Desert Exploring with the Vee-Dub

"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns) 11/30/2015 at 12:29 • Filed to: None

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Took the GTI out to the desert for thanksgiving.... I was thankful for sunshine, sand, old buddies, and climbing in remote backcountry canyons... Here’s a couple shots of a ridiculous limestone canyon somewhere in Arizona...

While trying to find this particular canyon, we were driving around back roads at dusk trying to figure out where we were... All of a sudden my buddy saw what we thought was a campground with some climbers in it. So we drove through a pasture to meet them ( it looked like it had a road at firs t...). We got close and realized it wasn’t climbers, but a group of Mexican ranchers... Who’s pasture I’d just cross-countried over... But, no surprise, they were super friendly. And they were familiar with the canyon, as they’d seen climbers heading that way before, but they were a little incredulous about getting there in a vw.... Oh ye of little faith.........

Note the climbers on the right side of the main wall...... just big fat limestone epicness.

HammerheadFistpunch > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:37

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Looks fun, Winter is about the only time I envy Arizona...and only when I’m not skiing.

BobintheMtns > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 12:41

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Yeah, you don’t go to AZ in the summer.... nope.

HammerheadFistpunch > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:45

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I miss sedona in the spring and fall though...that’s a nice place once you get past the hippies and old people.

Ash78, voting early and often > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:49

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I’ve done day-long strenuous hikes around Sedona in 110-degree heat. As long as you stay super hydrated and UV-protected, it’s not so bad. The problem for a lot of people is the sweat evaporates so fast, you don’t realize how much you’re sweating!

I’ll take it over the 95 degrees and high humidity at home, for sure.

Anyway — cool location, looks almost like a mini version of Portrero Chico. What’s the area called?

Ash78, voting early and often > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:50

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B..b..but a DIRT ROAD?! You’re supposed to have an SUV for that!!

/s

BeaterGT > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:51

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Looks like an awesome way to spend Turkey day. You ever go mountain biking? Looks like there could be some pretty nice spots out that way.

BobintheMtns > Ash78, voting early and often 11/30/2015 at 12:52

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Yeah- it’s true about people not even realizing how much they’re sweating.... And you’re a climber huh? Well in that case, it’s called Lime kiln canyon— in AZ but accessed through Mesquite NV.... and it’s seriously amazing. What’s your local crag??

BobintheMtns > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 12:54

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Yeah, sedona and oak creek canyon are pretty sweet... there’s actually a great canyon with some amazing deep-water soloing near Flagstaff... but yeah, other than those, not going to AZ in the summer...

HammerheadFistpunch > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 12:54

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I think I need to take a trip down there this winter to do some overlanding.

BobintheMtns > Ash78, voting early and often 11/30/2015 at 12:56

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Haha— right??! But in all acuality, the GTI has pretty decent clearance for a car, especially a “performace” variant....

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 13:46

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Thought on northern NM (at elevation) in the summer? Trying to pick a good spot for family reunion - summer 2017. We’ve been lots of places, trying to pick somewhere new and good. Also considering the Smokies, but the odds of rain half the week we’d be there is very high.

HammerheadFistpunch > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 11/30/2015 at 13:48

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The tail of the Rockies in Taos are nice in the summer. How far away are you planning to travel?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 14:06

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My family is all over the States, so we basically just try to pick a good place and hope most people can make it. We’ve done Colorado several times, Cooperstown, a state park in Indiana and one in Georgia, California, South Dakota, Montana... Last one was in Wisconsin.

450X_FTW > BobintheMtns 11/30/2015 at 14:28

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you invaded mexico?! and lived to tell about!?!

450X_FTW > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 14:29

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Flagstaff, AZ. Still one of my favorite cities of all time, mostly because it reminds me so much of northern Michigan, and if you’re tired of the cold, Phoenix is not far away

BobintheMtns > 450X_FTW 11/30/2015 at 16:00

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Right?! At first when we realized that they weren’t climbers at a camp... naturally my mind was like... “could these be narcotrafficers, who’s meeting spot we just stumbled upon... gulp”