Tag: Arizona (page 1 of 61)
I hiked a little over 11 miles on Sunday. Starting from the Four Peaks / Horse Staging Area, I hiked Shallmo Wash, Pemberton, and Escondido. Midway around Escondido, I hiked the Lousley Hill loop as well, adding in an extra mile to what would otherwise be a ten mile loop.
Linda and I hiked 10.6 miles in McDowell Mountain Park, staying mostly in washes. We finished up with about two miles in Shallmo Wash, eschewing the nearby trail for the loose and sandy goodness of the wash.
Any early morning view from the parking area:
Looking toward the McDowells from the top of T-Bone Ridge:
Stoneman Wash:
This is one of Stoneman’s feeder washes:
After crossing the Pemberton, we continued up this wash and came upon this snake.
Further on, we found this shed from a mule deer:
This is Shallmo Wash:
Some critter, probably a pack rat, seems to have piled up sticks and twigs on two levels in this dead tree.
Jill and I hiked out to Dixie Mine, visiting both the top of the tailings and the horizontal entrance. After looking at the petroglyphs, we continued onto the Prospector Trail where we hiked to the scenic overlook. Total distance for the day’s hike was nearly 8 miles with just over 1,000 feet of total ascent.
On July 4, I woke up very early and drove to Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. I hiked the beginning of the Lost Wall Loop, passing the Tom’s Thumb pinnacle. When I (again) reached Tom’s Thumb Trail, I followed it west to the Scottsdale side of the mountain range. I returned by hiking up Windgate to the pass, then down Windgate, and down some more on Windmill. I then went up East End to arrive back at Tom’s Thumb Trail. Near the end of my descent of Tom’s Thumb Trail, I added on an extra mile by hiking Feldspar, Marcus Landslide, and Caballo. Total distance was 11.2 miles with about 3100 feet of total ascent.
On Sunday, I hiked 11.3 miles in the McDowells. Starting from the parking area at the end of Golden Eagle Blvd, I hiked Dixie Mine to the road, up the road to Prospector, Prospector to Bell Pass, then up to the top of the pass, back down Bell Pass (the way I came) to the intersection with Prospector, continued on Bell Pass to intersection with Windmill and Windgate, Windgate to Coachwhip, Coachwhip to Dixie Mine, then back on Dixie Mine.
The temperature started out in the mid-seventies at around 6:00am and rose to the mid- to high-nighties when I got back around 10:30. So, fairly cool for this time of year.
Linda and I hiked 10 miles starting from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. We started off hiking the Lost Wall Loop which took us up to the ridge on which Tom’s Thumb is located. We hiked past Tom’s Thumb, returned to Tom’s Thumb Trail and then hiked East End, Windmill, Coachwhip, Pemberton, Boulder, and Marcus Landslide.
We saw quite a lot of haze in the distance.
A view of Tom’s Thumb from the ridgeline:
Linda scrambling up some rocks on the way to Tom’s Thumb:
A view from the East End Trail:
A view from the Boulder Trail:
