Travels and Thoughts

Monday - we were going to hike into the Havasupai canyon, down to the village of Supai, but the threat of rain in the canyons about made us wait a day. As we were putting on our packs it was sprinkling and hailing. After a longish discussion we decided that the chance of flash floods in the desert was very real, and decided to go back to town and check on the weather from there.

Since it's almost 90 miles back to the phones, and no-one was picking up at the reservation line from Supai, we just took another day off, and decided to go in on Tuesday.

Sunday 6 November 2005

Sunday - a lay-over day in Flagstaff. We visited a sporting goods store, bought a few little things - ground tarps, carabiners, and so on. I liked the hiking poles Dave had been using, aluminum and expandable - so much so that I bought a similar set for myself for the Havasupai trip. I had been using a single old ski pole, with most of the rubber flange at the end cut off, on the trip. I do not know that I could have completed the downhill on the South Kaibab without it, and Dave believed that with his injured foot he would not have completed the hike himself. Apart from looking cool the new poles had nice grips, suitable for slippery palms and fingers. They were adjustable, so that uphill and downhill lengths could be set differently, and the hardened tips were of hardened steel or carbide, and made a much better grip on the rock of the trail. Indeed, Dave's tips never slipped whilst my soft aluminum ski pole tip slipped repeatedly.

Update: [11-15-2005]
My friend Tim suggests that I was being particularly lazy in not posting my trip pics. Well, he knows me, and he's probably right. But I was very tired when I got home, and there was some sort of bug at work as well, I think. So, here were are, a week or two, behind the times...

Therefore I am updating last weeks page, and this weeks page, and next weeks page, as I get to them. Generally I don't do that, but it beats trying to do everything now.

Picture of the Week

Photo Notes: Just below the south rim, on the South Kaibab Trail, heading down. The sun is up, but the trail, and much of the Grand Canyon, is still in shade.

Last Week- Sun- Mon- Tue- Wed- Thur- Fri- Sat- Next Week