Month: April 2014 (page 1 of 2)

Amy, Bob, Venie, Linda, and I met at the Dixie Mine Trailhead on Friday.  We hiked the Dixie Mine Trail to the intersection with the Sonoran Trail, at which point Amy turned back. The rest of us continued on, hiking the Sonoran, Promenade, and Western Loop Trails. The Western Loop Trail lead us back to the Promenade which took us back to the Sonoran Trail where we retraced our steps back to the trailhead.  Midway along the Western Loop Trail, we hiked a section of the new (but not yet complete) trail which will connect with the Sunrise Trail.  Total distance was 11.8 miles with 2,333 feet of total ascent.

From left to right are Amy, Linda, Venie, Bob, and Kevin:

A hedgehog cactus on the Sonoran Trail.

Views from the Sonoran Trail:

Views from the Western Loop Overlook:

Views as we were descending the Western Loop Trail:

At this point, we had hiked out as far as (currently) possible on the trail that will eventually connect the Western Loop Trail to the Sunrise Trail.

A backhoe can be seen in the upper-right of this photo.

We had returned to the Western Loop Trail at this point and took the right fork (which I hadn’t seen yet).  Both forks lead back to the Promenade Trail, but the right fork is less steep.

A barrel cactus on the Sonoran Trail.

Another view from the Sonoran Trail.

An ocotillo on the Sonoran Trail:

We saw this saguaro in bloom as we were walking back through the gated community to the parking area.

We also saw these flowers on our way back.  I think that they were just across the street from the trailhead parking.

Eight of us (counting Sarge) hiked the Scenic Trail in McDowell Mountain Park last Friday. When Nancy, Venie, Bob, Sarge, and I got to the Cinch Trail, we split off from the rest of the group and continued on.  We made our way across the road, eventually ending up in Stoneman Wash and some of its feeder washes.  Our hike was ten miles long with around 650 feet of total ascent.

On the Scenic Trail…

Sarge looks at me as if to say,  “What are you doing with that camera?”

 A group photo at the bottom of the Scenic Trail.  It was at this point, that Bob, Sarge, Venie, Nancy, and I continued our adventure starting on the Cinch Trail.

Sarge leads the way on the Tech Loop.

Looking back at “The Leoge” on the Technical Loop.  Fortunately for us, there are now some nice bypasses that go around these drops on this trail.

A Mexican Poppy.  Many of the wildflowers have dried up or are in the process of wilting.

A view of Stoneman Wash in the foreground with the McDowells in the background.

A Hedgehog Cactus blossom.

This is a teddy bear cholla flower:

Some saguaros.

This might be another buckhorn cholla flower.

A look at some of the small canyons west of the homestead site.

I think this one is Spiny Goldenweed:

Another hedgehog flower.