Tag: Friday Fitness Hike (page 24 of 36)

November 4, 2014 / 9 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Bob and I hiked up to the East End in the McDowells by way of Hog Heaven. We hiked past Gardener’s Wall on the way back. Total distance was only five miles with 1,971 feet of total ascent.

While we were at the East End, we encountered a fellow named Joel. He hikes the Tom’s Thumb Trail several times a week with a reclining lawn chair strapped to his back. When he gets to the top, he chills for a while at the top. He then runs back down the trail, again with his chair strapped to his back. He said it takes him about 50 minutes to get to the top and 20 minutes to get back down. I saw him running back down the trail; he goes a lot more quickly than I do!

I got this shot shortly after arriving. The sky color was more interesting perhaps ten minutes before we arrived.

This is where Bob and I climbed several weeks ago. We climbed the prominent crack on that slab in addition to a face climb to the left. Both of these climbs are easy, but it was good practice for me (who hadn’t done a lead in a while) and for Bob (who had never belayed a lead climber before).

We had made it past the Sven Towers when I took this shot:

Hog Heaven is the collection of (very) large boulders down and to the left of the Thumbnail Pinnacle. The trail leads up to the base of Hog Heaven and then continues to the left and upwards. It eventually works its way back to the right, leading past the Thumbnail Pinnacle. From there, it continues up the ridge which leads to the East End, the highest point in the McDowells.

We passed some smaller rock formations on our way up to Hog Heaven…

I got this shot from slightly below the Thumbnail Pinnacle. The Fountain is up!

I found a vantage point that I hadn’t noticed before to get this shot of the Thumbnail Pinnacle:

When I turned around, I saw that Bob had also found a rock from which to take in the views.

When viewed from the ridge above, the Thumbnail Pinnacle looks like an impressive spire.

More views opened up as we worked our way up and along the ridge…

I got this shot as we started working our way down from the East End:

I got this shot of Tom’s Thumb, Gardener’s Wall, and Glass Dome from just beyond the rock upon which Bob is standing in the previous photo. I had never seen these formations from this angle before.

I don’t know what kind of flower this is, but we saw it on our way towards Gardener’s Wall.

October 30, 2014 / 1 Comment

Friday Fitness Hike

An early morning view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

A “tunnel” through the vegetation leads to the mine.

Patty is working her way up the wash towards the petroglyphs.

The petroglyphs:

This is the view from further up the wash as we neared a short, but steep and slick section of rock.

Nick, Bob, and Patty pause at the top of the steep section. We saw a small pool of water on the way up. As usual, there were a lot of bees and other insects around this wet spot.

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

Richard, Nick, Linda, Bob, Patty, and (another) Linda hike up the Prospector Trail:

Hiking back…

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October 19, 2014 / 3 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started from the Trailhead Staging Area. We meandered around the park, seeing many things. When we were done, we found that we had hiked ten miles!

I stopped just outside of Fountain Hills on my way over to the park to get this shot of the sunrise. The color in the sky lasted for only a minute or two before fading. By the time I got to the park, only a few miles away, it was almost entirely gone.

I took the next two shots from the Hilltop Trail (prior to the start of the hike).

This is a view from the Pemberton, early in the hike:

Ranger Amy told us that this is Devil’s Claw:

We saw these formations on our way to hike some of the washes with high, steep banks:

These were some of the views from the washes that we hiked. We spent most of our time hiking through washes.

From left to right are Sarge, Bob, Nick, Linda, Richard, Gary, and Patty.

I think it was Gary who noticed this beehive. It was high above us – I had to crop the photo extensively to get this shot.

Richard hikes ahead in the wash. It was around this point that we saw some owls, but I didn’t get any good shots of them.

Another shot of the wash and its banks:

Gary took this group photo with me in it:

An ocotillo and a saguaro together; I think we were back on the Pemberton at this point.

This is one of the clay pits adjacent to the Pemberton Trail. If you look closely, you can see two cyclists on the Pemberton.

Three saguaros. I was surprised at how they seemed to line up.

Another wall, this time along one of the forks of the Stoneman Wash:

Datura flowers:

Someone on the hike told me that this is a small hawk. I tried to get closer, but it flew away.

This flowering bush might be Goldenhead (Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus). Whatever it is, the bees surely liked it. There were so many bees around this bush that I was a little nervous getting close for this shot.

A rocky hillside…

Three more saguaros that almost line up…

Another view, this time with the group:

Bob with Sarge, in Shallmo Wash:

Goldeneye:

A gnarly piece of a tree in Shallmo Wash:

Richard spotted this piece of quartz with a low lying plant draped across it.

