My Journey

[Waltzing Matilda]

[QUOTE="tgil, post: 2737416, member: 191367"}

I stumbled across some pics of Havasu Falls this morning. It is on the Havasupai Reservation, on the west end of Grand Canyon NP. Have you been there in your travels? Sounds like a pain to get reservations, and costly too, but man, what a beautiful looking place!
[/QUOTE]

I visited there many, many years ago. Hiked in on Thanksgiving day, with a group of international students, hiked back out Sunday. Good time of year: mild weather, lovely leaves changing colors.

Long walk- about 9 miles from end of road to village, another 2 or so to the campground. All downhill on the way in.
They offered mules to those who didn't want to carry their gear back up the trail on the trip out.

There are bigger waterfalls (Mooney- 200 feet) along the stream which extends down from the main falls near the camp (shown in photos with the travertine basins). At the time you could hike all the way to the Colorado River- took a few hours.

I recall the quiet & wildness- spring water trickling out of the cliffs near camp.
Bright eyes of a ring-tailed cat peering down from the trees, reflecting the light from our campfire.
Incredible stars in a skinny slot canyon.

After a few days in the narrow walls, the big sky on the mesa back at the trail head was even more amazing.

Beautiful place- was well worth the trip at the time. Hope it's still wild & beautiful.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....I also liked Dan's rig as I like Jeeps quite a bit. His travels are quite inspiring too. I was just talking to a guy with this Jeep truck and it got me thinking about a Jeep. Unfortunately there isn't a 2 door model with a longer truck bed. I have never traveled to those falls.



JD.....I get it. I was still mourning the loss of Montana but now all my energy is focused on Yukon.

Ace.....a lot to think about.....



An update on Yukon.....yesterday I was able to get an appointment with the vet that saw her on January 5th. We drove nearly 200 miles and thankfully made her appointment in plenty of time. He diagnosed her 100 % for sure cancer and said that she may have 2 months left. He said she will have good days and bad days and when the bad days far outweigh the good days, it will be her time.....

Yesterday a brief stop on the way to the vet's office.....



This morning.....

 

[longhorn1]

Another new entry into the camper world. Hiatus Campers. Hardside pop-up with module inserts. Shell secured to bed rail. Build out with what you want. Out of Washington state.

Home - Hiatus Campers

The Hiatus Camper® is our take on the ultimate adventure rig. Lightweight, streamlined, and rugged enough to handle any terrain.

www.hiatuscampers.com

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We continued east, then turned north, to the largest lake that is fully contained within the state boundaries of Arizona.....22.4 mile long Theodore Roosevelt Lake was our planned destination. I'd had an urge to pull up next to a lake and let Yukon have some leisurely time in the cold waters without the strong currents of the canal.....





We stopped in at the visitors center and here there was a story to be told. We enquired about a nice spot to let Yukon have easy access to the lake but the staff said that we would have to pay a daily fee. Now I wanted only maybe 10 or 15 minutes of access.....I was reluctant to pay a fee. So I explained to them our situation and they asked that I bring the dogs inside of the "No Dogs Allowed" building since they just loved dogs. They suggested I park in the "No Parking Allowed" area so that she wouldn't have to walk so far. Tanner went absolutely nuts when he saw the big cats.....and Yukon was the star here as they loved on her and bestowed her with lots of gifts (4 bandanas, a bunch of stickers, a frisbee, treats.....I forget what else honestly).....



I want to see one of these big cats in the wild so bad.....Tanner was fine just barking at these.....





Eventually one woman hands me a permit and of course I say "what's this for ?". She replies with "we all love dogs here and we all chipped in and bought her a campsite for the night. You can camp right on the beach and there's only one site where I'm sending you so it'll be perfect for her." It truly was.....



The drive to our campsite was short.....we passed by a beautiful bridge.....





And a really big dam.....



There's an awful lot of hate in the world today.....so it's even the more special to be the recipient of such kindness.....kindness that I hope will never be forgotten.....

 

[Arjan]

2 Months......

Time moves fast as you know.

Fill them with memories as you are doing..

Love that bridge picture !

Have fun you !

 

[RonMexico]

Such a beautiful dog and touching picture.

 

[tgil]

Very nice of them to accommodate Yukon so well! There are still plenty of good people in our world, they just don't make the "news" as often! Love that pic of the two of them snoozing. The landscape pics are nice too, but the dogs will always win in my book!

