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Originally uploaded by Mslice

Grand Canyon Hike

Wow! What an incredible hike. The views down the South Kaibab trail were wonderful. The first part of the hike there were a fair amount of people but eventually, those thinned out after passing Cedar Ridge.

No problems going down and even though I took my time, I still arrived at Phantom Ranch in about 4 1/2 hours. I stopped several places along the way to take photos and just absorb my surroundings. Being in the Canyon is impossible to describe and it has a feeling about it that is energizing.

Phantom Ranch was fun and I ended up having a beer with several guys from a raft trip. They were celebrating the 50th birthday of one of their friends and having a great time. I did walk part way into the river but the water was cold (50's) so I only ended up getting wet to just above my knees.

Dinner was great at Phantom Ranch and I met some great people from all over the country. The bunkhouse I stayed in over night was comfortable but noisy from everyone snoring but it was more comfortable than a tent I'm sure. Breakfast was awesome and the hike out in the morning was spectacular as the sun rose and cast shadows in the canyon.

The hike up the Bright Angel trail was pretty awesome especially between Phantom Ranch and Indian Garden. After that, it got steeper and more crowded. I especially like the Devils Corkscrew area. I took my time but next time I'd like to spend even more time taking it all in. My hike out was around 5 hours. A trip I will never forget!

Rattle Snake

Rattle Snake
Originally uploaded by Mslice.

I took a hike today, one of many over the past few weeks, to ready mself for my Grand Canyon hike next week. Kari and I saw our first Rattle Snake on Sunday slithering away from the trail which was very cool. Today I heard my first Rattle Snake as I hiked on a side trail that doesn't see much activity. Since the weather is getting much warmer lately and we are seeing highs in the 80's, this is prime snake time during the day in the desert. I was watching out for snakes on my hike and saw one early on that was just a Garter Snake. As I was nearing the summit along a slope, the quiet of the hike was interrupted by a loud noise I at first thought was a bird or loud insect. It startled me so I stopped immediately and within a few seconds I realized the sound was a Rattle Snake. The snake was off the trail about 8 - 10 feet about 15 feet ahead of me and boy, was it not happy to see me. After making sure other snakes were not around I backed off a bit and got my camera out and took some photos. If I backed away from the snake about 25 - 30 feet, it would stop rattling but as soon as I got closer, it would rattle again. In order to continue on the trail I had to pass within about 10 feet of the snake as it follow me in an agressive pose threatening to strike. Not fun but I was a safe distance and ready to jump off the trail if needed.

Lake Havasu Trip

I decided to take a road trip to Lake Havasu to visit my brother in law. Since I had time to kill, I took the long way through Prescott to the north from Phoenix to Rt. 40 and then Rt. 66 for a long stretch. There wasn't much on Rt. 66 but it was an interesting drive regardless.

In Lake Havasu I took several hikes including one down to the lake. The trail was about 2.5 miles one way with just a slight grade all the way so it was easy. The view was great along most of the trail.

I'm looking forward to my Grand Canyon trip and hike to the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch in a few weeks. I'll post pictures and details when I get back.

My photos from the trip are available on my Flickr Page.

Sunday Hike

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originally uploaded by Mslice.

I spotted this snake along the trail on my hike today. With the warmer weather, they are coming out to sun themselves. This was taken with my camera phone so it's tough to see. This snake was bout 2 1/2' long and was a garter snake, I think.

Desert Snow Storm

Well, we finally got rain in Phoenix. As you can see from the photo, we also had snow in some of the mountains around the city. It was beautiful. We are now back in the 70's and sunny so much of the snow has melted around the area except at higher elevations.

View more snow photos

There were reports of up to 4' of snow in the higher elevations. Most of the mountains around Phoenix just had a dusting but as you headed north and east, there was a lot of snow. The Grand Canyon which I was just at a few weeks ago and hiked in shorts had around 20" of snow with temperatures around 5 degrees. Brrr!

