This photo is probably from my third hike to Taylor Cabin, this one with my son Paul who was home on Christmas vacation from college. We  parked our trailer under this tree and stayed overnight so we could get an early start at the "Dogie" trailhead 1/4 miles up the road. This photo is looking northwest but the hiker must first head west over a nich in the hills, a couple hours down into the canyon and then, after crossing Sycamore Creek, north.

This is another view of the campsite looking southeast. The direction of the hike is to the west and north to the right and toward the foreground of the photo.

It is now early morning and we have hiked about 1/4 mile westerly up towards the nich in the hills through which we must pass to descend into the giant Sycamore Canyon (second largest canyon in the State of Arizona).

Nine or ten miles later we have reached Taylor Cabin and are setting up for the night. The cabin has a little stove which Paul is stoking. On the right of the photo is the red back wall of the cabin which is also the side of the mountain. On the extreme right is an open fireplace of blackened rock. At this time the cabin had three servicable cots. When my friend Kern and I visited in 2004, it was down to one cot, barely useable.

You can see the fireplace now and our gear, hanging from ceiling beams to keep away from mice. Paul woke me up about midnight to offer me champagne from a tiny party favor bottle. "Dad, I think we have mice" was his comment at that time. I think I drank the champagne but I don't remember anything else. We were so tired.

The next morning, the beginning of a new millenium.. It had begun to snow lightly just before we were ready to hike out. We had clear plastic garbage bags and cut out holes for our heads and arms to keep dry. This is Paul in front of the cabin, ready to go. There are two snowflake spots on the right side of the photo. Taylor Cabin is an old cowboy line shack and is probably still used today by the rancher who runs cattle on this leased government land, in the winter, for the creek has no water in the summer.

This was the view looking east/northeast from the cabin. Sycamore Canyon has been described as "Sedona without the people." It was awesome and we thank Heaven we were allowed to see it in snow.

The camera is looking back north from where we had come. The snow had stopped and we removed our plastic coverings but the bottom of my pants, which the plastic did not cover, are still wet. We ultimately stripped down to our tshirts because we got hot climbing up out of the canyon. Paul is a really pleasant companion. I had a bulging disc so Paul carried the heavy stuff. He is a great son and I can't thank him enough for making this trip possible.

This is a little later after things started to dry out. This photo looks back north towards where we had just come from.

This is a later, 2004, hike with my buddy Kernahan Buck. The location is the same as the photo above, just a lot drier, as it was April or May. I own three backpacks, all orange, purchased at garage sales for $2, $5 and $15. I have a synthetic sleeping bag, bubble wrap for ground insulation, a water purifier, extra socks, two single-edge razor blades, dental floss, matches, a tiny flashlight, compass and USGS map(s). If I do not know the trail, I bring my GPS. I normally do not carry a camera. I do not carry a weapon, other than my brain, which can, unfortunately, be used against me.

This is Kern in front of the cabin in the morning, ready to go. We had first visited a couple caves about 300 yards downstream. Kern and I hiked out an alternate route, the slightly longer trail over Buck Ridge, which I had attempted (solo) once before, but failed after I lost the trail. On that previous hike, I had to backtrack, ford the river12 times, including swimming 50 yards with a full pack. At that crossing I found mountain lion tracks twice as large as our German Shepherd's. Because of the time lost pursuing the lost trail, I had barely sufficient time to make it out before darkness, primetime for mountain lions.

About a half mile north of the cabin we found several large pools of good water and this small, strong spring from which we filtered water for our hike out. I carry a top-quality water osmosis purifier but I travel light with little extra water. Sycamore Creek is normally dry, so don't count on finding water there as you will be very unpleasantly surprised. This happened to me on my first trip. You can stash return trip water bottles in trees as you hike in, so you don't have to carry your exit water all the way in and out.

This is the little east-west canyon where I had lost the trail on a previous hike, ending up in a box canyon. On this 2004 hike I had a GPS and a USGS map, but even then, it took Kern's re-analysis and some luck. Both Kern and I are pilots and have some sense of navigation and panic-control, but it took both of us to pull this off. The trail ascended very improbably and barely passable on the right side of the steep canyon wall and then became indistinct for 25 yards on top. The recurrance of cairns like the one in the foreground kept taunting us that this was the correct trail, but we kept ending up in a box canyon. When you are hours up the (possibly wrong) trail and time is running out for backtracking, the pressure can cause errors. Always have an exit strategy and turnback timetable. Just like flying.

Bragging rights -- the next morning, back in Scottsdale, Kern and I show off our empty packs. Kern lives near Boston, Mass. We went to college together and both worked for my father one summer. Kern's clear thinking saved our lives in an Aeronca Champ on December 18, 1966 at a tiny grass strip near Worcester, Mass. named "Windle". In 2003, I took my son Paul back to meet Kern and we stopped at what used to be the Windle airport and is now a farmer's field. We walked out to where the runway used to be and to the tall trees that Kern and I had darn near hit 37 years before. My eyes filled with tears. I will always be grateful to Kernahan Buck.