Our plan was to hike to Goldstrike hot spring. Road construction for the Hoover Dam bypass had shut off access to several of the best hiking attractions, but we thought this one would be open. We did know that the dirt road was closed, adding another mile or so to the hike. We didn't know that the trail passed through a "blasting zone"! As we were hiking down the hill through the construction area, this man came running up behind us and said it would be unsafe to venture any farther. Does the word "BOOM" mean anything to you, he asked. We agreed that a change of plans was in order.
Returning
to our cars, we headed down-river to Arizona hot spring. It is a 6 mile round
trip hike through a narrow, high walled slot called White Rock Canyon. The
canyon is named for the large gray granite boulders
that look totally out of place in the dark volcanic canyon. As we continued
to descend, the color of the walls changed from tan,
to maroon, to red. After pausing briefly at the emerald green Colorado River,
we crossed a series of small hills and started up the Hot Spring canyon. This
is our favorite part of the trip; there are minor surprises
around every corner.
The
inbound route involves walking in sand most of the way. This isn't bad when
you're fresh and going downhill (Kay tracked the elevation change on her GPS
at more than 700 feet). Those of us who had been there before knew that the
700 foot rise going out through the sand would be a lot less fun. We opted
to exit via the "adventurous" route. But first we needed a relaxing
soak in the hot spring! We spent the better part of an hour sitting in comfortably
warm water, looking up at the sky through the curved slot of the high-walled
canyon.
Exiting
via the "adventurous" route involved a few rock scrambles that required
a heavy application of "teamwork" to get us up, over, and through.
The lack of photo coverage for this leg of the journey is a result of that
distraction. One of the scrambles gave us an opportunity to practice the art
of "chimneying"; a "first" for some of us. The final challenge
was made to look much more menacing than it should because we had to
help a couple get two gradeschool age children and a week's worth of backpacking
equipment down the slope. Thanks to Mac's timely suggestion, this one "hero"
photo did survive.