ALL HIKERS

DAY 1: SALT TRAILHEAD TO THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER

     My sore throat and cold are worse this morning.  We are up, eat, and ready to go before eight o'clock.  There is a distinct trail from the camping area that goes down a hill, through a meadow, loops around, and ends up at a cairn at the trailhead.

Up and ready to go
10-13-2016 @ 7:43
Walking to the trailhead
10-13-2016 @ 7:43
Cairn at the trailhead
10-13-2016 @ 7:56

     We stand for a few minutes at the trailhead and check out Salt Trail Canyon.  It looks like this thing goes downhill in a hurry.

   
  Looking down from the trailhead
10-13-2016 @ 7:59
 

     There is some mild scrambling and a little hand to toe climbing as we make our way down.  One misstep here would not have a good result.

Starting down
10-13-2016 @ 8:05
Richard working his way down
10-13-2016 @ 8:14
Working our way down
10-13-2016 @ 8:19
Working our way down
10-13-2016 @ 8:31
Working our way down
10-13-2016 @ 8:31

     In about a half-hour, we reach a tall rock spire, often referred to as one of the Twin War Gods.  Hopi legend says it is one of the two Gods that turned to stone to guide the way to the salt deposits.  The other is supposed to be along the Little Colorado River or Colorado River, but we did not see it later in our hike.  At its base, I start to go right, but Richard Erbe tells me the Park Service trail description says to go left here.  I'm glad he read that as he saved me a lot of work by not scrambling down the wrong direction and then spending a lot of effort backtracking to the spire.

   
  A spire part way down
10-13-2016 @ 8:40
 

     In just a little while, we reach some rock art.

Rock art
10-13-2016 @ 8:57
Rock Art
10-13-2016 @ 8:57

     Since I am a little ahead of the others, I sprint to the bottom of this draw and take a short nap on some ledges.  The other guys arrive in a little while. 

A little easier descent
10-13-2016 @ 9:08
Resting on a ledge
10-13-2016 @ 9:34

     It is enticing to continue down to the creek bed from this ledge, but the correct route is to stay left and remain at this same elevation.  For some reason, I am feeling badly all of a sudden.  Maybe this cold is worse than I thought.  We hike for another hour and a half before taking our lunch break near the creek bed.

Contouring to the left
10-13-2016 @ 10:56
Staying left of the drainage
10-13-2016 @ 11:33
Almost to the drainage
10-13-2016 @ 12:32

     We then cross the creek bed to the right side of the drainage.  Although we can now see the Little Colorado River in the distance, experience tells you it will take longer than it looks to get there.  I can't believe how poorly I feel now.

At the bottom of the drainage
10-13-2016 @ 1:00
Changing sides of the drainage
10-13-2016 @ 1:00
Working down the right side
10-13-2016 @ 1:26

     We hike for another three hours on this side of the drainage with some intermittent scrambling along the way.  I tell the others I am sorry for slowing them down considerably by taking frequent breaks due to my illness.  I haven't been this sick in many years.  We finally end up right above the helipad and our camp spot.  I struggle to make the steep descent and get to the helipad where I immediately flop down.  As the saying goes, I am sicker than a skunk.

   
  Almost there
10-13-2016 @ 4:02
 

     The others look around for a better place to set up camp.  They return for me later and help me into our camp about a hundred yards more upstream from the helipad.  There are a lot of supplies and equipment here that are probably used by the various groups working on the Humpback Chub Preservation Project.

Richard's bivy at camp
10-13-2016 @ 4:51
Our camp spot on night one
10-13-2016 @ 4:52
My tent at camp
10-13-2016 @ 5:30

     I eventually set up my tent, but have a hard time eating anything.  I am now coughing up large amounts of yellow stuff, which Pete White, a doctor from North Dakota, says is a good thing.  "How's that" I ask.  He explains that means my white blood cells are doing their thing fighting the infection.  That's not real comforting since I feel like complete crap.

     Tomorrow we are proceeding down the Little Colorado River to the Confluence.

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