But not this time!

Burros galore! (And if you're wondering if burros and donkeys are the same thing, yes they are. So sayeth the Googles.)

Mr. HOS and I arrived at the trailhead a little early. We were in no rush so we snoozed in the car until dawn broke and lit the dry river next to which we were parked. As I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes HOS spied three burros just chilling in the low temps of the early morning.

What makes them special? They're like cuddly horses. But shorter. And cuter? And in my head they are all cracking jokes like Eddie Murphy. So basically they're awesome. I took a bunch of pics before they wandered away. Even though our mission of seeing donkeys was completed, I guessed we could go for a hike since we were there.

And where were we? On the edge of the Hells Canyon Wilderness. It's small and not well known. All the better for us to explore. And it had trails! (Engage foreshadowing mode.) What could go wrong?

Finding the "trailhead" was the hardest part. It wasn't marked in any good way and the trail doesn't show up on maps. However... Strava's heatmap showed a suspicious number of tracks that indicated where the route likely ran. Crossing the dry bed of Castle Creek we found a small sign and register hidden in the brush opposite the road.

The trail was easy to follow. It climbed a bit. It descended a bit. As the sun rose higher in the sky we started sweating. And this was in February. I can't imagine what it would have been like in the middle of summer.

We made the summit with no significant mishaps. Great views all around. Including of the freaky hot springs resort that looked 100% out of place with manicured lawns and a decidedly non-desert property. (Oh, yeah. It's about $2,000 a night to stay there!)

Down was much like going up. But with more pain. Not joint pain like ouch my knees hurt, but more like OUCH! I FRICKIN' FELL ON A CACTUS!

Yes, in my true style, I managed to slip on loose rocks and fall slightly off the trail and land on a cactus. Don't worry. The cactus was fine. I was mostly fine, too. Thanks for asking. It was my hand that took the brunt of it. Each time I pulled a spine out of my hand the puncture would well up with blood. 20 or 30 tiny little punctures. Wonderful.

The rest of the hike down was uneventful. We ran into a trio who were climbing, but otherwise there was not another soul to be seen. Except the burros. Or rather, a new set of burros. Like the group in the morning, they had zero interest in us and watched us pass by.

There are a couple more routes in the Hells Canyon Wilderness that we'll explore next time we're in Arizona. And I'll be on the lookout for more pocket Wildernesses like this as well as some cactus-proof gloves.

📍On the lands of the Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima) people.