return to seven mile canyon

Sunday morning, we drove out Route 313 to Seven Mile Canyon to do the main fork, which we hadn't done since May 2016.  We parked where we did before but before crossing the road to the canyon entrance, we looked for the Intestine Man pictograph.  We were so intent on searching at eye level, where all the other petroglyphs were that we didn't even think to look up.  It wasn't until after our hike that a friendly park service ranger, stationed at the site to talk with people about the rock art, pointed it out to us.  We talked with her for quite a while, learning that this "rock art" is really more visual language than art, and that the Intestine Man is depicting neither a man nor his intestines but more likely an insect and a seasonal passage of time.

Where's them lizards at?

After crossing 313 and going through the gate in the fence (updated from where we had to squeeze past barbed wire in 2016), we went past some additional petroglyph panels before coming out into the broad, sandy wash.  This branch of the canyon is very wide here and very, very sandy.  Walking on this surface was exhausting even though there was negligible elevation gain.

More trees as the canyon narrows

We walked in for 1.5 hours, exploring a couple of side canyons (and noting a couple others for future exploration) and getting past where we'd turned around before.  It was warm, however, and when Milton started sitting down in shady sections, we didn't want to overdo it for him.

This was actually nicer to walk on than all the sand

The return trip was a struggle simply because the deep sand is such a pain to walk in: it actually got frustrating at times, where you had to make a huge effort for small gain.  We think we might go back in the winter, when things have perhaps frozen up a bit and are easier to walk on, plus less concern about overheating, to see if we can get to the end of the canyon.

Taking a break

Hike stats: 6.82 miles; 2:37 / 2.6 m.p.h. moving; 3;13 / 2.1 m.p.h. overall; 480' elevation