Mike and I hiked a little over 9 miles on Friday. Starting from the Trailhead Staging Area, we hiked Pemberton, Escondido, Cinch, and Scenic.
All but the last of the photos below were taken along the Escondido Trail. I took the last one from the beginning of Cinch, just after turning off of Escondido.
Linda, Bob, Marilyn, and I hiked 7.3 miles starting from the Wagner Trailhead…
Senna:
Sandwash Groundsel:
A view from the Bluff Trail Wash:
Tamarisk:
I’m not sure what this is. Perezia/Brownfoot, maybe?
Velvet Mesquite:
Nearing the intersection of Pemberton and Bluff:
Views from the Bluff Trail:
Mike, Sandra, Jan, Melissa, Joelyne, Kristin, and I hiked 10.8 miles in the Dixie Mine area. (I’m not sure of the spelling of some of the names, though I did check with Jan on the spelling of his name.)
A view of the McDowells from the Dixie Mine Trail:
We noticed that the grass has become quite dry.
I think this is mesquite:
We saw some nice ocotillo blossoms. This one was just off the trail and at a low enough height that I didn’t need to shoot upward.
These are the mine tailings:
Flat-Top / Mojave Buckwheat:
New Mexico Thistle:
As we made our way towards the mine from the road, we saw a nest high in one of the trees. Two birds, which we took to be hawks were flying around, alarmed at our presence. I only got this shot, though it’s definitely out of focus.
This is the petroglyph panel near the mine.
Sandra, Melissa, and Jan:
Another New Mexico Thistle:
Ascending the waterfall:
Looking down/back from the waterfall:
Continuing up the Prospector Trail…
I think this might be Miniature Woollystar:
Prickly Pear:
Globemallow:
Another prickly pear:
Hedgehog:
Heading down the Coachwhip Trail:
Ocotillo – I think we might have been back on Dixie Mine for this one:
Fleabane:
Linda and I hiked a 12 mile loop starting from the Wagner Trailhead. Sara hiked most of it with us, but she needed to return early.
This is a view of Red Mountain from the Pemberton Trail:
Four Peaks in the background with some hills near the Sport Loop in the foreground:
Hedgehog blossoms:
The ocotillos are in bloom too!
Poppies:
Phacelia:
Linda identified this as a Pincushion Flower:
Spiny Goldenweed???
Shortly before this point, Sara hiked back via the Pemberton while Linda and I tramped through some washes…
Brittlebush:
We noticed some dirt-fall in this area. There’s a big chunk of this wall which looks like it might fall sometime soon. I took this photo after we passed that section. It looked worse as we approached it.
Linda noticed this rock as we continued on…
This is a view of Red Mountain from the Tonto Tank Trail:
I think this is Sandwash Groundsel:
More poppies. We weren’t sure what the magenta colored plant behind it was.
Desert Mistletoe berries:
Mike, Cathy, Ro (short for Rosemary), and I hiked 12.6 miles starting from the Four Peaks parking lot at MMRP. We hiked a big loop which incorporated the South Wash and a significant portion of the Long Loop, which is one of the competitive track loops.
The desert grasses are definitely drying out; we saw a lot of tan, brown, and even red grasses. But we also saw a lot of flowers, both cactus flowers and wildflowers. We saw a surprising amount of brittlebush blooms. We also saw poppies, fiddleneck, chia, globemallow, owl clover, and even thistle.
We saw a deer and an owl while hiking the South Wash. I got a photo of the owl (enhanced with Topaz Gigapixel AI), but was not quick enough to get a photo of the deer despite the fact that it was only about 20 yards away.
A view from the parking lot:
Views of Red Mountain from the Technical Loop…
Hedgehog Blossoms:
Another view of Red Mountain, also from the Technical Loop, while descending T-Bone Ridge:
This is one of the feeder washes for Stoneman Wash. It led us to the Pemberton Trail.
Prickly Pear Blossom:
This is the South Wash. Note the brittlebush on the left bank.
Mexican Poppies:
Globemallow:
The South Wash has some very high mostly vertical banks. We saw this owl three quarters of the way up in a small “cave” on one of the 50-80 foot banks.
A dead tree with character:
Verbena:
Brittlebush growing out of the side of the bank:
New Mexico Thistle (with bees):
Globe Chamomile – thanks to Cathy for identifying this:
Chia:
This is a crested (fasciated) hedghog cactus.
After hiking the South Wash, we left the wash by hiking up the Long Loop to the South Ridge. This is another view of Red Mountain from that section of the Long Loop.
Hedgehog blossoms:
Views from the South Ridge:
Fiddleneck:
Hedgehog cactus and blossoms. Note the dry grass!
On Sunday, I hiked Wagner, Granite, Bluff, and then back on Granite and Wagner. Nick told me that the flowers were thick along the Granite Trail near the wash. He was right.
Bob, Mike, Nick, Marilyn, Nora, Sara, and Kelly joined me for a 10+ mile loop in the McDowells. We hiked: Marcus Landslide, Boulder, Pemberton, Coachwhip, Windmill, East End, and Tom’s Thumb trails.
Ben, Marilyn, Mike, Bob, and Cathy joined me for a twelve and a half mile hike that took us all the way out to Marcus Landslide (starting from the Trailhead Staging Area).
Some of us saw javelina (and ravens) on our drive into the park. Later, during the hike, we saw jackrabbits, coyotes, deer, and more ravens.
Ravens at the trailhead:
Passing through Stoneman Wash…
The pond is looking both cleaner and fuller than normal!
Marilyn, Cathy, Ben, Mike, and Bob:
One of many rabbits that we saw…
Look for the coyote in the lower left portion of this photo…
Owl clover:
We saw some poppies in the park, but we saw more and more as we neared the Marcus Landslide Trail. This bunch of poppies was just off the Marcus Landslide Trail near it’s interesection with the Boulder Trail.
A view from the Marcus Landslide Trail:
This bunch of poppies was just off the Rock Knob Trail in the Preserve.
6.5 miles on Monday Night…
Lloyd and I hiked 11.4 miles in the Tom’s Thumb area on Friday, the 25th.
Early in the morning on part of the Lost Wall Loop…
Continuing up, we passed this notable rock formation…
Looking down on Pinnacle Peak and Troon:
Tom’s Thumb and the Rist – yes, I’ve spelled it correctly:
It took us somewhat longer than normal to get to this point. Lloyd told me at the outset that he’s 70 years old with a pacemaker, so we went a more relaxed pace.
Heading down the East End Trail…
We saw a lot of poppies on Friday.
A cyclist coming up the Coachwhip Trail. Another hiker named Danny joined us for this section of the hike.
When we got to the Marcus Landslide Trail, Lloyd wanted a longer hike, so we turned left and hiked the little loop on the Marcus Landslide Trail. Danny had time constraints and headed straight back. I thought that this was a nice view of more poppies and also of the Thumbnail Pinnacle high above. I told Lloyd that we sometimes hike up there.
Submarine Rock and some of the Landslide too.
One of the mushroom boulders along the Marcus Landslide Trail. The Granite Ballroom can be seen behind it – Marilyn and I once did a climb in this area – back in the days when it was possible to drive your vehicle all the way back to this point or perhaps somewhat beyond.
Another prominent pinnacle near the Marcus Landslide Trail.
