Friday Fitness Hike

Six of us hiked from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead up to Tom’s Thumb last Friday.  We took a circuitous, little used route which provided us with views that most hikers to the area do not get to see.

A view of the Sven Slab area prior to starting the hike.

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A view of Gardener’s Wall at the far left and Tom’s Thumb, more towards the middle.  Our route took us up to the ridge right of Tom’s Thumb.

20140117-_DSC4438-medium A view to the northeast as we began to make our way up to the ridge.

20140117-_DSC4442-mediumTaking a break and removing some layers…

20140117-_DSC4447-medium One of the rock formation we encountered on our way up:

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The trail up was steep and loose!20140117-_DSC4457-medium A view to the north as we continued up to the ridge:

20140117-_DSC4463-medium We saw these flowers along the way:

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A view of Troon and Pinnacle Peak:

20140117-_DSC4490-medium A rock formation along the ridge:

20140117-_DSC4496_7_8-medium More views from the ridge…

20140117-_DSC4508-Edit-medium 20140117-_DSC4517_8_9-medium 20140117-_DSC4523-medium 20140117-_DSC4532-mediumThe trail up to Tom’s Thumb took us up a steep path through granite boulders and vegetation.
20140117-_DSC4538-Edit-mediumBob, Linda, and Ellen:

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A glimpse of Tom’s Thumb behind the saguaro:

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Doug, Bob, Linda, Ellen, and Alex pose for a photo on the northwest side of Tom’s Thumb.20140117-_DSC4564-Edit-medium A view of Scottsdale and Phoenix to the west:

20140117-_DSC4568-mediumAs we made our way around Tom’s Thumb, we were able to see the Tom’s Thumb snake its way along the hillside ahead of us.

20140117-_DSC4583-mediumCacti and boulders ahead of us as we make our way around to the southeast side of Tom’s Thumb:
20140117-_DSC4589-Edit-medium A view of the southeast side of Tom’s Thumb:

20140117-_DSC4592-medium As we hiked away from the thumb, we saw another pinnacle to the west:

20140117-_DSC4598-medium A view of Glass Dome with the East End behind it.

20140117-_DSC4603-Edit-mediumThe grass is still fairly green from the rain we got in December.  If we don’t get rain soon though, it’ll turn brown.

20140117-_DSC4604-medium Getting closer to Glass Dome:

20140117-_DSC4610-mediumWe passed through these boulders as we made our way down the Tom’s Thumb Trail:

20140117-_DSC4622_3_4-Edit-medium A look back as Bob, Linda, Ellen, Doug, and Alex pass by the boulders shown in the photo above:

20140117-_DSC4628-medium A view to the northeast:

20140117-_DSC4637-medium A view of Troon and Pinnacle Peak in the center with the edge of Gardener’s Wall on the left:

20140117-_DSC4646-medium Another view of Glass Dome, this time from the west:

20140117-_DSC4649-medium20140117-_DSC4655_6_7-medium Linda, Bob, Doug, Ellen, and Alex make their way through and across granite boulders on the way back:20140117-_DSC4666-mediumI think that this large boulder sort of looks like a dinosaur head:

20140117-_DSC4669-medium A view to the northwest:

20140117-_DSC4675-medium Gardener’s Wall:

20140117-_DSC4687-medium Another view of Pinnacle Peak and part of Troon in the distance with a saguaro and some boulders in the foreground:

20140117-_DSC4693-medium Gardener’s Wall on the left and Tom’s Thumb on the right.  If you look closely, you can see the path up to Gardener’s Wall in this photo.20140117-_DSC4696-mediumA large boulder with a saguaro on the left and Pinnacle Peak off in the distance to the right:

20140117-_DSC4729-medium Sven Towers I, II, and III in the foreground with Four Peaks in the distance at the far right:20140117-_DSC4741-medium