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Aravaipa Canyon
This picturesque canyon was the base for an Apache tribe for hundreds of years: they farmed the creek bottoms and raided other tribes and settlers from out of the canyon. Watching the moon rise eerily over the high cliff faces, one fancies that their unseen residue can yet be felt...
About 20 miles from Winkelman, AZ (between Phoeniox and Tucson), only 50 people are allowed per day into this wilderness area. We obtained permits from the BLM 13 weeks in advance (the maximum time possible) for two nights/three days (maximum stay allowed). A pleasant backcountry experience; we saw only a handful of other people. Small fires are allowed, using only downed and dead wood. We were disappointed not to see any bears, cougars, coatis or javelinas; but we did see tracks, as well as a bighorn sheep, deer, herons and other wildlife. We hiked about halfway up the creek before turning back to get back to camp before darkness, and also explored Virgus Canyon which had some nice class 3 scrambling.