Hiking up Boynton Canyon - with a surprise. Careful, image heavy post

[Matt K.]

So my wife and I set out on the last day to hike up Boynton Canyon. We drove to the resort there a day or so earlier for lunch, and saw a trail from the restaurant, a trail that wound its way right along the cliffs and rocks. So on our last day there we decided to do the trail, and then have lunch again at the fabulous club house ..

here we go, a sign leading us to the trail .. but wait: does it indicate a third trip???

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/13118183233_ef4eb7027a_h.jpg

So the trail starts out pretty nice and gradual. We are about 4500 feet above sea level, or thereabouts, anyway.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/13118334054_78adf9bc7a_h.jpg

Wifey always has to run ahead, and drag that 300mm lens away from me ... here is the resort, blends in quite nicely ..

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/13117979645_dc162a1a4f_h.jpg

This one in particular ...


Talk about your cliff dwellings, these are fab, eh? I am so impressed as to how they integrate into the environment.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7430/13117996595_875c170bfc_h.jpg

Walk a little further and you can get a different perspective of these shacks ....

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2120/13118009105_ca3159f591_b.jpg

Had to get around the large rock face in order to enter the canyon ...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/13118076653_6065059ebd_b.jpg

this one in particular

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2754/13117958825_01ea31e87a_b.jpg

[Matt K.]

once around the rock face, we could see into part of the canyon, and lo and behold, seems there is a real cliff dwelling up there ....

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/13118143243_6e764afaa0_b.jpg

but first, we had to climb this path ... I had to take pics of it, cause no one would believe me I did back home ...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3795/13118267104_e644274e57_b.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3693/13117987665_e96dbe21a8_b.jpg

finally we approached the end ...

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/13117972425_d542c27bcc_h.jpg

not quite yet, but here it is ...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3755/13118064283_f69ceeca80_h.jpg

and here i saw that there was not only one cliff dwelling, but several ... so I shot first with my 24-70, then with the 70-200, and then I had to boost the ISO to 1600 to be able to shoot with the 300mm

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2537/13118037145_a7b2238aed_h.jpg

This one is not so obvious, but the soot gave it away ... you can see a wall in it as well ...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/13118127573_8793c89929_h.jpg

[Matt K.]

But wait, there is more ...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/13118133753_2346ce4317_h.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3816/13118026255_e287b0a966_h.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2543/13118069963_3dd341bf95_h.jpg

[Marko]

Fun set matt K.!
My faves are shot 4 post 1 and shot 2 post 3.

[QuietOne]

Quite a hike you had! When I was quite young I lived in Phoenix, which was still a pretty small place, even if it was the state capital. I remember my parents taking my aunt (one of Dad's sisters) and us kids to someplace with cliff dwellings. I don't remember many details, but I remember walls a bit more complete than the ones in your photos, and I remember thinking the dwellings smelled like people had lived there for quite some time. Now I wonder if it was Sedona, which wasn't particularly well known until more recently.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for taking us along on this hike. I love those dwellings and how they blend in.

[asnow]

WOW that is some hike and a great set of pics documenting it. I think I like the ones with the dwellings in them the best.

[Randitola]

This was fun...the great thing about this forum is that for someone who has a REALLY low travel budget, we still get to see these places. Very well covered. Thanks for the trip! :)

[Hillbillygirl]

Thank you so much for the trip Matt. Some wonderfully detailed shots in all. Love the Cave-dwellings also.