More foliage in Shallmo Wash; the gray plant to the left had a sort of blueish cast when I saw it in person.

October 12, 2014 / 4 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started at the Wagner Trailhead. We hiked out to Rock Knob and back for a hike of about nine miles.

The sun rose as I was driving to the park. I found a safe place to pull over to get this sunrise shot…

When I got to the park, the sun was well up; I got this shot of the sun behind a palo verde tree.

Seed pods:

Something we rarely see in the park is dew. I think it was either Linda or Patty who pointed out the dew in this low lying plant.

Storms in recent months have eroded portions of the Bluff Wash. The photo below shows the previous level of the wash alongside the new channel created by running water.

We used to scramble up the notch in the rocks behind Sarge (the dog). Erosion has lowered the starting point so much that Linda was unable to reach the starting foothold. I was able to get to it, but only barely. We found a different way to get to the upper part of the wash.

We had a great view once we found a way to the top of the rocks lining the wash.

I saw a bird sitting atop this rock as we proceeded up the wash.

More color as we hiked up the wash; there were a surprising number of flowers for this time of year.

Gary pointed out several places where moss was growing.

I think this might be Tamarisk. (?) If so, it’s pretty, but it’s not especially good for it to be here.

Gary, Patty, Linda, Sarge, and Bob:

We saw this unusual rock formation on our way towards Rock Knob.

More rocks…

A look back through the hole in the rock in the previous photo. The rest of the group was patiently waiting for me to finish my photography.

A saguaro with a droopy arm.

Sarge!

Time for a water break…

Cyclists on the Wagner Trail:

October 9, 2014 / 2 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Last Friday’s hike started at the Horse Staging Area. We crossed the road and hiked one of the service roads through the competitive track area. We eventually ended up in Stoneman Wash, which led us back to the Pemberton. We returned via Shallmo Wash for an 8.2 mile hike.

A saguaro in front of Red Mountain:

Bob removes cactus needles from Sarge’s paw while Gary and Linda wait.

A view of the McDowells from the service road.

I think this is a creosote flower (and plant).

I brought a macro lens along on the hike. I managed to do a little bit of focus stacking with this shot, but the depth of field is still really shallow.

Sarge!

Another flower, though I don’t know what it is.

A bank of Stoneman Wash:

Bob and Sarge hike ahead in Stoneman Wash.

The view of Weaver’s Needle from the intersection of the main park road with the Pemberton:

Entering Shallmo Wash:

I think that this is a Goldeneye blossom:

Turkey Vulture?

September 28, 2014 / 2 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Bob and I hiked the Dixie Mine, Sonoran, Promenade, and Western Loop trails on Friday for a hike of about 10 miles with 2,000+ feet of total ascent.

I got this shot while walking through the Eagle’s Nest gated community. (A little over half a mile separates the parking area from the beginning of the Dixie Mine Trail.)

A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

A view of the Fountain with Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron far in the distance:

This is one of my favorite spots to photograph on the Sonoran Trail. I like it so much that I photographed it both on the way out (immediately below) and on the way back (further below). This photo was made from two exposures, one more or less as shown below, and another with my thumb placed between the lens and the sun. Blocking the light source with a thumb prevents lens flare which would either ruin the shot or (at best) make it extremely tedious to edit.

Views from the Western Loop Trail:

A view of part of the long uphill section on the return trip of the Sonoran Trail. Look for the trail in the wash at the bottom along with switchbacks at the bottom-right corner.

Another view of one of my favorite spots on the Sonoran Trail. The earlier shot was taking at 7:45am. This one was taken at around 10:30.

Back on the Dixie Mine Trail…

I think the flowering plant in front is Goldeneye with an ocotillo behind it.

I was taking close-ups of one of the flower clusters when this bee landed…

September 22, 2014 / 5 Comments

Friday Photography Hike

None of the fitness hike regulars could make it to last Friday’s hike, so I decided to bring my tripod and my NEX-7 with a heavy lens, a Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 which hasn’t gotten a lot of use (yet). I arrived at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead early – too early as it turned out because I had to wait about ten minutes for the gate to open. Once I parked, I hustled over to a location near Sven’s Slab that I had scouted for a sunrise shot a bit over a year ago.

It took me a long time to process and finish this sunrise photo. I made several attempts to use Photoshop’s HDR Pro to merge some hand bracketed exposures, but I was not happy with the results. I even gave Photomatix a try, but wasn’t happy with those results either. I finally selected one exposure for the sky and another for the foreground, processed those in Lightroom, and then blended them by hand in Photoshop.

