Month: October 2014 (page 1 of 2)

Barnhardt Trail Hike

Bob, Nick, Marilyn, and I hiked five miles out (and five miles back) on the Barnhardt Trail on Sunday. Total ascent was over 2,000 feet.

We heard, and then saw, an Arizona Black Rattlesnake. I had never seen this type of rattlesnake before.

20141026-_DSC4104-Edit-medium-2

I think this might be fleabane:

20141026-_DSC4194-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC9413_3_4_4-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC9452-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC9481-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC9508-Edit-medium-2

A view of the waterfall; only a small trickle of water was flowing through it on our visit.

20141026-_DSC9647-Edit-medium-2

Just outside of the alcove leading into the waterfall:

20141026-_DSC9681-Edit-medium-2

A dead tree – one of many – a short ways up the trail from the waterfall:

20141026-_DSC9700-Edit-medium-2

Bob scouted ahead while I was taking shots of the waterfall with my tripod. He recommended this shot of the pincushion (mammillaria) cacti.

20141026-_DSC9763-Edit-medium-2

This shot was taken near the intersection with the Sandy Saddle Trail.20141026-_DSC9799-Edit-medium-2

This panorama was constructed from 33 separate exposures. Eleven three shot brackets were processed individually to form eleven exposure merged files. These eleven files were edited in Lightroom and then combined into a panorama in Photoshop.

20141026-_DSC9949_50_51-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC0001-Edit-medium-2

20141026-_DSC0007-Edit-medium-2

 

Friday Fitness Hike

 

 

An early morning view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

20141024-_DSC3662-Edit-medium

A “tunnel” through the vegetation leads to the mine.

20141024-_DSC3718_19_20_20-Edit-medium

Patty is working her way up the wash towards the petroglyphs.

20141024-_DSC3760-Edit-medium

The petroglyphs:

20141024-_DSC3745_6_6_6_7-2-Edit-medium

This is the view from further up the wash as we neared a short, but steep and slick section of rock.

20141024-_DSC3790-Edit-medium-2

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.

20141024-_DSC3805-Edit-medium

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

20141024-_DSC3820-Edit-medium

Richard, Nick, Linda, Bob, Patty, and (another) Linda hike up the Prospector Trail:

20141024-_DSC3865-Edit-medium

Hiking back…

20141024-_DSC3946-medium

20141024-_DSC3949-medium

20141024-_DSC4024-medium

Sunset on the Scenic Trail

20141019-_DSC3367_8_8_9_9-Edit-medium 20141019-_DSC3442_3_3_4_4-Edit-medium 20141019-_DSC3509_10_11_12_13-3-Edit-medium 20141019-_DSC3548-Edit-medium

Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike started from the Trailhead Staging Area. We meandered around the park, seeing many things. When we were done, we found that we had hiked ten miles!

I stopped just outside of Fountain Hills on my way over to the park to get this shot of the sunrise. The color in the sky lasted for only a minute or two before fading. By the time I got to the park, only a few miles away, it was almost entirely gone.

20141017-_DSC2680-Edit-medium

I took the next two shots from the Hilltop Trail (prior to the start of the hike).

20141017-_DSC2730-Edit-medium-2

20141017-_DSC2750_1_2-Edit-medium

This is a view from the Pemberton, early in the hike:

20141017-_DSC2771_2-Edit-medium

Ranger Amy told us that this is Devil’s Claw:

20141017-_DSC2789-Edit-medium

We saw these formations on our way to hike some of the washes with high, steep banks:

20141017-_DSC2801-Edit-medium

20141017-_DSC2813-Edit-medium

20141017-_DSC2816-Edit-medium

These were some of the views from the washes that we hiked. We spent most of our time hiking through washes.

20141017-_DSC2825-Edit-medium

20141017-_DSC2846-Edit-medium

From left to right are Sarge, Bob, Nick, Linda, Richard, Gary, and Patty.

20141017-_DSC2855-Edit-medium

I think it was Gary who noticed this beehive. It was high above us – I had to crop the photo extensively to get this shot.

20141017-_DSC2875-medium

Richard hikes ahead in the wash. It was around this point that we saw some owls, but I didn’t get any good shots of them.

20141017-_DSC2891-Edit-medium

Another shot of the wash and its banks:

20141017-_DSC3035-Edit-medium

Gary took this group photo with me in it:

20141017-_DSC3044-Edit-medium

An ocotillo and a saguaro together; I think we were back on the Pemberton at this point.

20141017-_DSC3058_59_60-Edit-medium

This is one of the clay pits adjacent to the Pemberton Trail. If you look closely, you can see two cyclists on the Pemberton.

20141017-_DSC3076-Edit-medium

Three saguaros. I was surprised at how they seemed to line up.

