17 April ‘08
Thursday
One thing that continues to justify why we keep doing this “Full-Timing” is in meeting other “travelers”… those that like the feel of the wheels under them, those that like a hike, a paddle down a river, lake, or even the ocean, those that are looking for that piece of history or to watch the future in front of us, those that like to explore a glass of wine or taste a specialty beer (especially those)… Well let me introduce Bob and Laurie Lynch. We met them deep inside the Upper Antelope Canyon yesterday and today, we spent the day hiking the Toadstools and exploring Cottonwood Canyon by car. They had heard about this hike into “The Toadstools” and ask us to join them, so with a name like the Toadstools who would pass?
Thursday
One thing that continues to justify why we keep doing this “Full-Timing” is in meeting other “travelers”… those that like the feel of the wheels under them, those that like a hike, a paddle down a river, lake, or even the ocean, those that are looking for that piece of history or to watch the future in front of us, those that like to explore a glass of wine or taste a specialty beer (especially those)… Well let me introduce Bob and Laurie Lynch. We met them deep inside the Upper Antelope Canyon yesterday and today, we spent the day hiking the Toadstools and exploring Cottonwood Canyon by car. They had heard about this hike into “The Toadstools” and ask us to join them, so with a name like the Toadstools who would pass?
I am blown away with the different rock, sand, and mud formations that we have seen here in Arizona, and this one sure didn’t let us down. We did explore a couple of small canyons but most of our time hiking was at the base, or at the top, of some striking hills. These hills actually looked like someone had taken a large bucket of sand and water, added a little color here and there, reached in and pulled out a handful of the mixture, squeezed it through the palms of their hands, and formed these unusual walls, mounds, and spires. The Toadstools area was a mix of red rock and a dirty white hard sand that seemed to melt its way from the top of the hills to the bottom…it looked like the sun was melting a huge block of white cheese, and letting it run down the sides it droplets. Some of the “Toadstools” were of the “white cheese” and balanced on the top, the red rock.
Others were red on red…spectacular. Getting back in the car and driving about 2 miles south, we turned onto a well maintained dirt road and headed deep into the desert. The dust was flying (and most of it stuck to the every surface and crevice in and out of the car) as we approached the multi-colored mountains. This drive was to take us out to the mountains and a stream bed that was not visited much by “tourists”. The whole area was nice to see, but was it worth the effort? I would probably pass the next time, but for trying it this time, it was a lot of dust, but a good drive.