Grand Canyon

My friends from Maine Charlie and Donna came to visit. We spent the week taking a bunch of different hikes around Phoenix (South Mountain) and then visited Sedona and Grand Canyon. This photo is of me checking out the view at the Grand Canyon February 27 2006.

<See More Grand Canyon Photos>

We had a great time and Charlie and Donna found a new favorite restaurant called Chipotle. The word chipotle became a common verb used during the remainder of their trip being used every time someone ate too much and felt like they would puke if we did too much physical activity like, hike out of the Grand Canyon. The use of chipotle as a verb stemmed from a lunch time visit to our local Chipotle restaurant where we scarfed down some giant burrito's gorging ourselves to the point of ... puking! I told them, don't order the chips and salsa as the burrito's were big enough, but they didn't believe me. ;-)

We also did two hikes into the canyon which were awesome. We hiked part way down the South Kaibab trail and the Bright Angel trail. Both hikes were incredible and I'm ready to go back for another visit soon. Perhaps in a few weeks.

Ahwatukee Biking

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originally uploaded by Mslice.

From my camera phone looking back toward civiliation. I was out on a quick bike ride so I snapped this picture just to test my camera phone. I was able to submit this directly to my blog from my phone. Geeky!

Flying here to Allentown

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originally uploaded by Mslice.

Waiting for my flight to allentown. This was taken on my mobile phone camera and sent directly to my blog. Too geeky!

F550 P/U Truck

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originally uploaded by Mslice.

Huge f550 truck seen near home. Taken with my camera phone. The truck was at a service station attached to a nice boat.

Easternmost Point Visit

During our travels in Maine, Charlie and I stopped by Lubec Maine where West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is located. This also happens to be the eastern most point of the United States. As you can see, it was a bright clear day. Beautiful! New Brunswick Canada is in the background and was part of our trip.

In New Brunswick, we visited Campobello and East Quoddy Head Lighthouse.

Mt. Katahdin Hike

Charlie and I hiked up Mt. Katahdin on Monday September 12. The night before our summit we stayed in a cabin at Roaring Brook campground in Baxter State Park. The wind was brutal that night with 50 - 60 mph winds. When we woke up, there were a few limbs down in the parking lot. Regardless, we decided to head out and hope that the wind would die down before we were above tree line. Fortunately, the wind died down by the time we made it to the summit.

The hike is a tough one with an ascent of 4,000 feet and very rocky. We decided to head across the Knifes Edge which follows the ridge line of the mountain which is also very rocky with steep drop offs in many areas. The descent is probably the toughest part since you guess it, it's rocky, and you have to come down the 4,000 feet you just climbed. During this adventure we hiked approximately 12 miles.

Photos of Trip

If you are interested in hiking Katahdin, check out the web site MainelyHiking for trail information and suggested hiking routes. http://www.mainelyhiking.com/

Heading to Katahdin

On Sunday, we headed to Baxter State Park to hike up Mt. Katahdin. Along the way we saw a moose. Much of the drive was a dirt road. We got to our campsite at Roaring Brook just before dark.

Maine Trip - September

In early September I headed off to Maine to visit my friend Charlie. The first few days we spent in Greenville ME where Moosehead Lake is located. As luck would have it, the International SeaPlane Fly-In was scheduled for the same weekend. There was lots of plane traffic and people visiting the usually quiet lakeside town. We ended up staying with friends of Charlie who own a house in Greenville.

The photo on the right is from our hike up Mt. Kineo which overlooks Moosehead Lake.

Oregon Trip

Kari and I visited Oregon in late July 2005. We spent a few days in Portland and a major part of the week on the coast. See photos of our trip

Here Lizard, Lizard

Well, I never saw such a large lizard in our yard before. Usually we see little Gecko's that are a few inches long. This lizard was around a foot or so from head to tail. We haven't seen one this big in our yard since.