Category: Hiking (page 46 of 68)

Hike descriptions and/or photos.

March 15, 2015 / 3 Comments

Friday Hike – Picketpost Mountain Summit

On Friday, March 6, Bob, Allen, Janet, Bill, and I hiked to the summit of Picketpost Mountain.

Allen sent me this plot of the elevation profile from our hike:

Here is a plot of our hike (also from Allen). We took a somewhat different path back in some of the steeper, looser sections. The path that we used to go down was somewhat easier than that which we used for the ascent.

Something isn’t quite right in the first few photos here, but I can’t quite figure out what it is. Many of my photos from early in the day were in the shade of Picketpost Mountain. It could be that I should have used different techniques for color correcting the portions in the shade.

The hike starts on a portion of the Arizona Trail. The arrow made out of stones points to the correct path up to the summit of Picketpost Mountain. We had passed another likely path perhaps a quarter mile prior to encountering this one.

A view of Picketpost Mountain from the lower slopes. The hiking path goes up the “crack” just right of center.

A view looking in the other direction.

I thought the barrel cactus growing sideways was interesting.

We saw many agave stalks on this hike.

I don’t know what these red flowers are…

Bill enjoys the view from midway up:

There were a few spots with some exposure…

This is the view from near the summit. A side path lead to a gap in the boulders.

There is a mailbox at the summit! We each posed on the bench near the mailbox…

Janet and Allen:

Bill:

Bob:

Kevin:

This is the story about how the mailbox came to be on the top of Picketpost Mountain:

The hike to the top of Picketpost Mountain is not especially easy, yet a lot of people have been there. The mailbox contains a number of summit register books. (Janet was examining a few that aren’t in the mailbox in this photo.)

Janet, looking at the summit logs:

A view of Weaver’s Needle as we started downward.

Another view from early in our descent:

This is a Mexican Poppy:

A lizard:

This was the last steep section of the descent:

Kevin, Bill, Bob, Allen, and Janet:

Much to our surprise, we saw two equestrians coming up the trail. I don’t think they made it to the top. I’d be surprised if they made it even a quarter of a mile further from this point.

A view of Picketpost Mountain from the parking lot:

March 12, 2015 / 0 Comments

Monsoon Photo from September 7, 2012 – Three Edits

Here are three edits of a monsoon photo from a hike that we did on September 7, 2012. We ended up hiking through monsoon rains a short time after the photo was taken.

This version, below, is my most recent attempt using techniques from the PPW, though I did some minor dodging and burning of the clouds through luminosity selections.

This is my second edit where I used luminosity masks. I think I blended two exposures using luminosity selections. It produced a more dramatic result.

This photo, below, is my original edit. I had just switched over to shooting RAW (from JPEG) at the time so this was one my early attempts at processing a RAW image. Looking at it now, it looks grainy to me (due to lack of noise reduction). It’s not as sharp as it could be either.

March 2, 2015 / 1 Comment

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead at the end of 128th St. We hiked up to Tom’s Thumb and then took the Tom’s Thumb Trail east to the Scottsdale side of the mountain. We hiked down to the Windgate Trail and then took Windgate back up through Windgate Pass until we reached the East End Trail. We took the East End back to the Tom’s Thumb Trail and followed the Tom’s Thumb Trail back to the parking area. Total distance was 10.3 miles with over 3200 feet of total ascent.

This was the view shortly after leaving the trailhead:

One of many rock formations that we passed on our way to Tom’s Thumb:

Look for three deer in the following two photos. We saw one of the deer high above us as we worked our way up the mountain. As we got higher, we noticed that there were actually three deer – which eventually ran down the mountain.

A view of the East End, Goat Hill, Glass Dome, Weaver’s Needle, Tom’s Thumb, and The Rist. I think part of Gardener’s Wall might also be visible at the lower left.

A view of the East side of Tom’s Thumb:

I saw this rock formation as I hiked down the Tom’s Thumb Trail on the Scottsdale side.

Look for two groups of hikers in the photo below. Bob, Allen, Janet, Greg, and Linda are hiking below me. (Bob was hiking very fast due to time constraints.) There was another group of hikers above me.

Another view of the the trail with Scottsdale in the background.

Bob is pulling even further ahead in this photo.

