Sandy, DeAnn, Bob, Nancy, Linda, Marilyn, and I hiked 10.9 miles in White Tank Mountain Regional Park. We hiked a loop consisting of the Waddell, Mesquite Canyon, and Ford Canyon trails. Marilyn also hiked the Willow Canyon Trail which cut off about 1.5 miles from her hike.
Starting out…
Sandy and DeAnn on the Mesquite Canyon Trail. The Willow Canyon Trail is behind them.
Marilyn, Linda (holding up her sandwich), DeAnn, Sandy, Nancy, and Bob:
Marilyn, Linda, DeAnn, and Sandy on the Ford Canyon Trail:
A view of Ford Canyon:
A cyclist riding up (!) the Ford Canyon Trail.
Entering the “canyon” section of the Ford Canyon Trail:
At this particular spot, there was an easy way down and also a way to down-climb. Note that Linda (on the left) chose to down-climb!
DeAnn, Marilyn, Nancy, and Linda making their way through a very scenic part of the canyon.
Nancy, Marilyn, Linda, DeAnn, Bob, and Sandy:
Bob leads the way down another section where some easy down-climbing was required.
Marilyn assists Nancy down the rock.
There were wonders to behold around every bend of the canyon.
I chose to avoid this obstacle by climbing the rock at the side. Linda is being told how to make her way around that small pool of water.
Bob and Linda (and Nancy, behind Linda) continue down the canyon.
I climbed another rock formation to get this shot of our group and another group going the opposite direction:
This is the rock that I climbed last year to retrieve Nick’s hiking pole. We had missed the turn-off for the hiking trail at the side of the canyon. Nick had tossed his stick down a pour-off to the left; unfortunately, it soon became clear that we wouldn’t be able to easily descend that way.
From this point on, we (again) had an obvious trail to follow.
Sany, DeAnn, Linda, Bob, Marilyn, and Nancy (still hiking up the trail):
Saguaros near the end of the Ford Canyon Trail:
Another small wash / mini-canyon just off of the Waddell Trail:
We saw these deer earlier in the hike.
Linda says:
Thank you for these great pictures from the hike…….it was a fun one! What a beautiful Regional Park!
November 29, 2015 — 11:07 am
Sue says:
Loved these pics of “smiling” hikers–and making their way over what looks like a maze of jumbled rocks. I found myself smiling, too! Great deer pics, as well! Loved seeing you “on the road”–and thank you for the hike offer:)
November 29, 2015 — 11:36 am
jon leverenz says:
Thank you. I am drooling! But very out of shape, but looking forward to early January til mid Feb for hikes with you. Great photos. Where is Ford Canyon?
November 29, 2015 — 3:16 pm
Kevin says:
Hi Jon,
Ford Canyon runs through the northern portion of White Tank Mountain Regional Park. The Ford Canyon Trail goes through part of Ford Canyon, but extends considerably beyond the canyon at the points where it enters / exits the canyon. According to the park map, the Ford Canyon Trail is 7.4 miles long. We did all but about 2 miles of the Ford Canyon Trail on our Friday hike.
November 29, 2015 — 6:04 pm
Gary Wietgrefe says:
Great, great tracking the progress. It is always good to see such positive people on your hikes!
November 29, 2015 — 7:52 pm