On our way up to Zion National Park, we stopped by the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to hike up to the crater, but we hiked some of the trails below the volcano.
Category: Hiking (page 44 of 68)
Hike descriptions and/or photos.
Today’s hike was a short one, just 6.5 miles in a loop comprising the Shallmo Wash, Pemberton, Scenic, Cinch, and Escondido Trails.
Hiking on the Pemberton Trail:
Bob, Bill, Marilyn, and Linda:
Saguaros on the Scenic Trail:
Senna flowers:
Marie took these photos:
Bob and I hiked in the Tom’s Thumb area on Friday. We hiked perhaps 7 miles with a total ascent of 2500 feet.
View from parking lot just before 6:00am:
We hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail to the Feldspar Trail and then scrambled up a low angle slab of Granite.
We saw this interesting cacti on the way up.
A view towards the east on the way up:
This is the view looking towards Morrell’s Wall.
Bob, starting his scramble up the next low angle slab of granite:
Morrell’s Wall on the left and Tom’s Thumb to the right.
I don’t know what these are, but we saw patches of them growing in thin soil atop the granite on the way up. We took care not to step on them. This patch is near the top.
A view from near the top of Sven Tower I:
The Thumbnail Pinnacle looks a long way off in this photo. We ended up hiking past Sven Towers II and III on our way to the trail to Hog Heaven.
A view of McDowell Mountain Park. The Boulder Trail and the Marcus Landslide Trail can be seen below.
I was surprised to see some blooming Globemallow flowers on our way up to Hog Heaven.
This photo is for Linda. (The route goes across the tops of these boulders.)
Looking up at the walls of Hog Heaven:
This is the main wall at the Hog Heaven climbing area:
We had passed the Thumbnail Pinnacle at this point. The brush was a lot thicker than the last time we were here. I took this photo while procrastinating about pushing through the brush.
As we approached the East End, the highest point in the McDowells, we saw two people already there!
This is a view from the highest point in the McDowells. Tom’s Thumb, Gardener’s Wall, Pinnacle Peak, and Troon Mountain are all visible in this photo.
We hiked this ridge on our way to the East End.
A blooming prickly pear cactus with Tom’s Thumb in the background.
We saw and heard a lot of bees on Friday. Here, we see one in the prickly pear blossom.
A view of Pinnacle Peak.
Gardener’s Wall:
On Saturday, Marilyn and I walked the trails in the Fountain Hills Botanical Garden.
I took these photos while hiking the Tech Loop on Monday evening.
Friday’s hike started at the Dixie Mine Trailhead. We hiked out to the mine, past the petroglyphs, up the wash, and then turned left onto the Prospector Trail. That took us to the road where we bade goodbye to Steve and Laurie. Most of the rest of us hiked up the road to the summit of Thompson Peak. We returned via the road and the Dixie Mine Trail. Total distance was 10.8 miles with 2400 feet of total ascent.
A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:
Taking a break on the Dixie Mine Trail.
A view of the mine tailings.
A view of the entrance to the mine. I blended three exposures to see as far into the mine as I could.
Jerry, Linda, Bob, Laurie, Denise, Steve, and Kevin:
The waterfall (when there’s water) from the bottom:
Hiking up the waterfall…
A fun slab for practicing smearing technique.
This peak with the towers is Thompson’s Peak. That’s where we’re going.
Linda and Denise on the lower section of road.
A view of Four Peaks.
Denise continues up the road.
There’s a brief plateau after the first steep, paved section. But there’s still a good ways to go and it gets even steeper later on. (I had forgotten this.)
Up at the towers.
Bob, Linda, Jerry, and Kevin at the summit of Thompson Peak.
An interesting view that I noticed as we were descending:
This is one of three vehicles that we encountered as we walked back down the road.
A view which helps to show how high and steep the road is.
Linda descends a fairly steep section of road near the top.
A cyclist on the Dixie Mine trail.
A view of Thompson’s peak from the Eagle’s Nest gated community. We had less than half a mile left to hike to get back to our vehicles at this point.
Linda and I hiked ten miles on Friday…
One nice thing about starting early is seeing the sun rise.
We started off on the Tortoise Trail. When we got to this point on the Pemberton, I remembered that the Shallmo Wash Trail had been rerouted and is now out of the wash. We decided to check out the new trail.
These are views from the Shallmo Wash Trail.
