This is my first post in this forum...so glad I discovered this magazine/website!

I am planning a trip for my father and I to take in the week immediately preceding Christmas.

He had neck surgery two years ago so I am looking for somewhere a little bit less rugged, though a wilderness area with a 2-3 day loop hike would be good.

Somewhere without a reasonably small amount of elevation change would be nice as well, as this will be his first backpacking trip since the surgery.

Any suggestions for shorter, moderately difficult trips in a place that is warm in December would be appreciated!

Criteria:
- In continental U.S.
- Warm in winter
- Little elevation change (under 2,000 feet in a day would be nice)
- Beautiful scenery
- Secluded
- Preferably a wilderness area

Thanks for your suggestions, and happy light hiking!

Shotgunning nearly every forum on a site isn't needed...

"this is my first post in this forum"

So you decided to make 5 identical ones, 4 of which attempt to derail the originating threads.

Edited by uberkatzen on 11/09/2007 00:18:32 MST.

D.H. -

Please limit the cross-posting of such a question. This is very annoying to other forum users and hurts the overall flow of a thread. It is understandable that a thread will naturally trend in various directions, but to start your post off with "this thread is interesting, but..." and then completely change the topic of conversation is seriously frowned upon.

I took the liberty of deleting one of the posts you made in un-related threads (I left the others because people had foolhardedly responded). I don't really like to have to moderate in this way but considering others were complaining I felt it my duty.

Thank you,
Sam

Yikes, I (obviously) didn't know it was frowned upon, I'm new to forums so I wasn't aware of the intricacies of forum etiquette. I'm a little confused as to why people seem angry, but either way it was an honest mistake.

my apologies...if there were a way to delete my comments I would.

So does anyone have any suggestions, or have I made myself the black sheep of BPL forums in only 5 days of being on?...:(

most of the trip i could suggest are in southern utah and the grand canyon. i think that the utah trips may be cooler than what you are looking for and the grand canyon is a very physically demanding area with lots of elevation gain on the way out.

i would suggest that you look at the lower desert areas in arizona, new mexico or texas. one area that may be of interest is the sycamore canyon wilderness just west of sedona, arizona, or the superstition wilderness, or mazatal wilderness.

good luck and have fun.

don't worry about becoming a black sheep. some people take themselves way to seriously and basically just don't remember what it's like to be new at something. so screw em'

cheers,

Arizona is perfect in December, the superstitions east of Pheonix are great.

I'd also suggest Oak Creek Canyon between Sedona and Flagstaff - this is 1.5 hours or so north of Phoenix. I've never been up there in December but Sedona is very similar to Phoenix in climate. Oak Creek Canyon is very pretty with not a whole lot of elevation change.

Go any further north though, to Flagstaff, which is much higher in elevation and you may encounter snow that time of year. Yes, it does snow in Arizona - Flagstaff is called "Little Colorado", it's awesome up there.

Southern Utah is probably too cold this time of year, Grand Canyon as well plus it is probably too difficult.

Joshua Tree in California also comes to mind, but I've never been out there before so can't comment much on it.

Edited by rmkrause on 07/20/2008 12:59:40 MDT.

If you are flying into Phx then you have about 1000 places to hike within an hour's drive.

Edited by mikeinfhaz on 07/20/2008 21:53:27 MDT.

Superstition Wilderness via the Grand Enchantment Trail route would meet nearly all of the stated criteria.

Criteria:
- In continental U.S.
- Warm in winter
- Little elevation change (under 2,000 feet in a day would be nice)
- Beautiful scenery
- Secluded
- Preferably a wilderness area

Maybe the new comments/suggestions will be helpful to someone currently looking for a location meeting the above criteria.

On the other hand, maybe anyone else tempted to post now would appreciate knowing that the OP asked this question nearly a year ago.

Hope that helps someone or other.

Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we *can* imagine. -- Sir Arthur Eddington