Friday’s hike was nearly ten miles in length with over 2,000 feet of total ascent. Eight of us hiked Dixie Mine out to the Sonoran Trail, followed the Sonoran Trail to its end, and then hiked a short ways out on the Promenade Trail. From there we hiked up the Western Loop Trail, stopped briefly at the overlook at the top, and then continued on the Western Loop Trail until it intersected with Promenade. We then hiked back along the shortest route using the Promenade, Sonoran, and Dixie Mine Trails.
Marilyn and Linda wait for everyone to pay up at the iron ranger at the start of the Dixie Mine Trail.
Marilyn and Linda lead the way on the Dixie Mine Trail.
Linda, Marilyn, Vinnie, Renee, Janet, Rob, and Michael on the Sonoran Trail. (Someone correct me if I have any of the names wrong.)
A view from the Sonoran Trail.
Another view from the Sonoran Trail. I did this one in Photomatix, but did not like it, so I redid it in Lightroom and Photoshop.
I think this is still the Sonoran Trail.
A view of Tom’s Thumb in the distance.
This was supposed to be another view of Tom’s Thumb. Unfortunately, I shot everything on Friday at f/4, so there was a significant amount of background blurring due to the focus being on the tree.
A view of Fountain Hills from the top of the Western Loop Trail.
Taking photos from the Western Loop Overlook…
Several views while descending the Western Loop Trail:
I think this was taken from the Promenade Trail.
Taking a break on the Sonoran Trail…
The rain that we got last week is starting to make things green again:
