Tag: McDowell Mountain Park (page 32 of 46)

Friday’s hike started from the Wagner Trailhead. We did a ten mile hike using all or parts of the Wagner, Granite, Pemberton, and Delsie trails. We also hiked the wash adjacent to the Bluff Trail.

I arrived early so that I could get a shot of the sunrise.

Once the sun was up, I took several other photos using my tripod:

I think I did seven or eight edits of this image before I finally got one that I liked. I’m still learning to use Dan Margulis’ Picture Postcard Workflow (PPW). I learned a lot from working on this one.

These are the leaves and berries of a hackberry bush.

George, Jill, Deanne, Sandy, Linda, and Janet joined me for the hike. This photo below was taken at the point where George and Jill continued their hike on the Granite Trail while the rest of us headed up the Bluff Trail Wash.

A rock formation in the wash:

We saw two tarantulas on our hike. This is the first one, which was in the wash:

Our route took us through these large boulders:

This is a senna flower. The color is a more intense in this photo than it is in real life.

We saw a Queen of the Night plant along the Pemberton. We also saw two of them on the Delsie Trail, one of which we had never noticed before.

This is a globe mallow flower. I tried to be more accurate with the color on this one:

We saw the second tarantula on the Pemberton Trail. Sandy was worried that the tarantula would be run over by a mountain bike. In this shot she’s about to pick up the stick that she used to divert the tarantula off the trail. It took several tries; the tarantula was very stubborn.

Here’s a shot of the tarantula safely off the trail:

Friday’s hike started from the Trailhead Staging Area. George, Jill, Bob, Sarge, Janet, Bill, Amy, and I hiked the Scenic Trail. When we got back to the Pemberton, George, Jill, and Amy returned to the trailhead for a 4.5 mile hike. Bill, Janet, Bob, Sarge, and I went the other way on the Pemberton, returning via the Lariat, Granite, Wagner, and Tortoise trails for an 11.2 mile hike.

I’ve added a new element to my photographic workflow for this week’s photos, but I’m not very good at it yet. I think that some of these have a reddish cast. I’ve decreased the saturation in areas of a few of them where it’s especially bad, but it’s still noticeable.

Our hike started at 8:00am, so the sun was well up when we started. I thought about getting out early for a sunrise shot, but I would’ve had to show up well over an hour before the hike began. This is a view from the Scenic Trail at the beginning of our hike.

George and Amy arrive at the top of the hill on the Scenic Trail.

Amy and I both took this shot. From left to right are Kevin, George, Jill, Amy, Bill, Janet, and Bob, with Sarge in front.

This is the small petroglyph along the Scenic Trail.

Brittlebush flowers:

Yet another view from the Scenic Trail. My camera battery died at around this point.

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…

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:

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?