Hike up Picnic Table Rock in Sara Park

November 11, 2010 Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge

Happy Veteran's Day! 

We woke to a very cool morning with temps near 50 degrees. After watching the laying of the wreath on The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldiers, we made plans and gathered our things to do another hike at Sara Park. Today our destination was the top of Picnic Table Rock. 

Named locally of course, for the picnic table at the summit. The table was carried up there (presumedly in pieces) by a local hiking club known as The Leaping Lizards. We had hiked this route before with Mitch, a biologist here at the refuge (Sara Park Hike).  You can just make out the picnic table at the peak in the photo below.

During our previous hike we had not climbed to the summit and the picnic table. So we had said last time that our goal would be to crest the summit and sit on that table! The table is chained down and sits very close to the edge of a precipitous drop off.

It was an arduous climb over some very steep and rocky trails. Often it was difficult to discern exactly what was the trail. In the picture below Joyce is making the last efforts to summit!

Mission Accomplished!

It goes without saying that the views from the summit were spectacular. Below is Lake Havasu looking across to California.

The altimeter on my watch put us at 1300+ feet.

Lake Havasu City

Of course the climb down was not going to be easy and in fact was perhaps more difficult than the ascent. The trail was extremely steep, rocky and slippery.

Round trip the hike took us 2.5 hrs. from the parking lot including the 30 mins. we stayed at the picnic table enjoying our lunch of PB and J sandwiches. I would rate the hike as moderate to difficult. The weather had been perfect with temps in just over 70 degrees but with a strong north wind.

We had a great time and will probably return at least one more time to do a hike out to the river.

Another Hike in Sara Park

October 24, 2010 Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge.
Yesterday, we started our 3-day off cycle and awoke early to this view of the moon outside our rig. The weather has been gorgeous with temps in the 60's in the mornings and highs in the low 80's. 

A couple of days ago, Joyce and I had been talking to Mitch,  just one of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologists that has an office here at the refuge.  Mitch told us that he would be hiking down into The Grand Canyon on Monday to do a fish survey in the Colorado River. That peaked our interest and we soon began discussing his adventures in the Canyon as he has hiked in and out a few times but, it had been a while since his last trip. Before long, Mitch invited us to go on a hike with him at Sara Park. You may recall Joyce and I hiked in Sara Park a few weeks ago. However, there are a number of trails in the park and we planned on returning. Subsequently we accepted Mitch's invitation and made plans to meet him at 8:00. 

We all showed up on time. Mitch brought along his two constant hiking companions, his dogs. As it turns out we later learned that Mitch has been hiking this particular trail nearly every day for 6 weeks in preparation for his trip back to The Grand Canyon. 

Mitch and his dogs

Joyce and I showed up overdressed as this was a fast paced hike up the side of Picnic Table Mountain. 

Much of the trail on the side of the mountain was narrow, rocky and slippery as some of the trail had been washed away by the recent rains. We were hiking in Big Horn Sheep territory and Mitch pointed out potential areas were the sheep would bed down as we climbed the side of the mountain. We certainly enjoyed the views that sheep enjoy along the steep rocky cliffs. But to be honest I spent most of my time concentrating on my next step! Mitch just took it all in stride confident in his abilities and knowledge of the trail.

Lake Havasu City in the distance

From high on the cliff we could see this lizard outlined on the ground below with rocks. I zoomed in with my camera for this picture. Mitch told us that it was created by a local hiking club, The Leaping Lizards.

Leaping Lizard

Joyce and I stopped for this photo opportunity taking advantage of the break to catch our breaths! I know...I need to get rid of the straw hat and find a real hiking hat! We would have been better off in shorts and hiking sneakers instead of our pants and boots.

Getting down from the side of the mountain was another challenge. As we came down the narrow switchbacks we had to slide and jump down some 5 ft. drops. Keeping our balance was essential to keep from tumbling down the side. Most of the hike and particularly keeping up with Mitch was too arduous to allow for much picture taking. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the hike. I know that this hike with Mitch pushed Joyce out of her comfort zone but she pushed on like a trooper. I'm glad Mitch was with us as I don't think we would have done that trail without an experience hiker leading the way!

We had a great time and plan to return to Sara Park to take on some of the more challenging trails with a renewed since of confidence.

Wild Burros and Our Sara Park Hike

October 6, 2010. Bill Williams River, NWR

I'm finally able to update my blog with pictures after my 20 gigabyte upgrade to Picasa Web took affect. You may recall that Picasa Web is the site used for storing Google Blogger photos.

I had wanted to upload in the previous post, pictures of this Wild Burro (donkey) we saw on the side of the road near the Parker Dam (on the California side of the Colorado River).

Wild Burros feed on a variety of of plants, including grasses, Mormon Tea, Palo Verde and Plantain. Although some moisture is provided by these plant materials, Wild Burros must have drinking water throughout the year. They can usually be seen foraging for food during daytime, except for summers, when they will forage only at night and in the early morning.

Wild Burros range through a wide variety of desert habitats as long as they are within 10 miles of drinking water.

This area on California Hwy 62 is known for the Wild Burros that roam the mountains and come down to the road for treats of carrots and apples from motorists. We saw a group of four up on the hillside today while out for a drive.

Yesterday, the weather was absolutely beautiful with a morning low of 70 and a high of 85. We decided to take a hike in Sara Park which is just south of Lake Havasu City. 

The park is full of various trails. The main trail is through a wash leading to a narrow slot canyon.

The further down the wash you travel the narrower it gets. Large rocks block the path requiring some scampering and stretching! This area of the park is known by the locals as Sara's Crack due to the narrow slot canyon and pink coloration. Just use your imagination!

At one point our forward progress was halted by this 8 ft drop. Apparently some hikers slide down the rock. However, it's very difficult to get back out this way. I was told that at this time of year it's possible to kinda get stuck if you decide to slide in. Although hikers can normally continue to hike out of the canyon further in, there could be standing water up to chest deep that hikers would have to get through to get out. This area had heavy rain just a couple of days ago!

So, we turned around and climbed up a trail over the side of the canyon for this great view of Lake Havasu.

After a few hours of hiking it was time to head back to the Jeep and then into town. We had a great time at Sara Park and plan to return and check out some of the other trails another day.