This was the trip that was, then wasn’t, then was again! Let me explain: I was scheduled for a Canadian fishing trip with Steve and Andy Gruner, Matt Brown and myself. We had already sent in our deposit to lock in a week in late July.

Things started to change in January when forecasters predicted $4.00 to $5.00 a gallon gas prices in the summer and the value of the U.S. dollar weakened. The group decided to cancel for this summer. Once that was settled, I contacted Dan Ragen in Arizona, and said we had a go for a trip to Arizona but it had to be scheduled in March before the rail season started (usually around March 20^th). Jim Fisher would be unavailable unless we returned on the 13^th or 14^th. So our best bet was March 3^rd to March 12^th.

Dan started forming an itinerary and I tried to organize a group. Both of us had a tough time……Arizona is not exactly the warm mecca in early March and only retired members or home-schooled kids could go. At a Green Creek meeting Auriel showed interest and Tyler was a go…..that put us at 3, possible 4. Anne couldn’t go because Samantha was in a national cheerleading competition. Tonya was working in Arkansas and couldn’t get time off. We decided if we only had 4 we would still go. Then Auriel said that her brother Hank and father, Jim, wanted to go. Now we’re at 6, plus Dan and, hopefully, Jim Schroeder, would make 8….the same as last year.

We arrived in Phoenix on the morning of March 3^rd. Jim flew in from Chicago and Dan drove his pick-up from northern Arizona. We picked up our mini-van for the week, loaded all the gear in Dan’s truck, and off we go…..destination Lake Havasu and a campground called Cattail Cove. We arrived at the campgrounds around 5:30 P.M. and didn’t like what we found……all camping trailers on small stone lots…..and they wanted $26.00 per vehicle to camp….$52.00 to camp with a tent……HA!!!!

We started driving…..people were camping all over the place on B.L.M. land. Of course there were no facilities whatever, but, at least it was free. This was the first of many nights we camped free on B.L.M. land. We discovered something real fast in Arizona…..you might be in the desert but the temperatures fall into the 20’s and 30’s at night.

Dan had scheduled a 15 mile kayak trip down the Colorado River the next morning. We had a choice between a one-man kayak, or a two-man kayak. Ty and I took a 2 man, Jim V and Hank took a 2 man, and Jim F, Auriel, and Dan selected the one man (person). What an adventure! The current was pretty decent, maybe 3-4 M.P.H. and the water was crystal clear…..you could see bottom at 10-15 feet. We weaved in and out of some spectacular canyons….California was on our right and Arizona on our left. The area we were in was called Topoc Gorge. We were just about the only ones on the river…..I say just because several times the solitude of the canyon was interrupted by the sound of house boats or jet-skiers! We cursed a little but the quietness returned in moments and once again we had the river to ourselves.

That evening we found another “free” campsite and this one had some special significance. We were traveling on Rt.66……and who hasn’t heard of Rt 66……the original road from Chicago to California. It was a beautiful drive…..the road was in terrible shape but the scenery made up for it. Our campsite was in a very isolated area, in fact, we were visited by a coyote just before dark!

The next day took us to Oatman, Arizona, a top-notch old ghost town…..at least that’s what the literature said. I’m glad we arrived in the early morning…..before they opened for business. They did have some historic buildings but, basically, the place was a tourist trap! The drive to Oatman was spectacular…..hairpin curves through the mountains…..all kinds of switchbacks…great views. We found a cemetery on the side of a mountain…..got out and took pictures….it was like no cemetery I’ve ever seen.

We took RT 66 as far as INT 40 and then to Williams, Arizona. At this point we had to decision to make….north to the Grand Canyon or south to Sedona and our campsite. Auriel and Hank had never seen the canyon so we decided to head north.

The first Green Creek trip, 22 years ago, was to the Grand Canyon and I wanted to see if anything had changed (obviously not “in” the canyon). They built a brand new Visitor Center….but still had the same problem……not enough parking! And, who would have thought that the Canyon would be crowded in March……it was!!!!!

Arizona is huge….the 5^th largest state in the U.S. We wanted to see as much as we could in 10 days so we spent a lot of time on the road. Most of the time we arrived at our campsite around 5 or 6, just in time to set up camp and fix supper before dark. We stayed at many interesting campsites….Dead Horse State Park being one of them.

We “camped” at Dan’s house in the White Mountains and visited the fish hatchery that he is in charge of……that was the coldest night of the trip…..glad we were at Dan’s!

Some of the highlights of the trip were: Red Rock Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, Natural Bridge State Park, Fort Apache, Salt River Canyon, Apache Trail, Tonto Monument, and the Desert Museum in Tucson.

Our campsite outside Tucson proved interesting for 2 events that happened. The first concerns Ty. As he was walking around the campgrounds he accidently got too close to a cactus plant and 13 spines was imbedded in his hand (the cactus is called “jumping” Cholla). The spines had to be removed with pliers! The second event concerned me. I came down with a very sore throat and it continued to get worse. I finally had to have the crew take me to the emergence room in Tucson. I had strep throat and, thankfully, with some much needed antibiotics, I was back to normal within a day.

March 12^th came much too soon. And what does next year look like? Right now I’m looking at August 1-10 for a trip to Idaho and the Snake River and Glacier National Park in Montana. Of course a lot will depend on flight cost and the price of gas. Let me know if you’re interested.