20141017-_DSC3085-Edit-medium

Another wall, this time along one of the forks of the Stoneman Wash:

20141017-_DSC3091_2_3-Edit-medium

Datura flowers:

20141017-_DSC3115-Edit-medium

Someone on the hike told me that this is a small hawk. I tried to get closer, but it flew away.
20141017-_DSC3157-Edit-medium

This flowering bush might be Goldenhead (Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus). Whatever it is, the bees surely liked it. There were so many bees around this bush that I was a little nervous getting close for this shot.

20141017-_DSC3169-Edit-medium

 

A rocky hillside…

20141017-_DSC3220-Edit-medium-2

Three more saguaros that almost line up…

20141017-_DSC3241-Edit-medium

Another view, this time with the group:

20141017-_DSC3250-Edit-medium

Bob with Sarge, in Shallmo Wash:

20141017-_DSC3256-Edit-medium

Goldeneye:

20141017-_DSC3268-Edit-medium A gnarly piece of a tree in Shallmo Wash:

20141017-_DSC3292-Edit-medium

Richard spotted this piece of quartz with a low lying plant draped across it.

20141017-_DSC3295-Edit-medium

More foliage in Shallmo Wash; the gray plant to the left had a sort of blueish cast when I saw it in person.

20141017-_DSC3301-Edit-medium

Pine Creek Loop

I hiked the Pine Creek Loop late on Wednesday afternoon…

20141015-_DSC2570_1_1_2-Edit-medium 20141015-_DSC2627_8_9-1-Edit-medium 20141015-_DSC2639-Edit-medium 20141015-_DSC2648-Edit-medium 20141015-_DSC2675-Edit-medium

Sunset from the Pine Creek Loop

20141015-_DSC9271-Edit-medium

 

Friday Fitness Hike

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…

20141010-_DSC1989_90_91_91-Edit-medium

When I got to the park, the sun was well up; I got this shot of the sun behind a palo verde tree.

20141010-_DSC1995-Edit-Edit-medium

Seed pods:

20141010-_DSC2109-Edit-medium

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.

20141010-_DSC2148-Edit-medium

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.

20141010-_DSC2169-Edit-medium

We had a great view once we found a way to the top of the rocks lining the wash.

20141010-_DSC2187-Edit-medium

I saw a bird sitting atop this rock as we proceeded up the wash.

20141010-_DSC2244-Edit-medium

More color as we hiked up the wash; there were a surprising number of flowers for this time of year.

20141010-_DSC2250-Edit-medium

Gary pointed out several places where moss was growing.

20141010-_DSC2283-Edit-Edit-medium

I think this might be Tamarisk. (?) If so, it’s pretty, but it’s not especially good for it to be here.

20141010-_DSC2289-Edit-medium-2

Gary, Patty, Linda, Sarge, and Bob:

20141010-_DSC2304-Edit-medium-3

We saw this unusual rock formation on our way towards Rock Knob.

20141010-_DSC2361-Edit-medium

More rocks…

20141010-_DSC2370-Edit-medium

20141010-_DSC2382-Edit-medium

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.

20141010-_DSC2418-Edit-Edit-medium

A saguaro with a droopy arm.

20141010-_DSC2457-Edit-medium

Sarge!

20141010-_DSC2490-Edit-medium

Time for a water break…

20141010-_DSC2511-Edit-medium

Cyclists on the Wagner Trail:

20141010-_DSC2558-Edit-medium

Bluff Wash Well

Below are two photos showing the inscription on the top of the well that’s in the wash which parallels the Bluff Trail in McDowell Mountain Park. It appears that one set of markings is the date of construction, March 2, 1942, but there are some other markings to the left of the date which I can’t make out either in the photo or examining the well in person. I tried to increase the contrast in the second photo to make it easier to read.

20141010-_DSC2220-medium

20141010-_DSC2226-medium

Thursday Night Fountain

I got this shot of the Fountain on Thursday night.

20141009-_DSC9135-Edit-medium

Friday Fitness Hike

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:

20141003-_DSC8518-Edit-medium

 

Bob removes cactus needles from Sarge’s paw while Gary and Linda wait.
20141003-_DSC8536-Edit-2-medium-2

A view of the McDowells from the service road.

20141003-_DSC8551-Edit-2-medium

I think this is a creosote flower (and plant).

20141003-_DSC8635-Edit-medium

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.

20141003-_DSC8723-Edit-medium

Sarge!

20141003-_DSC8849-medium

Another flower, though I don’t know what it is.

20141003-_DSC8855-medium

A bank of Stoneman Wash:

20141003-_DSC8861-Edit-medium

 

 

 

 

 

Bob and Sarge hike ahead in Stoneman Wash.

20141003-_DSC1518-Edit-medium

The view of Weaver’s Needle from the intersection of the main park road with the Pemberton:

20141003-_DSC8949-Edit-medium

Entering Shallmo Wash:

20141003-_DSC8952-Edit-medium

I think that this is a Goldeneye blossom:

20141003-_DSC8988-Edit-medium

Turkey Vulture?

20141003-_DSC9035-Edit-medium