ADVENTURE ON THE LITTLE COLORADO

THE LITTLE COLORADO

MORE THAN 200 MILES OF SURPRISES FROM SACRED SPRINGS TO CHOCOLATE FALLS TO TURQUOISE TORRENTS TEXT BY DOUGLAS KREUTZ PHOTOGRAPHS BY KERRICK JAMES

THE STREAM BEGINS as a faint trickle of snowmelt and springwater high in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. It ends in a glorious turquoise torrent deep in the Grand Canyon, where it is swallowed whole by its world-famous big brother.

In 225 meandering miles between those humble headwaters and that full-flush finale, the Little Colorado River flows, freezes, falters, floods, forms a fantastic waterfall, dwindles to dust, emerges anew from a sacred spring, and carves its niche in one of the most spectacular gorges on Earth.

Along the way, this big-hearted little river bestows all manner of riparian blessings on anglers, photographers, hikers, campers, picnickers, ranchers, farmers, archaeologists, geologists, Indian medicine men, kayakers, rafters, and all those who see beauty in water at work.

A meticulous exploration of the Little Colorado or "Little C" as some of its admirers call it could take the better part of a lifetime. Happily, for those of us with not quite that much time to spare, the river lends itself nicely to "selective visitation." You can spend a day or a few days enjoying a particular stretch of the stream and then, on a subsequent trip, focus on another segment and explore an altogether different type of river The real estate. time you might try fishing or boating at Lyman Lake State Park, where a dam on the river has created a 1,500-acre reservoir.

If you happened to be in a social mood, you could stop at the nearby community of St. Johns and hear old-timers tell about efforts to colonize the Little Colorado along its winding course from Springerville to Holbrook. Another journey could take you to the edge of the river's vertiginous gorge near Cameron.

And sometime when you are feeling really frisky, you might kayak the final 12.5mile stretch of exhilarating water between Blue Springs, deep in the gorge, and the confluence with the big Colorado in the Grand Canyon.

But what better place to begin than at the beginning.

Author Rob Schultheis, in a book titled The Hidden West, tells of a Japanese sport called sawanabori in which participants follow streams to their origins. It's a kind of ritual, a pilgrimage to the source of freerunning water. Applying the sawanabori concept to the Little Colorado, hikers can set out on a well-marked trail at Sheep Crossing southwest of Greer and hike seven miles up the river's West Fork to theheadwaters on the flanks of 11,590-foot Baldy Peak.

Baldy's summit, a site held sacred by the White Mountain Apache Tribe, is off-limits to hikers. But a trek up the trail, which begins at an altitude of 9,200 feet, is open to all and will take you to an 11,200-foot ridge just north of the peak. There, glistening snowbanks that usually linger into late June or July bleed droplets of water with nowhere to flow but down.

Drip, drip. Trickle, trickle. A river is born. Augmented by small springs, the Little Colorado begins flowing in earnest around the 10,500-foot level but the words "brook" or "creek" come much closer than "river" to an accurate description of the watercourse at this point.

Never mind its modest size. This stretch of the Little C, along with its nearby East Fork, is as dynamic and vital to the area's ecology as similar streams gushing out of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. One year it might flood its banks after torrential summer rains. Another year it will dwindle to an anemic flow because of drought. Frigid winters can turn its upper reaches to ice. But always it is theredelivering the water, sustaining elk and man, hawk and squirrel, aspen and wild iris.

Many of us who've had the pleasure of camping along the Little Colorado in the lush fir-and-fern mountain country below the headwaters have mused around the campfire about human history along the river. Historians - including Lawrence Clark Powell in his book Where Water Flows generally agree that the name Rio Colorado Chiquito, or Little Colorado River (PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 4 AND 5) The blue-green Little Colorado River flows past Cape Solitude toward its confluence with the Colorado. Calcium carbonate deposits from springs near the confluence give the river its distinctive color.

THE LITTLE COLORADO

originated with Spanish missionary Francisco Tomas Garces in the late 18th century. But the river was almost certainly known by other names to prehistoric hunters and to ancient Indians who lived on the riverbanks between Springerville and St. Johns more than a thousand years ago.

Fascinating evidence of those ancient Indians, including well-preserved pueblo ruins and abundant petroglyphs, awaits visitors at the White Mountain Archaeological Center's Raven Site, 16 miles south of St. Johns.

"I call this site the Pompeii of the Southwest," says Jeffery Mason Brown, an archaeologist and excavation crew leader at the site on a bluff overlooking the river. "The pueblo could contain over 500 rooms, and it was occupied continuously from A.D. 800 to perhaps A.D. 1500. Over 80 different pottery styles have been found here. That's because the site apparently was on a trade route a route following the watercourse of the river."

