Friday Fitness Hike

Linda, Doug, and I hiked a little over five miles in the Tom’s Thumb area. (Denise accompanied us for part of the hike too.) We hiked to Gardener’s Wall and then up to Tom’s Thumb. We continued northwest along the ridge and descended past the Lost Wall and Fort McDowell climbing areas. We then hiked the Feldspar Trail, visited the Sven Slab climbing area and returned on the Caballo Trail.

Strong winds were forecast for the afternoon. We were surprised to see how hazy it already was when we started.

20160415-_DSC4839-Edit-medium

Hiking up to Gardener’s Wall…

20160415-_DSC4875-Edit-medium

The path up to Gardener’s Wall goes beneath some granite boulders.

20160415-_DSC4896-Edit-medium

This is an open air cave just below Gardener’s Wall.  An enormous granite boulder forms the roof of this “cave”.
20160415-_DSC4926-Edit-medium

After emerging from the “cave”, this large bird flew down from a location higher on the wall to the this perch. We speculated that the bird had a nest higher up and was defending its territory. Fortunately, our path took us away from this bird.

20160415-_DSC4941-Edit-medium

Hiking up past Gardener’s Wall…
20160415-_DSC4951-Edit-medium

Globemallow:

20160415-_DSC4978-Edit-medium

Fleabane:

20160415-_DSC4984-Edit-medium

We saw the rock formation known as Glass Dome after topping out at the top of Gardener’s Wall.

20160415-_DSC5011-Edit-medium

Tom’s Thumb:

20160415-_DSC5014-Edit-medium

Hedgehog cactus blossoms:

20160415-_DSC5038-Edit-medium

This is another view of Tom’s Thumb. The Superstitions are normally visible from this location, but not today.

20160415-_DSC5089-Edit-medium

Buckwheat:

20160415-_DSC5101-Edit-medium

Linda has a big grin on the descent.

20160415-_DSC5131-Edit-medium

New Mexico Thistle:

20160415-_DSC5134-Edit-medium

We saw these small pinnacles midway along our descent.
20160415-_DSC5149-Edit-medium

Prickly pear blossoms:

20160415-_DSC5197-Edit-medium

Sandwash Groundsel:

20160415-_DSC5209-Edit-medium

An impressive agave:
20160415-_DSC5224-Edit-medium

Desert mistletoe:

20160415-_DSC5263-Edit-medium

Low angle granite slabs above the Feldspar Trail.

20160415-_DSC5275-Edit-medium

A young tortoise:

20160415-_DSC5284-Edit-medium

Linda sent me this photo of me and Doug scrambling up one of the granite slabs above the Feldspar Trail:

20160415-DSC02087-Edit-medium

Chuparosa blossoms:
20160415-_DSC5305-Edit-medium

Some kind of beetle (I think):

20160415-_DSC5324-Edit-medium

A mushroom rock near the Sven Slab area:

20160415-_DSC5335-Edit-medium