I noticed that I could see the tall buildings of downtown Phoenix when I took this photo.

Poppies:

We saw a rock that looked like a baseball mitt as we hiked up the East End Trail.

February 22, 2015 / 2 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

For Friday’s hike, we hiked the loop on Lousley Hill in addition to the portions of the Escondido Trail and portions of the wash below Lousley Hill. Total distance was around 6.7 miles.

Bob, Keena, and Sarge:

Views from the top of Lousley Hill:

Keena, Bob, and Sarge:

Janet, Gene, Bob, Heather, and Allen:

The dogs needed to have some cholla removed from their paw during this hike. I got this photo of Gene, Allen, and Heather while waiting for Bob, Janet, and the dogs to catch up.

A view of Lousley Hill from the Escondido Trail.

Another view from the Escondido Trail:

February 19, 2015 / 3 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

These photos are from last Friday’s hike of the Dixie Mine, Prospector, Bell Pass, Windmill, and Coachwhip trails. Linda and I hiked just over 10.7 miles. Bob, Janet, Allen, and the Bob’s dogs accompanied us as far as the Prospector Trail, at which point they took a different route back.

January 31, 2015 / 0 Comments

Sunday Hike at Estrella Mountain Park

Photos from our hike on Jan 18…

January 29, 2015 / 5 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Below are photos from last week’s hike on the Dixie Mine, Sonoran, Promenade, Western Loop trails. (We also hiked a short section of the Andrews-Kinsey trail.) Linda and I hiked a little over 10 miles. The others turned back while still on the Sonoran Trail, hiking around seven miles total.

Linda suggested several of these shots. We both thought that the colors of the spurge (reddish ground cover) and brittlebush were interesting. (Note to Linda: When doing color correction on these photos, checking the values in Lab color space,I found that brittlebush leaves have a < 0 (green) and b > 0 (yellow) where b is roughly –a. This is why brittlebush looks “bluer” than a lot of other desert foliage, most of which have a b that’s significantly greater than that recommended for healthy foliage elsewhere. Note to others: Linda listened politely and patiently while I explained Lab color space.)

I think this is desert misletoe. Both Linda and I thought it was an unusual color, but it could be stressed either due to cold or perhaps death of the host plant.

January 22, 2015 / 1 Comment

Sunday Hike at White Tank Mountain

On Sunday, Bob, Nick, Marilyn, and I hiked at White Tank Mountain Regional Park, which is another of the Maricopa County parks. We started midway along the Waddell trail, and hiked a big loop consisting of the Waddell, Mesquite Canyon, Willow Canyon, Ford Canyon trails. Our total hike was just under 10 miles. Bob and I added on a bit more to get us over 10 miles with 1500 feet of total ascent.

We had a good time hiking at this park. It’s very popular; we had to wait in line for at five minutes to get in. We encountered many people on the trail, probably more than I see in half a dozen hikes while hiking at McDowell Mountain Park.

A short ways after turning onto the Ford Canyon Trail, we encountered a large group of hikers who were ill prepared for the hike. The leader of the group asked me if they were almost done; I checked my GPS and found that they still had about two thirds of the hike yet to go! A minute or two later, I encountered another member of the group. I asked her how she was doing. She told me she was really thirsty. She had brought along a small water bottle, but had drank the entire contents already. I let her drink some of the water from my reserve water bottle. I’m guessing that several other members of that group (who were lagging even further behind) were having similar issues with water, but I didn’t ask how any of them were doing; I wanted to make sure that I had enough water for the hike.

January 22, 2015 / 0 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Last Friday’s hike started at the Horse Staging Area. We hiked Escondido to Cinch, and then Cinch to Scenic. We turned right on Scenic, going up the hill and hiking atop the ridge. When we got to Pemberton, Nick and I turned right onto Pemberton and then right again onto Escondido. We finished the hike on Escondido. (We actually hiked a short ways up Shallmo Wash too; I wanted to get my distance for the day over 10 miles.) Bob, Allen, Janet, Mary Lou, and the four dogs turned the other way on Pemberton for a somewhat shorter hike.

According to my GPS watch, going right onto Scenic from Cinch only adds 0.2 miles compared with going left on Scenic. That being the case, there’s not much of a reason to go the “shorter” way. Hiking atop the ridge is a much nicer hike, in my opinion.