Trail Log: 4-21-2023

Always a good site when you come back and your ride is still there. 

• Trail: N2KB - See log book
• Miles: 4.72
• Riders: Self - Cindy C. - Dave C.
• Horses: Jack - Bugsy - Smoke
• Dogs: Hank - Groot

Notes: I told the owner/caretaker we would keep access to this area a secret. It is a protected area off-limits to anything other than foot traffic. You can get to it going from the backside avoiding the private access - but it is gnarly. Not that my blog gets a ton of traffic - but a promise is a promise. 

I hobbled Jack and left Dave and Cindy at the base of the canyon and hiked up to see what I could see. Neither had the proper shoes or the means to secure their horses. It was a little nerve wracking keeping an eye out for snakes. The entire hike/climb up the canyon was perfect snake habitat. It's also one of the coolest places I've explored. You have to crawl many sections hand over foot to progress up the steep canyon. I'd look ahead as far as I could for signs of snakes before shimming up the next boulder. The dogs found cool overhangs to get out of the heat and take a rest. 

The farther you climb - the more cool stuff to see! Big pools of water in underground "cenotes" (probably aren't actually cenotes by definition - but close)- provided water for the dogs. The spot was inhabited by the Yavapai Apache people as evident by the numerous metates scattered up the canyon. As a side note - not everyone calls them Metates - some refer to them as bedrock mortars, pounding rocks or cupules. more research makes me thing the metate is actually the stone used to grind the corn or nuts into the bedrock mortar. Whichever - they are awesome. 

I didn't want to turn around and head back but figured Dave and Cindy would think I'd got lost, fell in a cenote or eaten by a snake. I didn't see any of the petroglyphs on this trip - I was too busy keeping an eye out for snakes and checking out the natural formations of this truly awesome canyon. I'll go back this winter when it's cooler and the snakes are not as likely to be a distraction. I need to do it while the same caretaker is around as I have a feeling easy access to this spot will rapidly become extinct.