[hay - I'm not finished with this post yet - some come back soon]

14 miles of beauty and fun – and hard work. Hike in from Grandview Trail Head – to Horseshoe Mesa, around the mesa then up from Cottonwood Creek change in elevation – 3,843 ft (7,300 to 3,800) – we covered all of that on the way out in just 4 miles.

We started our hike on Saturday afternoon – after a long drive from Phoenix.  Arriving the night before and taking the time to get gas for the stove at the local REI.  We had packed our backpacks in duffles  -  with everything we needed.  Delta will allow you to ship a stove after all – so that was in there.  My trekking poles, knives, water filter, tent, pads, etc.  Since I’m platinum on Delta – we were able to check them for no cost. The cashier said – that’s all you need – wow, great preparation!  Daniel and I said – yup – proudly.  However, as we crashed that night in the hotel I suddenly realized – we forgot one key thing…  Our BOOTS!  Think about it – all that packing and repacking of our equipment, but we simply didn’t think – and had our sneaks on for the flight.

So while our plan was to leave really early bypassing Flagstaff to the trailhead by 10AM, instead we timed our trip to get to Flagstaff by 10AM so that we could pick up something for our feet. I just wasn’t comfortable hiking in my cowboy boots or sneaks – and Daniel’s sneaks are so old – well, it just wasn’t an option.  We ended up at a local sporting goods store and picked up some inexpensive boots for $29/each.  I mainly thought – well, they won’t last but at least we won’t have stubbed toes or rolled ankles.  Made for a nice breakfast at Cafe Pickles however – and a quick tour of Flagstaff.

We arrived at the G.C. center by noon and tried to change course – so that we could go down to the river, but that wasn’t an option.  Burned 2 hours we didn’t need to but still, we got to the trail before 1PM.

The hike down wasn’t terrible – though a bit steep at times.  We did get ourselves some micro-spikes at the outfitters to combat a little snow on the trail -