Month: May 2015 (page 1 of 3)
On our way up to Zion National Park, we stopped by the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to hike up to the crater, but we hiked some of the trails below the volcano.
Today’s hike was a short one, just 6.5 miles in a loop comprising the Shallmo Wash, Pemberton, Scenic, Cinch, and Escondido Trails.
Hiking on the Pemberton Trail:
Bob, Bill, Marilyn, and Linda:
Saguaros on the Scenic Trail:
Senna flowers:
Marie took these photos:
Bob and I hiked in the Tom’s Thumb area on Friday. We hiked perhaps 7 miles with a total ascent of 2500 feet.
View from parking lot just before 6:00am:
We hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail to the Feldspar Trail and then scrambled up a low angle slab of Granite.
We saw this interesting cacti on the way up.
A view towards the east on the way up:
This is the view looking towards Morrell’s Wall.
Bob, starting his scramble up the next low angle slab of granite:
Morrell’s Wall on the left and Tom’s Thumb to the right.
I don’t know what these are, but we saw patches of them growing in thin soil atop the granite on the way up. We took care not to step on them. This patch is near the top.
A view from near the top of Sven Tower I:
The Thumbnail Pinnacle looks a long way off in this photo. We ended up hiking past Sven Towers II and III on our way to the trail to Hog Heaven.
A view of McDowell Mountain Park. The Boulder Trail and the Marcus Landslide Trail can be seen below.
I was surprised to see some blooming Globemallow flowers on our way up to Hog Heaven.
This photo is for Linda. (The route goes across the tops of these boulders.)
Looking up at the walls of Hog Heaven:
This is the main wall at the Hog Heaven climbing area:
We had passed the Thumbnail Pinnacle at this point. The brush was a lot thicker than the last time we were here. I took this photo while procrastinating about pushing through the brush.
As we approached the East End, the highest point in the McDowells, we saw two people already there!
This is a view from the highest point in the McDowells. Tom’s Thumb, Gardener’s Wall, Pinnacle Peak, and Troon Mountain are all visible in this photo.
We hiked this ridge on our way to the East End.
A blooming prickly pear cactus with Tom’s Thumb in the background.
We saw and heard a lot of bees on Friday. Here, we see one in the prickly pear blossom.
A view of Pinnacle Peak.
Gardener’s Wall:
Whenever I visit the North Trail, this cardinal or one like him attacks the mirrors on either my vehicle or some other parked at the trailhead lot. When I last visited, it was attacking the mirrors of a Sheriff’s vehicle. In this photo, he’s sitting on the passenger side mirror of my truck.
This is a hand-crafted plate from Toledo, Spain. Skilled craftsman hammer gold and silver wires into designs and inlay these metals into the oxidized steel backing piece.
From left to right are the Pro-Tec Orb, the (original) MobilityWOD SuperNova, and the RumbleRoller Beastie.
Here’s a photo of the MobilityWod SuperNova by itself.
I took the above photos for a post about the MobilityWod SuperNova over at BodyBuilding.com. (That same post discusses the Body Back Buddy, Thera Cane, Rumble Roller Beastie, and a number of other massage tools.)
This is what I had to say about the Supernova in that post:
The SuperNova is only slightly smaller than the Orb, but is quite a lot heavier. Its textured surface does slip less often than the Orb when in use. It’s slightly smaller size also allows for slightly easier penetration into muscle tissue.
I’ve been using them both. At the moment, I slightly prefer the SuperNova due to the fact that it doesn’t slip as much. However, there’s a quite a difference in price. At the moment, the Orb can be purchased for less than $20 while MobilityWOD Supernova costs just slightly under $40. (It’s not clear to me whether or not the version pictured above is still available. The 2.0 version has somewhat different nubs.)
On Saturday, Marilyn and I walked the trails in the Fountain Hills Botanical Garden.
