Llama trip to Fish Creek October 9-14

This trip is a go and there are 1-2 slots remaining. This trip is one day shorter than originally advertised, leaving Los Alamos on October 9th rather than the 8th.
Fish Creek is an archeology-rich canyon, below Cedar Mesa, with several tributaries. It has an exciting collection of slickrock scrambles and explores, and is marked by layered slickrock and hoodoo terrain. The highly ambitious could spend a day doing the 18-mile Fish Creek/Owl Creek loop (some details here); if so, I advise a very early start and headlamps for the return. For the less intrepid, there are hikes up Fish, up Owl, up McCloyd canyon, and scrambling up the canyon walls to the mesa tops. For example, just 2 miles up Owl Canyon one finds an impressive geologic formation known as Nevills Arch. In the words of author David Day, "The reddish colored Cedar Mesa Sandstone has been carved into an eye-catching display of pinnacles and spires..." Our camp will be about a mile below the Fish Creek/Owl Creek confluence, and 6 miles from the trailhead. Options for day hikes will include both easy/non-technical and moderate/strenuous with low-angle scrambling.

A deposit of $150 will reserve your spot on the trip. I expect that the total cost for the llama packer, if we have an 8-person trip, will run about $250 per person.

The itinerary is arranged to require just two days of vacation for someone on an "B" schedule at the lab, or someone who can trade. It will run as follows:

Wednesday, October 9: Leave Los Alamos in the afternoon, drive through to Bluff, brown-bagging dinner in the cars on the way. Stay in town in Bluff (make your own reservation). The drive takes about 5 1/2 hours if we drive expeditiously.

Thursday, October 10: Leave Bluff in the morning, driving about an hour to the trailhead where we will load llamas and hike 6 miles into camp.

Friday-Sunday, October 11-13: Day hikes from base camp, good company in the evenings.

Monday, October 14: Hike out and drive back to Los Alamos, arriving in the evening.

Expenses will include lodging at Bluff, which will be paid individually; driving expenses, arranged by car; and the llama packer, which I will arrange.

All participants should be paid-up members of the Los Alamos Mountaineers with waivers on file. If you are not yet a member, it is easy to do so - see the Mountaineers web page here.

To hold a spot, please contact Bill Priedhorsky and make a $150 deposit.