from others about this canyon the Janelle, Kate and I found. I use the pocket app to download them for offline use. I reviewed them again while laying in my hammock before falling asleep. In the morning decided the best anyon to explore for the day would be Deer Creek Canyon which takes you to Hell's hole. We got moving about 8AM. Kate was able to tell us all about the flowers and pants we were passing. It was fine learning about them. So many new ones I had never seen before and some of my favorites. I also had fun uploading them into the seek app as well. After a few miles we reached Deer Creek Canyon. I guess I missed the part that this canyon was mainly along a dry creek bed. All of us were short on water and didn't filter before entering this canyon. We search for water but all the mentioned places along the way were dry. However, after about an hour of hiking we came upon a little tiny flowing stream of water. I stopped and filtered there. Soon after we found water we found a great place to relax and eat lunch. Kate walked back a little bit to filter water in the small creak. Somehow we all missed an arch far up in the canyon walls. Thanks Kate for looking up and finding this cool arch. After lunch we continued down the canyon. The Canyon walls were so narrow. Not a slot canyon but really cool. I different view around every corner. Sometimes we thought there would be no path forward and then we would find a small way through and the canyon just kept going. A little further down the trail from lunch we found good flowing spring. It was a welcome site as it was getting hot. Janelle placed her hiking poles almost on top of a rattlesnake. YIKES! After that we all timidly went to the spring. It was so refreshing and it felt good to wet my shirt as it was getting hot in the sun. Now far past the spring we decided to turn around and head back to our camp.
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| I just loved watching the Mule Deer |
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| Southwestern Prickly Poppy (Aregemone pleicantha) |
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| Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) |
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| Armenian Blackberry (Rovus armeniacus). These blackberry bushes were everywhere. I wish they were ripe! I love wild blackberries. But then again probably better they were not ripe yet because they would bring the beers out. |
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| Janelle posing under a crazy tree |
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| Thanks Kate for finding this natural arch |
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Booger Canyon. We hiked along this dry wash for miles.  |
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| We were hoping we would find water here. We found several places where the canyon walls were wet but no active water. It was all dry. We almost turned around but decided to keep going a little bit longer. |
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| I think Janelle Jumped a mile. I had to quickly grab her poles for her. But I will say I was nervous and snatched them so quickly. |
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| The Sneek app proved to be use full identifying wildlife. Arizona Black Rattlesnake |
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| We were so excited to find this spring! |
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| You can se the faint spring in this picture. It was amazing water and felt so good. |
Collecting water to filter from the spring.
Janelle and Kate enjoying the hike in the creek back to camp.
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| There were so many caves up in the rock in Deer Creek Canyon. |
Wild Turkey along Aravaipa Creek
Aravaipa Canyon is a known habitat for Coati.
I had never even heard about this animal until now. I am so glad
Janelle spotted it. So cool to see one in person. Thanks Kate
for capturing the video.
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| The tail on a Coati was amazingly long |
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| Cooling off on the hike back to camp Day 2. |
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| Kate enjoying the cold water. |
Day 3: Kate needed to get back early so she got up about 5 and headed out around 6. I got up just in time to say bye to Kate. Janelle and I enjoyed another morning and slowly packed up. We headed out about 7:30 to hike just over 7 miles back to the car. This trip was the well needed mental break I needed to recharge. It was so peaceful in that canyon. All of us had some new gear and it was fun talking about our choices. I was happy with my pack. I loved it and at times I forgot I was carrying all my gear in it. You learn something from every trip. This time I was experimenting with some food options. In March I started a weight loss program with Scottsdale Weight loss Center. For me it has been life changing and the best decision I have made for my health (Again maybe I will do a blog on that soon). I am on a high protein low carb diet. I have lost 33 pounds and I got to my goal weight a few weeks ago. Right now I am doing two meals a day and two medical protein shakes. I found some beef sticks and jerky that I like and those worked out well. I also made dehydrated black and pinto beans mixed with freeze dried corn, green beans and peas. I added a chicken packet to it (much like tuna packets) and put it in a tortilla for dinner. This worked out well except I brought to much. Ended up packing about half of it out each night. Jasmine brought in some gluten free/vegan cookies from Insomnia cookies to work on Wed. Instead of eating them at work I chose to bring them along on the hike. Janelle is also gluten free and we both loved them. It hit the spot after getting to camp on day one. Another snack that worked out well was beet chips from nuts.com. I also made my own trail mix of mixed nuts and freeze dried fruit. I had two of my protein shakes per day and those worked out well. I felt like I had plenty of fuel for the hike. I am still amazed with my energy level on such low carbs. I was really happy with the food I found. It took hours of research over the past month. I am experimenting with different things for my upcoming AZT 800 bikepacking race. This trip was a great test. On the road out of Aravaipa wilderness we made note of a small apple orchard. One day I would love to go check it out. Aravaipa Farms Orchard and Inn. Janelle and I checked out small town Kearny (drive by) and then ended getting lunch at Los Hermanos in Superior. Work has been super busy and I have been working long hours. Sometimes I am very tempted to say no to these opportunities due to how busy work is and I know I will just get further behind by taking time off. Last year I took minimal time off work. This year I promised myself I would get back to a better work life balance and not pass on opportunities to explore. I am so glad I say yes to Janelle and joined in on this rare opportunity to explore this amazing wilderness area. This is why I love Arizona. So many hidden gems.
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| I haven't had sweets in months. Best trail snack ever. Thanks Jasmine for the gluten free/vegan chocolate chips cookies. They were amazing and hit the stop after a long day of hiking. |
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| Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra). These red birds were so amazing in person. I loved laying in the hammock listening to them. |
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| Snapdragon Vine (Maurandella antirrhiniflora) |
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| Davis Mountain Mock Vervain (Glandularia wrightii) |
Poison Ivy! Not a pretty flower. We were surprised
to see it in this Canyon. Thankfully Janelle and Kate
recognized it. I brushed against it once but didn't get a rash thankfully.
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| Another Golden Hour picture from our campsite. |
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| One last selfie at the end. So much fun adventuring with you Janelle. I can't wait until next time. I enjoyed all your stories about the Appalachian Trail. Can't wait to hear about your adventure on the PCT this summer. |
