Salome Jug

"With the eyes of a child You must come out and see That your world's spinning round And through life you will be A small part of a hope of a love that exists In the eyes of a child you will see".
Our children's children-Moody Blues

"The Jug"-A spectacular granite gorge-5 miles round trip

Canyoneers-

Dingo
Bailey (Dingo's 13 year old niece)
Lobo
Zo

This was an absolutely fantastic day's worth of adventure.

This gorge is an amazing place with it's pink- hued polished granite, forming marble smooth walls. Salome Creek plummets down steeply and slippery slides often times were our only access downstream. At the bottom of the slides, rippling, deep, clear pools spanned from wall to vertical wall.

Bailey had an absolute ball sliding into these pools. It was wonderful experiencing "the jug" through the eyes of a child. (teen)

We all enjoyed wading and swimming through the gorge. With temperatures exceeding 100 the cool water felt so nice!! The pools are still chilly, and we all wore wet suits, and were glad to have them.
We periodically would warm our wet bodies on sun warmed slabs of granite.

Head of the "Jug" --Dingo, Bailey & Lobo PIC by Zo (The Preacher)


The "Cathedral" PIC by ZO


Towards the lower end of the gorge there is a 20' waterfall with a long pool sitting at the bottom. Bailey had never rappelled before, but she showed 'no fear" and smiled all the way down. She is a great Kid-fun loving, interested, poised and focused.

Our theme song for this trip was "The Hanging Tree" (Frankie Laine) and she recited over and over one of the lines-- "to really live, you must almost die"

All good things must pass and we were disappointed to finish our last swim to find the smooth canyon walls ending and the Sonoran desert now surrounding Salome Creek. We had a steep hike in extreme hot temperature but everyone was in great spirits and joked and chatted all the way to the car. We were all still in awe of "The Jug."

At the car we enjoyed our customary cerveza ritual. Bailey had ice tea even though ZO behaved badly and offered her a beer.

Back in Scottsdale we had a pizza party at Lobo's Den to celebrate.

Thanks to Dan and Zo for helping to get me through the Jug, I have the best outdoor adventure partners on the planet.