Tom’s Thumb is the prominent pinnacle towards the center of this photo. Morrell’s Wall can be seen in sunlight near the left edge.

I took several photos of the tall “mushroom” rock featured in the sunrise photo. This one is taken from the east side, with the early morning sun on it.

This is Sven’s Slab.

Another shot of the tall mushroom rock and the boulder adjacent to it. Troon Mountain is lit up at the left. The brownish blob below it is the trailhead structure.

This was an interesting shot to process. Due to the fact that I was shooting towards the sun, even though it’s hidden behind one of these rocks, the sky was very bright and the rock in the photo was very dark. Also, I was unable to back up far enough to get the entire height of the mushroom rock in one frame. I took two sets of bracketed exposures, one of the upper part of the rock and an overlapping set for the bottom of the rock. When I shot this, I was careful to lock the exposure and focus prior to taking the shots. I processed each set of bracketed exposures in Photoshop’s HDR Pro, created a 32-bit TIFF file, and then processed that in Lightroom. I sync’d the edits between the image for the top part and the bottom part, so that they would (hopefully) match up. I then had photoshop blend these two pieces as a panorama. The result of the blending was somewhat misshapen, so I fixed it using Photoshop’s free transform tool, which is the first time I’ve used this particular photoshop facility. That left some missing areas of sky and rock along the edges. I tried filling these in with content aware fill. It looked sort of okay if you didn’t look very close, but it looked awful otherwise. I ended up using the clone stamp tool to make those areas look better. At that point, I was finally able to begin my normal editing.

This is a shot looking through the “window” formed between the tall mushroom rock, the adjacent boulder, and the chockstone above. I couldn’t figure out how to use my tripod for this shot, which is a shame, because it would have been a good candidate for focus stacking. Note that there’s a section of granite at the bottom right that’s not in focus. Likewise for the sky and mountains in the distance. Had I been able to use my tripod, I could have taken a shot to get the foreground section in focus and another to get the background in focus. These could have then been blended to produce one image that’s entirely in focus. That would have been interesting because I built this shot out of bracketed exposures as well.

I think that Amy Burnett once told me what these purple flowers are, but I’ve forgotten. It doesn’t seem to be in my wildflower book for the McDowells either. They were fairly low to the ground and somewhat less saturated than shown in this photo.

I think this is a large Goldeneye bush.

Another view of Morrell’s Wall, about a third of the way over from the left edge of the photo. The large slab in the foreground is the Girlie Man Area. There are at least seven easy to moderate routes on that slab ranging in difficulty from 5.2 to 5.9+.

This boulder pile is in Mesquite Canyon, not far from the Girlie Man Area.

Morrell’s Wall looks much more impressive from this angle. I took this photo from the junction of the Feldspar Trail and the climber’s access trail that eventually leads to Morrell’s Wall.

Another view of the dead tree in the photo above, this time looking east towards the Morrell Wall Parking Lot Area. (At one time, there was nearby parking.)

I encountered a rattlesnake as I turned to continue up the Feldspar Trail after taking the above shots. It rattled a lot for a moment and then slithered a short ways, stopping just short of a nearby bush. It felt like I had my camera three feet away from the snake in this photo, but it was probably at least four. The snake was very obliging in that it waited and gave me time to dig a different camera (with longer effective focal lengths) out of my pack.

I used my Nex-7 (and Sigma lens) at 35mm to get this shot just before I continued on…

Two more views from the Feldspar Trail:

September 13, 2014 / 3 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Lisa, Linda, Ranger Amy, and I hiked the Scenic Trail on Friday. When we reached the Cinch Trail, Linda and I branched off to get in 8 miles for the day.

I arrived early again to take some sunrise photos. This one was just before sunrise. I used Topaz ReStyle on this first one.

Sunrise from the Hilltop Trail:

Hiking into the sun on the Scenic Trail.

Looking towards Four Peaks once we had gained the ridge of the Scenic Trail:

This is the petroglyph rock on the Scenic Trail.

Red Mountain, framed by saguaros:

Descending the big hill on the Scenic Trail:

Lisa, Amy, and Linda:

Saguaros along Shallmo Wash:

Linda spotted this tortoise on the Tech Loop. I had walked right by it thinking it was a rock.

Me and the tortoise:

A view from near the top of the big hill on the Tech Loop:

Linda descending the hill on the other side. There’s a sizable rut just behind her. I used to use that line when riding my bike down this hill.

Another tire grabbing rut just a bit further on. As I recall, this is just before the tunnel.

