Our hikes for 2001 continued to draw large numbers with regulars such as Tom Van Lew, Jeannie Van Lew, Tim Reiling, John Guidorizzi, Marilyn Guidorizzi, Chuck Parsons, Darleen Lindquist, Gerry Kinley, Dave Langford, Yu-Ling Langford, Marge Fons, Ben Velasquez, Elaine Cobos, and Steve Shaw as well as our faithful companions Sandy, Maggie and Julia. We were pleased to welcome new hikers to our group who included Dan Bishop, Sherry Bishop, Kristen Bishop, Jim Blaugh and Laura Kaufmann.

Cold water cascades down the rocks.

At 8:50, the trek into the canyon along Rogers Creek began. The recent snow and rain in the area meant for many photo-ops as small waterfalls cascaded over the boulders in the creek. The sights and sounds of the creek made everyone forget that our return to the cars would be mostly uphill.

Our group arrival at the ruins began at around 11:30. Tim radioed that he and Sandy had arrived. Maggie, our more timid Dalmatian, stayed with us. Sandy is much more independent and prefers to stay up front with whomever might be in the lead. A group of boy scouts had already been at the ruins and were on their way out. After their departure, the ruins were ours to enjoy for only a brief time. Others quickly arrived.

The ruins are a window into Arizona’s past.

Our group spread out on the return trip as some of us cannot maintain the same pace up as we do down. We counted the number of times we had to cross the creek and all agreed that it was somewhere between 24 and 30. I never can keep count; I must be too easily distracted.