Nine hikers drove from the Rodeo Post Office to the mouth of Sulphur Canyon, where we parked and began our walk to the south, along open grassland and often paralleling the forest boundary. 

The wide open views were very nice indeed but the footing wasn’t so great. We had thick Lovegrass up to our knees and the terrain was rocky so we had to pick our way carefully for much of the hike. Once going and once coming back we did stumble onto trails — hidden in the tall grass — that made walking much, much easier. 

One of our hikers, who lived in East Africa, pointed out that the landscape is very much like the African savanna, minus our tall mountains, of course. And look at that blue sky!

High above the valley below, a moderately steep climb led to a well preserved, ancient Native American granary. I wish I could tell you more about this site, but I cannot. We think it dates to around 1100 AD (or CE). 

Photo by Ingrid

It was here that we celebrated Elaine’s birthday with chocolate chip pecan cookies. At the last minute Elaine couldn’t come on the hike (!) but our thoughts were with her. From here seven of the hikers began their careful trek down the hillside, stopping halfway back to the cars to have lunch. Two other hikers, visitors from the Yukon, continued on from the granary to some very simple rock art. They reported that their pathway was very difficult and full of boulders. Plus the grass seeds were the stickiest they had ever seen, described as being like Velcro. Yikes!

Photos by Danusia and Lorrie

The seven hikers walked around four miles, we think. Several devices said two and a half miles and several said four. It felt like at least four! The day was lovely, the landscape was impressive and it was simply good to get out.

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving so the weekly hike will be on Friday instead. We are not certain who will be around on that day so please meet at the Silver Peak Trailhead at 9:00 a.m. and those present can decide where to go. It is always good to walk off the turkey dinner the day after TG!

Report and photos by Carol unless otherwise noted.

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