A saguaro in Stoneman Wash. I used Topaz B&W Effects on this one.

September 7, 2014 / 4 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started at the Wagner Trailhead. Ranger Amy (Roberts), Allen, Janet, and I hiked the Tortoise Trail to the Pemberton. We then took the Pemberton over to Stoneman Wash and hiked up Stoneman Wash to the Bluff Trail. Amy left us at that point and returned via the Bluff, Granite, and Wagner Trails. Allen, Janet, and I continued up the wash paralleling the Bluff Trail. That eventually intersected with the Granite Trail which we took back to Wagner and then back to the trailhead.

I arrived at the trailhead early to take some sunrise photos. I blended two exposures for this photo. It worked out surprisingly well even though I had to manually set the exposure compensation between shots – without the aid of a tripod to keep the camera in the same location for each exposure. (The Sony RX100 II has limited bracketing capabilities.) We visited the old car on our way up Stoneman Wash.

Ranger Amy posed for this shot in the car.

A small hill along Stoneman Wash:

Another hill. This one offered some welcome shade…

Saguaros on a bank of Stoneman Wash:

Another view from Stoneman Wash:

Palo Verde seed pods:

Senna:

We encountered this rattlesnake shortly after turning onto the wash paralleling the Bluff Trail. It was asleep when we found it. I almost stepped on it. After a time, it became aware of me snapping photos. It slithered off to a nearby bush where it hid from us.

We saw this large white flower in the wash. Linda and Susan have identified it as Datura. It is poisonous, but has hallucinogenic properties.

We saw a flowering bush in the wash too.

We saw a large rabbit just off the Granite Trail.

I composited several exposures to show the rabbit scampering off.

A view of the Granite Trail, somewhat before turning off onto Wagner:

August 31, 2014 / 3 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Linda, Bob, and I hiked 9.5 miles on Friday starting from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. We took the shortest route using the following trails (in order): Tom’s Thumb Trail, East End Trail, Windmill Trail, Coachwhip Trail, Pemberton Trail, Boulder Trail, and Marcus Landslide Trail. Roughly half of our hike was in the Preserve; the rest was in McDowell Mountain Park. Our total accumulated ascent for this hike was a bit over 1,700 feet.

The rising sun created an interesting glow on one of the slopes as we started our hike.

Tom’s Thumb and the upper ridge to the north had a similar glow.

As the sun got slightly higher, we noticed the landscape behind us turning a brilliant yellow. It didn’t last long, however. When we looked a few minutes later, from somewhat higher on the trail, it was mostly gone.

Glass Dome on the left and Tom’s Thumb on the right, both in the sun.

Approaching the East End Trail:

Another shot of Glass Dome and Tom’s Thumb:

Views from the upper part of the East End Trail:

I think these flowers might be Phacelia. We saw some Globemallow flowers too, but my photos of those weren’t in focus.

A view from further down the East End Trail:

Thompson Peak as seen from the lower portion of the East End Trail.

A view from the Windmill Trail. There is a nearby windmill which is off to the right, but not visible in this photo.

Senna flowers on the Coachwhip Trail:

We saw two rattlesnakes on the Coachwhip Trail. This was the second of the two. In both cases, we didn’t see them until Bob was right on top of them. I think I might have stepped on the first one, riling it up which, in turn, gave Bob a few moments of excitement. I’ve adjusted the contrast in this photo, making it much easier to see here than it was in real life.

Here’s another photo of that snake, showing how difficult it is to see them.

A view of some saguaros from further along the Coachwhip Trail.

The remains of a saguaro on the Coachwhip Trail:

An old, overturned car near the Boulder Trail:

Fallen pieces of cholla near the trail leading to the leaning mushroom rocks (on the Marcus Landslide Trail):

I think the prominent pinnacle in the foreground of the picture below is Noah’s Ark, which is part of the Granite Ballroom climbing area. According to both Waugh’s and Opland’s books, there’s a 5.7 (Beam Me Up Scotty) on the back side and a 5.9 (Wattle ‘n Daub) on the front side. We’re viewing it from the side, so the 5.9 is on the left and the 5.7 is on the right. Opland’s book, which is newer, also lists a 5.10 TR. Bob and I are thinking about climbing this pinnacle. Linda said she’d carry the rope.

Hog Heaven and the Thumbnail Pinnacle can be seen on the ridge in the distance. We had considered going there for this hike, but decided to leave it for a day when Allen and Janet could join us.

This is a view of the Sven Slab Climbing area.

Tag: Friday Fitness Hike (page 24 of 36)

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Photography Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday Fitness Hike

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