Raven Site, unlike many other active archaeological sites, is open to the public for tours, petroglyph hikes, and hands-on programs in which visitors may join professional archaeologists in excavation work. If you fast-forward about 10 centuries from the heyday of the Raven Site civilization and drive about six miles farther north on U.S. 180, you'll arrive at one of the modern-day man-made "jewels" of the Little Colorado: Lyman Lake State Park.

The park's centerpiece lake, created as an irrigation reservoir by damming the river, is a popular destination for anglers, boaters, water-skiers, picnickers, and campers. The catch of the day might be anything from trout and walleye to channel catfish, crappie, or largemouth bass. If they're not biting or you've caught the limit you can join rangers for a tour of the park's petroglyph trail, which leads to panels of prehistoric rock art.

Ten miles north of the park is St. Johns, a community that has benefited from, and sometimes suffered from, the effects of the Little Colorado.

When settlers colonized the area in the 1870s, they sought to master the river's unpredictable flows with dams. But many of the dams were swept away in floods, and not until the construction of Lyman Dam and the lake did farmers and ranchers enjoy a reliable source of water.

Some St. Johns residents say they've witnessed big changes in the Little Colorado during the past half-century, perhaps owing to variations in climate and land use in the river's 27,300-square-mile watershed."

The river once was so big near Woodruff that we had good swimming holes," recalls Ethel Smith, director of the Apache County Historical Society Museum in St. Johns. "We could dive off the cliffs into the water. They even ice-skated on parts of the Little Colorado long ago, back in the 1930s and '40s. They also cut chunks of ice out of the river to preserve hay. We have ice saws and ice-cream barrels here in the museum from that period."

Other St. Johns residents, including Jackson McBride and Bert Chato, lament the river's irregular flow as it winds in a northwesterly course from their community to Holbrook, Winslow, and the Navajo reservation. It's been part blessing, part curse for everyone from Mormon farmers to Navajo sheepherders.

"Water is the basic word up here," says McBride. "They say Eskimos have 60 or 70 words for different kinds of snow. We have that many stories about water and the Little Colorado River."

Poke your way on upstate and downstream toward Winslow and you'll see a riverbed that's sometimes bone-dry, sometimes just dribbling, and occasionally flooding ferociously after big storms. You'll also hear some of those interesting tales and tidbits.

"Literary locals" in Winslow, for example, might share with you the fact that writer Willa Cather spent some time in their fair burg in the early 1900s - and that there is mention of a sandstorm along the Little Colorado in her book Death Comes for the Archbishop. Continue downstream to Leupp, and you'll hear about a Japanese internment camp set up there during World War II.

A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO THE COLORADO

THE 225-MILE-LONG ROUTE OF THE LITTLE Colorado River offers an abundance of sight-seeing and outdoor recreation opportunities from small-town museums, Indian trading posts, and historical sites to breathtaking scenery and countless hiking, camping, and picnicking spots. The following information and map will help to plan anything from weekend trips to extended vacations. All phone numbers are in Area Code 520 unless indicated otherwise.

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER COMMUNITIES:

The Little Colorado River and its communities are located in the east-central part of the state, 185 to 225 miles from Phoenix. (Communities and nearby attractions are listed from source to mouth of river.) GREER: Nestled in the White Mountains at 8,500 feet on the banks of the Little Colorado River, this quaint community is known for its lodges, rental cabins, and outdoor recreation. For details on lodging and the fly-fishing schools offered at Greer Lodge and other mountain ranches, contact the Round Valley-Springerville Chamber of Commerce, 333-2123.

APACHE-SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST: For maps and hiking guides to Mount Baldy and recreation along the Little Colorado River, contact the Springerville Ranger District, 309 South Mountain Ave., U.S. Highway 180, P.O. Box 640, Springerville, AZ 85938; 333-4372.

FORT APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION: Recreational opportunities abound on the reservation just west of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. For information about hiking, camping, and more, contact the White Mountain Apache Indian Game and Fish Department, Box 220, Whiteriver, AZ 85941; 338-4385.

EAGAR: Homesteaders first settled this area in 1878. The Little House Museum just outside of town at the X Diamond Ranch exhibits artifacts from the ranching history of Round Valley. Overlooking the South Fork of the Little Colorado River, the museum is open May 25 to Labor Day. For directions and other information, call 333-2286.