 

[Riversdad]

Really nice to see that there are still good people out there. When my Irwin had cancer they gave him ten months if I got him treatment, he had a really good 30. Cherish your time together and spoil her rotten.

 

[ITTOG]

Really nice to see that there are still good people out there.

That was my thought too.

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....my goal is to live in the moment.....attainable yet no doubt one of life's most difficult challenges.....thank you.....

Ron.....it captured a nice moment in life.....thank you.....

tgil.....those people were soooooo great !

Riversdad.....I wish Yukon had the option of treatment. I asked again and the vet said not an option. I'll always wonder if last year when I raised concerns about her had they looked further if it could have been caught. They thought her changes were the result of old age and thyroid issues. They were incorrect we know now.....

ITTOG.....these are the kinds of people that I inspire to be......they seized the moment.....




Beyond the bridge and the dam, the drive to our campsite was on this narrow, winding dirt road placed between steep canyon walls and high above the waters edge.....almost reminded of something I may have seen in the Himalayas or Andes.....





They hadn't exaggerated one bit when they said that our campsite was right on the water. There was a stone fire ring with a bunch of firewood precut and a picnic table.....hard to believe.....



Sometime in the afternoon a group of three pulled up and asked if they could stay the night.....well, how could I say no !?! Turns out they were wonderful people.....loved dogs and hated generators.....



Yukon was in heaven and I clearly recall watching her in that ice cold water, smiling and thinking and hoping that the Rainbow Bridge will be this nice for her.....





She swam, and swam.....and then she swam some more.....



The frisbee was good.....and there's a story to be told there.....



We kept a warm fire going all day and well into the evening.....the air was cool up here in the mountains....



It was a good day.....no, it was a perfect day.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The Frisbee Story.....

So I flung our new frisbee out into the ice cold water assuming that it too would float just like the one that was recently replaced.....wrong.....



Tanner watched in great anticipation as that frisbee flew through the air and softly, gently landed on the surface of the water. The game had begun.....



But to his total and complete dismay that frisbee was nowhere to be found. Apparently Tanner is not one to give up easily and he began to dive.....



He literally would disappear for multiple seconds at a time.....I don't really know but maybe ten seconds would not be an exaggeration.....



Eventually, after quite sometime, he actually found that damn thing.....I was so impressed.....



He had been in that ice cold water for such a long period of time that when he finally came out his teeth were chattering.....sounded like machine gun fire. I warmed water on the stove and bathed the poor little pup.....



We finished our visit with a six mile hike along that narrow, winding dirt road.....







The gift that we received is not to be forgotten.....

 

[ITTOG]

Quote: ITTOG.....these are the kinds of people that I inspire to be......they seized the moment.....


I am no expert but from what I can tell you are already there.


I can't believe he was diving down like that. I asked a dog trainer about this once because I could never get a dog to dive in my pool to get things on the bottom. The trainer said most never will but some will if trained. Go Tanner.

The area looks beautiful.

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[Grenadiers]

Fantastic Jeep trip awaits you! Head west on the Apache Trail to Canyon Lake, or further to roadside attraction, Goldfield Ghost Town (lots of tourists), or stop at Tortilla Flat, have a burger, and reverse course.

 

[Ace Brown]

I watch your posts where you feature the dogs carefully. The dogs entertain you but you also entertain them. It’s a nice mix.

Of my four retrievers only one was a superb diver and she loved doing it. One of our kids had this toy John Deer tractor. The bright green really stood out on the brown rocky bottom. You could toss it off the dock in 5-8’ of water. Dutches would make a flying dive, swim to where it went down, dive straight down to it, and rapidly bring it to shore and then shake all over us. She clearly thought shaking on us was great fun.

She was my most athletic dog but they all were very talented. The only photo I can find at this time, cuteness warning:

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[Arjan]

Yes.... They dive. Very, very few do actually.
Ours, who were like 10 generation working line bred Golden Retrievers, did that on shoots and training. Sometimes Ducks will dive under when the dog comes close and esp. Scott would hunt them down under water like a sub.... Here in France we have a few ponds where we take the dogs and the frishbe's makes for great fun - but they float..

Just enjoy, fill up the memories and be together.