I think we were on a the Long Loop when I got this shot of the bird on the saguaro.
We hiked a long way in Stoneman Wash. Shortly after crossing the Pemberton, we came upon the car.
Linda in Stoneman Wash.
Senna.
Sandwash Groundsel.
Teddy Bear Cholla.
Desert Cottontail.
Palo verde blossom.
On Friday’s hike, Janet, Linda, Bob, and I hiked from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead to Gardener’s Wall, and then from Gardener’s Wall to Tom’s Thumb. We then proceeded to the top of the East End Trail. We had planned to do a route down the East End Trail, but it had begun raining fairly hard, so we headed back down the Tom’s Thumb Trail instead, for a hike that was somewhat under five miles.
A view from the parking lot prior to starting the hike:
Sandwash Groundel on the Tom’s Thumb Trail.
This is the view to the east as we hiked up the Tom’s Thumb Trail:
Troon and Pinnacle Peak:
Tom’s Thumb:
Janet, Linda, and Bob wait for me while I use my camera:
Another view of Tom’s Thumb as we start making our way towards Gardener’s Wall:
Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb:
This is another view of Gardener’s Wall. The trail appeared to go between these rocks, but we turned back and found another way.
Bob, at a dead end.
Linda and Bob make their way up the steep trail to Gardener’s Wall.
Janet, after completing a mantling move:
Janet and Linda on their way towards the “cave”.
The cave:
Janet, Linda, and Bob on the traverse past Gardener’s Wall. Note the cairn by Janet’s hand. (It really is a trail!)
Bob looks for the trail from a high vantage point.
Globemallow:
Linda and Janet, proceeding upward again.
A view of Glass Dome after making it to the top, next to Gardener’s Wall.
Views of Tom’s Thumb:
It’s raining in Scottsdale.
It was raining lightly when I took this photo. This was my last photo of the day – it began raining much harder after taking this shot.
Friday’s hike started from the parking area at the entrance to Eagle’s Nest. From there, we walked through the gated community to the trailhead for the Dixie Mine Trail in McDowell Mountain Park. We hiked Dixie Mine out to the mine and petroglyphs and continued up the wash to the Prospector Trail. At that point, Nick led a group of eight (counting himself) back to the trailhead for a 6+ mile hike. Jerry, Eva, Linda, and Jon hiked up the Prospector Trail with me (five of us) until we got to the Bell Pass Trail. We then hiked to the top of Bell Pass, enjoyed the views, and then hiked down the Prospector Trail to the Windmill Trail. That brought us over to Coachwhip, which took us back to the Dixie Mine Trail, which took us back to the gated community, and then back to the parking area for a 12.25 mile hike.
This is a view from the Dixie Mine Trail:
A view of the mine tailings, as seen from the road which crosses the Dixie Mine Trail – the trail follows the road for a short ways.
A group of five women from Canada joined us for a hike. (I’ve forgotten their names.) Here, Anton (who is Nick’s son), Linda, Nick, Jon, Eva, and Bob wait for Jerry and the women from Canada to finish examining the entrance to the mine.
This photo was taken in the wash near the petroglyphs.
A view of the main petroglyph panel. There are some additional petroglyphs further up the wash, but I did not photograph them on this hike.
A closer view of the main panel:
Hiking up the steep and smooth rocky area further up the wash:
A view from the Prospector Trail:
Jerry and Jon hike up the Prospector Trail:
Jon, Linda, Eva, and Jerry at the top of Bell Pass. Scottsdale, Camelback Mountain, and even a part of Phoenix can be seen behind them.
Another view -in the opposite direction – from near the top of Bell Pass.
Eva on the Windmill Trail. Thompson Peak is just visible in the background.
Prickly Pear blossom:
More Prickly Pear:
Taking a break at the intersection of the Windmill and Coachwhip trails. Linda is struggling with a recalcitrant snack bar wrapper.
Yet another Prickly Pear blossom:
Palo Verde blossoms:
A view of Four Peaks from the Coachwhip Trail:
This is the steep section of road connecting the two segments of the Dixie Mine Trail. (Near the bottom of the road is a small trail which leads to the mine and petroglyphs.)
Returning on the Dixie Mine Trail…
Buckwheat:
This crested saguaro at the parking area has one bloom on the crest:
Here’s a full view of that saguaro:
