Hike of the Month

Packages are five nights at the inn, three nights at the Best Western Hacienda Tetakawi in San Carlos, Mexico, round-trip flights from Phoenix to Guaymas, Mexico, ground transportation, scuba-diving instruction, equipment, insurance, and some meals. To inquire, call (602) 947-7335.

EVENTS Corn Fest

August 5; Camp Verde There's a lot to see in the Camp Verde area, including Fort Verde State Historic Park and Montezuma Castle National Monument. But that's for after you attend the annual festival extolling the virtues of corn, which you're liable to encounter in surprising as well as expected forms at this annual event. Also on tap: contests (try the "corn bobbing") and Wet & Wild water games for kids. Admission is free. Information: (520) 567-9294.

Dance Festival

August 11-12; Payson When summer temperatures in the flatlands hit the stratosphere, overheated folks head up the Beeline Highway, State Route 87, to the cool highlands around Payson in "Zane Grey country," a year-round recreation mecca that also boasts the annual Rim Country Square and Round Dance Festival. Each year folks come from all over to kick up their heels at the festival or just to watch others show their moves on the dance floor. Call to ask about participating. Admission to all events is $16. Information: (520) 476-4212.

Archery Event

August 12-13; Globe area Even Robin Hood's Merry Men would have their work cut out for them at the 10th Annual Red McLaughlin Invitational Archery Shoot, featuring competitions by age groups and divisions. Everything's free - including breakfast and movies. The competition site is located at a timber camp 28 miles north of Globe on U.S. Route 60. Information: (520) 425-2396.

Bluegrass Fest

August 12-13; Pinetop-Lakeside Toes set to tapping at the 5th Annual White Mountain Bluegrass Music Festival will get a break, sort of, Sunday morning when the menu switches from down-home bluegrass to gospel music. Admission is $5. Information: (520) 367-4290.

Cowboy Poets

August 17-19; Prescott On the range or in the bunkhouse, when hard-working cowboys had free time, they would often set to tellin' stories and recitin' poetry, Old West traditions kept alive in a big way by the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, which gets under way this month for the eighth year. The event serves up a blend of traditional and contemporary cowboy offerings presented by more than 50 poets, reciters, and old-time singers extolling the cowboy's life-style. Activities will include everything from storytelling and poetry reciting to yodeling. Admission to daytime activities at Sharlot Hall Museum is free. Admission for evening performances at the historic Prescott Opera House is $8 in advance and $9 at the door; $2 discount for students and seniors. Information: (520) 445-3122.

Badlands Muster

August 19; Eagar-Springerville Fire fighters from all over strut their stuff at this annual statewide competition that invites visitors to try their hand at old-time events like the bucket brigade and hose-cart race. Admission is free. Information: (520) 333-4912.

'West's Best Rodeo'

August 24-27; Winslow Wild "woolly rides" featuring kids trying to stay on the backs of frisky sheep is one lighthearted event at this rodeo now in its 10th year, but there's plenty of arena action for the big boys (and girls), including bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping, and barrel racing. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for ages six to 12; and free under six. Information: (520) 2892434.

Nellie Cashman Days

August 26; Tombstone At this funfest, "The Town Too Tough to Die" celebrates the birthday of the legendary angel of charity who helped out both the good guys and the not-so-nice back in the days when Tombstone was earning its rowdy nickname. The "party" includes a "pancake race," an 1880s' fashion show, a historical buildings tour, a theatrical performance, and a dinner. Some events are free; there'll be a charge for the tours and dinner. The day before, August 25, there will be a free "tea" at the Nellie Cashman Restaurant. Information: (520) 457-3929.

Fiesta de San Agustín

August 26-27; Tucson Put on by the Arizona Historical Society, this annual fair features a street dance, stage entertainment, an exhibit opening, and food booths. Pay attention to the food booths, or puestos; each one tries to outdo the competition with colorful decorations, and there's a contest to pick the best effort. Activities extend from 1 to 11 P.M. on August 26, from 1 to 7 P.M., August 27. Admission is free. Information: (520) 628-5774.

Apache Fair and Rodeo

August 30-September 4; Whiteriver The 70th Annual White Mountain Apache Fair & Rodeo offers the opportunity to observe Southwestern Native American ceremonials and attend an intertribal powwow. There's also a rodeo, a mile-long parade, concerts, and "country" dances. Call for admission. Information: (520) 338-4346, ext. 323 or 316.

