Marcie
has been organizing a hiking weekend in Laughlin since she was in her early
50's. Last year we did Secret Canyon; this year we went back to our old favorite,
the Teapot Rock loop. Thirteen of us posed for a "before"
photo, knowing full well that blood would be flowing and legs/arms would be
aching before we finished. Marcie's write-up described a "4 to 5 hour
strenuous hike" and Ben was determined to make it fit that description!
We
started our hike near the Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs and worked our way
up a wash strewn with large granite boulders and dissimilar
rock strata, all of which provided picturesque photo
opportunities along the way. Upon reaching the saddle, we ascended the
final ridge for a spectacular view of Lake Mojave
and the Colorado river valley. Marion and Ben climbed to the absolute
top. (We think because Mike told them that the quality of the view was
proportionate to the precariousness of the viewpoint!)
The "trail" down the other side of the saddle is affectionately known as "the gauntlet'. There are sandpaper rocks to slide down, rabbit holes to drop through, and the ever-present "cats claw" acacia bushes that shred clothes and skin alike. Those of us who read Marcie's write-up heeded her advice and wore gloves to keep as least one part of our anatomy unscathed.
Unwilling
to take a direct route back to the cars, we detoured a mile or so up a side
canyon to have lunch on a ridge overlooking the valley. An extra credit excursion
took a few of us on a rock scramble up yet another ridge to pose under the
watchful eye of phallic rock. Our scramble down
the other side took us to a miniature copy of Utah's famous Landscape
Arch.
After a final series of drops, we got to the base of the teapot and headed for our cars. With the end almost in sight, it was announced that our cooler had lots of soda pop but only three beers. A noticeable change of attitude was detected and the pace picked up when we sensed that survival was assured and the goal could now be something less essential.