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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Another shot of the wash and its banks:

Gary took this group photo with me in it:

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

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

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

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

Datura flowers:

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

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.

 

A rocky hillside…

Three more saguaros that almost line up…

Another view, this time with the group:

Bob with Sarge, in Shallmo Wash:

Goldeneye:

A gnarly piece of a tree in Shallmo Wash:

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

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