Six miles south of London Bridge in Lake Havasu City is SARA Park and the trailhead of a hike through a slot canyon known as Crack-in-the-Mountain. Sandi and Anita joined me as I chose it for my Hike #3 of the 52-Hike Challenge.
You start out on a wide path from the parking area and follow the yellow trail markers.
Soon you drop into a sandy wash.
Our trail follows the wash, but there are other trails that lead up the mountain. Can you see the hikers part way up?
Looks like a challenging hike for another trip.
Anita and me next to a big boulder that fell from the mountain.
Just past the one-mile mark, the wash bends to the left and stone walls rise up to greet you.
Sandi and me.
I'm sorry, Sandi, for the butt shot, but it shows the maneuvering necessary to negotiate the rocks.
This lizard is the only wildlife we saw, but sometimes Desert Bighorn sheep can be seen on the canyon walls.
As the canyon narrows, the sunlight doesn't reach the bottom.
As you enter the canyon, there's a small triangle-shaped arch on the left that is impossible to see head on. You have to look back for this view.
No one wanted to climb up to the arch for a photo op.
More hollowed out places caused by erosion.
The slot canyon runs through a banded rhyolite lava flow. The flow bands indicate the dynamics of the lava as it moved downslope.
The pearl-smooth walls are only a few feet apart through the narrows as you wind your way along.
Once through the slot the trail continues to the Colorado River for a 5 mile loop. We were planning an out-and-back 3-mile trail, so we were not too disappointed when we learned the slot was flooded a little farther on, turning hikers back rather than fording foot-deep water.
Entering the narrowest part of the slot.
Sandi and Anita scrambling over some boulders.
Looking ahead...
There's rather steep dry waterfall perfect for sliding down, but more difficult to climb back up using the rope.
I'm the only one in our group who attempted it, knowing we would have to come back the same way.
There I go....a controlled slide.
That was fun! Now to climb back up hand over hand using the knotted rope and walking up the slide.
Just a little farther on is the flooded part, so we all turned around here.
Two more hikers went down the slide.
We turned back.
Back through the smooth lava tunnel.
Back past the triangular arch.
I took a little detour and found another tight squeeze.
The colors remind me of the Badlands here.
And back to the parking area. This is a place I'd come again and hike to the river, and do the hike up the mountain too. And January is a great month to do it.