SPRINGERVILLE: The largest community on the Little Colorado, this bustling town is known as the "Gateway to the White Mountains." Start downtown at the Round Valley Chamber of Commerce for current information on area attractions, 318 E. Main St., 333-2123. Don't miss the famous statue dedicated to American pioneer women, "The Madonna of the Trail," and the Round Valley Ensphere, the nation's only domed high school arena. For insights into the first settlers along the Little Colorado, visit Casa Malpais Pueblo, where the ancient Mogollon built a major trading center with a central structure of more than 120 rooms. Tours start at the Casa Malpais Museum, 318 Main St., 333-5375. After the ancient sites, tour the restored pioneer buildings of the White Mountain Historical Society Park, three blocks south of Main, 333-4300. For outdoor recreation north of Springerville, visit Lyman Lake State Park, on U.S. 180/191, where fishermen try their luck year-round on the 1,500-acre lake; tours of local petroglyph sites also are available in the summer, 337-4441.

ST. JOHNS: St. Johns Chamber of Commerce, 337-2000. For tours of the nearby Raven Site Ruin, an 800-room Mogollon-Anasazi pueblo, contact the White Mountain Archaeological Center, 333-5857.

HOLBROOK: Founded by the railroad in 1881, this community quickly became one of northern Arizona's cowboy capitals, headquarters for the infamous Hashknife Outfit of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company. Don't miss the Navajo County Historical Museum at the Navajo County Courthouse, 100 E. Arizona. Call about Indian dances held on summer evenings on the courthouse lawn, toll-free (800) 524-2459. Some sights located along historic U.S. Route 66 remain must-stops for nostalgia buffs, including the Wigwam Motel, 524-3098. For more visitors' information, including events such as the Old West Celebration, June 5, and the Fireman's BBQ and 4th of July Fireworks, call the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce, 100 E. Arizona, toll-free (800) 524-2459. Just 25 miles east of Holbrook on Interstate 40 (Exit 311) is the world-famous Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert, both open daily except Christmas. For fees and hours, call 524-6228.

JOSEPH CITY: One of the original Mormon communities along the Little Colorado in the mid-1870s, this small town became a regular stop for travelers on old Route 66. Today Interstate 40 has replaced Route 66, but if you exit the interstate at Milepost 269, you can take a step back in time at the famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post, 288-3230.

WINSLOW: Don't miss the Old Trails Museum, dedicated to Winslow's storied cowboy, railroad, and Route 66 past, 289-5861. The newly restored Santa Fe Railway Harvey House La Posada Hotel, designed by famed architect Mary Colter to reflect Spanish "rancho" architecture, has reopened, 289-4366. Don't miss Homolovi Ruins State Park, just northeast of Winslow off I-40 on State Route 87. The 4,000-acre park along the Little Colorado contains more than 300 prehistoric Indian sites. For entry fees and hours of operation, call 289-4106. A little-known water hole southeast of town is McHood Park at Clear Creek, a great place for picnicking, swimming, and boating. For more notable spots to see in this old Route 66 city, call the Winslow Chamber of Commerce, 289-2434.

METEOR CRATER: Nearly a mile across and almost 600 feet deep, this crater was created by a meteor that fell to Earth 50,000 years ago. West of Winslow, exit I-40 at Milepost 233 and drive south to the visitors center. For fees and hours, call 289-2362.

LEUPP: Located near the Little Colorado River along Indian Route 71 between Winslow and Cameron, this small community was founded in 1908 as a sub-agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. To reach the Tolani Lake Trading Post, 16 miles north of Leupp, drive 11 miles on Indian Route 2 and then turn right onto Indian 24 and drive five miles to Tolani Lake. For hours and information, 686-6296.

NAVAJO INDIAN RESERVATION: For general information, contact the Navajo Nation Tourism Department, P.O. Box 663, Window Rock, AZ 86515; 871-6436. For backcountry and camping permits, contact the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department, Back Country Permits, 871-6647. If you are traveling from the Arizona Strip Country or Utah and you would like to buy permits to visit the Navajo Nation, stop at the Antelope Canyon Office at LeChee, five miles south of Page, 698-3347, fax, 698-3360.

GRAND FALLS: Adventurous travelers interested in following the author's route along the Little Colorado River from Leupp to Cameron should return from Tolani Lake Trading Post to Indian Route 15 (Leupp Road) and drive west to Indian Route 70. Turn right and 10 miles later you will reach the falls. For moreinformation, contact the Navajo Nation, P.O. Box 459, Cameron, AZ 86020; 679-2303; fax, 679-6330.

