Mark's Scenic Arizona

Aravaipa Canyon = October 2-3, 2010

Mild weather for a great weekend of backbacking with but a few sprinkles

Once the sky cleared we lay in the open directly under the stars. Wow!

The treat was an awesome view of stars, meteors and a few satellites

A hint of things to come
Unknown butterfly
Just coming inside the Aravaipa Wilderness
One of a myriad of unique rock formations
One of many caves we will see
Swallowtail butterfly
Tight gorge near Hell's Half Acre
Boulders block the gorge 200' in
No, this is not natural, humans put them there
Canyon walls are closing in
Upside down barrel cactus
Jagged cliff wall
Typical of the numerous creek crossings
Barrel cacti in various poses
Look for wood piece in center of photo
It's part of a tree trunk
Visible are strata from various periods of time
A dry side canyon
Closer view
Ornate Tree Lizard
Look for the tiny frog in the center
There it is!
More jagged canyon walls
More jagged canyon walls
Signs of water trickling over time
Three distinct layers of rock
Shallow creek allowed walking all the way
Small crescent moon
Egret just right of the Saguaro
Egret in profile
Another shot of the moon
More of the narrow canyons
Holes created by erosion
More caves
Almost looks like jagged teeth
One of the many smaller
Another view
One of many frogs encoutnered
Another frog shot
One falls after another
One of the few open areas
Weird erosion in this rock
More caves
Walls closing in again
Horse Camp Canyon
Horse Camp Canyon
Looked like mummified legs
At least from this distance
2 ants dragging a dead butterfly
Side view of a small arch
Our campsite
View straight on from our campsite
Four bighorn sheep in this early morning shot
Early sun hitting the canyon across form our campsite
View west from our campsite
Another area of rapids
One of many dragonflies
Smaller of only 2 gartes snakes we saw

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