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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2680-Edit-medium.jpg)
I took the next two shots from the Hilltop Trail (prior to the start of the hike).
![20141017-_DSC2730-Edit-medium-2](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2730-Edit-medium-2.jpg)
![20141017-_DSC2750_1_2-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2750_1_2-Edit-medium.jpg)
This is a view from the Pemberton, early in the hike:
![20141017-_DSC2771_2-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2771_2-Edit-medium.jpg)
Ranger Amy told us that this is Devil’s Claw:
![20141017-_DSC2789-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2789-Edit-medium.jpg)
We saw these formations on our way to hike some of the washes with high, steep banks:
![20141017-_DSC2801-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2801-Edit-medium.jpg)
![20141017-_DSC2813-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2813-Edit-medium.jpg)
![20141017-_DSC2816-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2816-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2825-Edit-medium.jpg)
![20141017-_DSC2846-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2846-Edit-medium.jpg)
From left to right are Sarge, Bob, Nick, Linda, Richard, Gary, and Patty.
![20141017-_DSC2855-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2855-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2875-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC2891-Edit-medium.jpg)
Another shot of the wash and its banks:
![20141017-_DSC3035-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3035-Edit-medium.jpg)
Gary took this group photo with me in it:
![20141017-_DSC3044-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3044-Edit-medium.jpg)
An ocotillo and a saguaro together; I think we were back on the Pemberton at this point.
![20141017-_DSC3058_59_60-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3058_59_60-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3076-Edit-medium.jpg)
Three saguaros. I was surprised at how they seemed to line up.
![20141017-_DSC3085-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3085-Edit-medium.jpg)
Another wall, this time along one of the forks of the Stoneman Wash:
![20141017-_DSC3091_2_3-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3091_2_3-Edit-medium.jpg)
Datura flowers:
![20141017-_DSC3115-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3115-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3157-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3169-Edit-medium.jpg)
A rocky hillside…
![20141017-_DSC3220-Edit-medium-2](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3220-Edit-medium-2.jpg)
Three more saguaros that almost line up…
![20141017-_DSC3241-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3241-Edit-medium.jpg)
Another view, this time with the group:
![20141017-_DSC3250-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3250-Edit-medium.jpg)
Bob with Sarge, in Shallmo Wash:
![20141017-_DSC3256-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3256-Edit-medium.jpg)
Goldeneye:
A gnarly piece of a tree in Shallmo Wash:
![20141017-_DSC3292-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3292-Edit-medium.jpg)
Richard spotted this piece of quartz with a low lying plant draped across it.
![20141017-_DSC3295-Edit-medium](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3295-Edit-medium.jpg)
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](https://buettner.to/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141017-_DSC3301-Edit-medium.jpg)