ARIZONA SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT:

Volcanic action on the Colorado Plateau affected the course of the Little Colorado River, and this national monument provides educational programs and trails detailing that explosive past. For hours and fees, call 576-0502.

WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT:

The state's most distinctive Sinaguan archaeological site, Wupatki preserves more than 2,600 ruins dating from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. For hours and fees, call 556-7040.

CAMERON:

Lodging, gas, groceries, a restaurant, and Indian arts and crafts are available at the famous Cameron Trading Post overlooking the canyon of the Little Colorado River, toll-free (800) 338-7385.

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER GORGE NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK:

For information on this isolated region west of Cameron to the Grand Canyon National Park, including camping and backcountry permits, contact the Cameron Visitors Center, Navajo Nation, P.O. Box 459, Cameron, AZ 86020; 679-2303, 679-6330.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK:

The eastern entrance of the national park is at Desert View, which has an overlook that provides a view of both the Grand Canyon and the gorge of the Little Colorado. The confluence of the Little Colorado with the Colorado is also inside the park. Call Grand Canyon National Park at 638-7888.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

For general information on visiting Bureau of Land Management land along the course of the Little Colorado River, contact the BLM's state office, 222 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004-2203; (602) 417-9200.

Continued from page 9 Just about the time you figure the Little Colorado River is wasting away to nothing but a mostly dry and dull high-desert arroyo, it springs a surprise in the form of Grand Falls. The falls, about an hour's drive northeast of Flagstaff, is not a year-round phenomenon. But after a winter of heavy snows or in the wake of a summer monsoon downpour, the frothing Little Colorado plunges about 185 feet down two wide terraces created by a long-ago lava flow. Some visitors have called the falls the "Chocolate Niagara" because the silt-laden waters are considerably darker than those of famous Niagara Falls.

Northwest of Grand Falls, the river sometimes goes to ground again as it passes Wupatki National Monument another rich site of ancient Indian ruins and petroglyphs and approaches the tourist outpost of Cameron. Millions of vacation-ers from around the world cross the Little Cat Cameron en route to or from the Grand Canyon. Those who take the time to get out of the car at overlook points along State Route 64 peer into a sheer, narrow, deep river gorge that sends vertigo-sensitive travelers scurrying for flatter ground.

This Little Colorado is a far cry from that gurgling creek in the White Mountains or the dry wash near Holbrook. Here, the river displays all the cliff-cutting, canyon-crafting pedigree of Colorado River Sr. It's a place of awesome natural beauty, wilderness adventure, and great spiritual significance to Hopi Indians.

Members of the Hopi Tribe make periodic pilgrimages into the Little Colorado River Gorge on a trail leading to sites they hold sacred. These sites include deposits of natural salts that are used for ceremonial purposes and a travertine dome that is considered a sipapu, or emergence point for mankind. Non-Hopis who hike or kayak through the Canyon can show respect by avoiding these sites and focusing on their own pursuits.

As if 3,000-foot canyon walls and age-old spiritual traditions hadn't already made this final stretch of the Little Colorado an exotic place, an almost mystical water source turns it into a blue-water paradise. This source, known as Blue Springs, gushes unexpectedly from the Redwall limestone about 12.5 miles upstream from the Little Colorado's confluence with the big river. The springs not only keep the river running at a near-constant flow of 200 cubic feet per second, they also give it a striking turquoise hue. The color is due, in part, to calcium carbonate picked up by the water as it seeps through the limestone. At other times of the year, when the Little Colorado is flushing snowmelt or storm runoff, the blue water is obscured by torrents of stuff similar to what you might see at the Chocolate Niagara.

Those who've kayaked the gorge at such times tell of exhilarating read "terrifying" passages of swirling water and steep drops down cascades.

A somewhat gentler way to taste the pleasures of the Little Colorado's last hur-rah is by taking a brief side trip on a rafting excursion through the Grand Canyon. Most rafting parties stop at the confluence, and guides take their charges a short dis-tance up the Little C for a frolic in the invit-ing turquoise waters.

This is a place for recreation with restraint. The area serves as crucial reproductive habitat for a rare native fish called the humpback chub, and other wildlife species need some peace as well.

But if you've got to whoop', there's a perfect spot just a short walk upstream from the confluence. It's a natural chute, a narrow stretch of river where the water rushes and swirls and forms a wet and wild roller coaster for the willing human body. Wade out into the fast blue flow, let the water take you, shout for joy, and ride this mighty little river all the way to the end of the line.