Camelback, Echo Canyon Trail

Because I was in Phoenix for a conference I thought I would get up early every morning and hike.  I planned on doing Piestewa and Camelback, but only made it to Camelback.  

I woke up super early and caught the early morning light on the rocks.

The trail was jam-packed.

So busy!

Every so often there are these trail markers that tell you how far you've come.

Nuclear explosion or just Phoenix sun?

Selfie...

Wilson Peak, Colorado

A and I headed up to Colorado for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  We camped in an aspen grove overlooking a waterfall.  

The next morning, we headed up Wilson Peak.  After walking through a forested area up an old mining road, we reached the treeline.  

As we continued up, the views were spectacular.  

I had no idea how beautiful and amazing Colorado is.  

The peaks seemed to go on for miles.

After potholing a lot, we decided to turn back, even though we were only three quarters of the way from the summit.  

It was probably a good idea, because we had to cross a lot of steep patches like this.  That's A to the right.

We recharged our batteries back at the waterfall.

And took in the amazing scenery.  

On Saturday, we went to the festival.  It was unbelievable.  The locations is bar none

Can't get enough of this waterfall!

Or these trees.

One last view of Wilson Peak--

I already miss it and can't wait to go back. . . 

Keet Seel, Navajo National Monument & Petrified Forest National Park

Two friends of mine and I went to Keet Seel.  We headed out early Friday for the orientation.  Since the Navajo Nation is on Mountain Daylight time, we had to leave an hour earlier to make it on time for the mandatory orientation.  After orientation we walked down to the Sandal Trail and the Aspen trail.  I wish he had time to do the Betatakin tour-- we'll just have to come back!  

We stayed at the Canyon View Campground.  Sunset was beautiful!

 The next morning we got an early start and headed down the trail.  It's a round trip 17 mile  hike that descends 1,000 feet to the canyon floor.  Then there's a gradual ascent up to the ruins.  There were a lot of stream crossings, so we were hiking through the water frequently.

And even some (little) waterfalls.

There's the ruins!  Called Keet Seel, meaning something along the lines of scattered broken pottery, by the Navajo and Kawestima by the Hopi.  Keet Seel is a cliff dwelling build by the ancestral puebloans. It's so well preserved!  

There we got a ranger-led tour of the dwellings.  It was so cool!  The view from the ruins.

There's broken pot sherds and corn everywhere.

Keet Seel was actually used by people since 950.  By 1300, the people left, but sealed the entryways of some of the rooms and left supplies.  

There's a short ladder to get up to the ruins.

The canyon is beautiful.  But because the campground is on Navajo Nation land, and is inhabited you can't explore the canyons.  The best I could do is take pictures--I really wish we could have explored more of the area, because it was truly stunning!  

There was a herd of wild horses running through the canyon.

Mystery flower.  Maybe spiderwort?

When I drove back I took the long way home to drive through Petrified Forest.