HIKE OF THE MONTH Keet Seel: a Very Rugged Hike to a Great Ruin but Worth the Effort

It's a tough day hike - 16 miles round-trip to Keet Seel, an Anasazi pueblo at Navajo National Monument. Better to backpack and camp in the oak grove across the canyon from the cliff dwelling. But the hike is a spur-of-the-moment decision, and we've brought no overnight equipment. A day hike it is.

We hit the trail early. The National Park Service estimates four hours each way, but by hiking briskly we hope to make Keet Seel in about two hours. There will be time for a slow lunch, short siesta, and an unhurried look at the pueblo before hiking back at dusk.

The first mile and a half is along the canyon rim to Tsegi Point, where the trail descends steeply into the canyon, 1,000 feet in about a mile. Sixteen miles is a lot of ground to cover in one day enough to make this hike difficult - but it's the 1,000-foot return climb to the rim that measures your fitness. Once in the canyon, it's 5.5 miles to Keet Seel, back and forth across the creek, gradually rising 400 feet to the pueblo. It's a wet walk, and, to save our boots, we stop to change into old running shoes. It's midsummer, the season for thunderstorms in Arizona. The air in the canyon is thick and wet, and already at midmorning clouds billow above the rim.

Underfoot it's mostly sand or gravel. Fearing quicksand, we're careful to detour around mucky places. At a narrows, a sign warns of flash flooding and quicksand and directs hikers to the upper trail along the bank.

Halfway to Keet Seel, we're overtaken by a group on horseback, guided by a Navajo woman and a couple of kids. Some of the riders appear saddle weary already. I'm glad I'm on foot.

Navajo cattle wander freely, fouling the stream and marring an otherwise beautiful riparian setting. Rounding a bend, we're met by a herd of more than 20 horses, bearing down on us at full gallop. The horses are chased by two work dogs and a trio of Navajo horsemen. The dogs nip at the heels of the running horses, barking madly. The riders yell and whistle. One teenage boy, riding bareback, races ahead of the others, wildly spanking his lariat across the flanks of his mount.

WHEN YOU GO

As we get closer to Keet Seel, we meet a few backpackers on their way out. "You're in for a real treat," a woman says.

The approach to Keet Seel is from the opposite bank of the creek across the canyon. So vast is the scale of its setting that from a distance the pueblo seems small nestled inside its water-sculpted sandstone alcove. But this distance affords the best perspective of the "tapestries," dark-streaked ironand man-ganese-oxide stains produced by Manganese-oxide stains produced by To reach Keet Seel from Flagstaff, drive north on U.S. Route 89 to U.S. Route 160 on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Continue northeast on U.S. 160 to the turnoff to the north at State Route 564. Navajo National Monument, which encompasses Keet Seel along with the Inscription House (which is not open to the public) and Betatakin ruins, is located nine miles from the junction with U.S. 160.

The visitors center is fully accessible, but the short downhill trail to a Betatakin viewpoint behind the center, is not easily accessed by wheelchairs because it has numerous large steps and a series of bridges that must be crossed. Campsite #24 is specifically designed for the mobility impaired.

Keet Seel is open every day from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with the park officially closing at 6 P.M., reservation time. Reservations and hiking permits are required, and visitors to Keet Seel are limited to 20 per day with only five people allowed in the ruin at one time. For more information, contact Navajo National Monument, HC-71 Box 3, Tonalea, AZ 86044-9704; telephone (520) 672-2366, -2367.

centuries of rainwater washing over the rim and down the wall above the alcove.

Later, accompanied by a park service ranger, we climb into the cliff dwelling on a 60-foot ladder bolted to the wall. Keet Seel means "broken pieces of pottery" in Navajo, and the site is still littered with potsherds. Also strewn about are tiny corncobs, bone tools, and a few metates for grinding corn. Remember not to disturb or take any of the artifacts. They, like every plant and rock at the site, are part of the monument and protected by federal law.

We have plenty of time for our siesta and lunch at a shaded picnic table near the ranger's cabin. As twilight comes on, we start back. Crossing the creek to the trail, we turn for a last look. Moonglow bathes sandstone walls high above the pueblo. A full moon will light our path tonight.