Ring the Bell !! And, bring in the New Year! Liberty Bell, that is! The Liberty Bell Arch is located south of the Hoover Dam in Arizona. After crossing the new bridge, White Rock Canyon trailhead parking lot is four miles and to the left. Almost forty hikers from the Around the Bend Friends started their hike from here today.
The hike was divided into two groups of hikers but since we were only fifteen minutes apart, the groups got jumbled together at the arch. The first group had twenty hikers and we hiked down White Rock Canyon until we soon found the right turn onto the arch trail (almost 1 mile down). We began here with a little climb up to the old manganese mining area. There are still some relics lying around.
We dropped down into the wash and continued on the trail which has been improved since last year. The "steep" hill going down to the wash was not as slippery as in years past. As we were enjoying the arch, the second group made their approach.
Several hikers from the first group and two hikers from the second group decided to hike up the steep slippery hill, go over the saddle and climb around the back side of the arch to step inside the bell. Only six hikers ultimately made it to the bell. Photos were taken and we moved on.
We climbed to the top of the plateau above the arch to take our break overlooking the Colorado River. We could see the new bridge in the distance. By this time, all of the hikers in both groups were there.
The weather was fabulous. We saw several other hikers on the arch trail and even more on the White Rock Canyon trail which leads to the hot springs near the river.
Happy New Year to all!!!
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