Month: July 2017 (page 1 of 1)

I hiked 10.3 miles on Friday starting from the parking lot for the Dixie Mine Trail at the end of Golden Eagle Blvd. I hiked Dixie Mine, Coachwhip, Windmill, Bell Pass, Prospector, service road, and then back on Dixie Mine.

It rained off and on, though never hard – often times, it was just some light sprinkles. The rain plus the cloud cover kept the temperature down in the low to mid eighties.

Ocotillos on the Dixie Mine Trail:

Past the spur which leads to the mine – which I did not do – the Dixie Mine Trail goes up a hill. This is a view from the top of that hill.

A view from the Coachwhip Trail:

At this point, I’m still within the boundaries of McDowell Mountain Park, at the intersection of Windmill & Coachwhip.

A view from the Windmill Trail.  The windmill is out of frame to the left. (You can see a little bit of the nearby cottonwood tree at the edge at the far left.)

I’m in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve now. Notice the difference in signage between the Park and the Preserve. There’s no getting lost with these signs!

A view from the Bell Pass Trail. The mountain with the antenna towers is Thompson Peak.

Looking toward Four Peaks from the Bell Pass Trail:

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

This is a barrel cactus blossom:

A mountain biker on the Dixie Mine Trail – one of only five people that I saw during the entire hike.

Heather, Dave, and I hike a little over four miles in the Tom’s Thumb Area on Friday.  We hiked up Mesquite Canyon, past Hog Heaven, past the Thumbnail Pinnacle, and then made our way over to the East End (summit), which is the highest point in the McDowells. After that, we hiked down to the Tom’s Thumb Trail and returned to the parking area.

Making our way up to the pass at the top of Mesquite Canyon:

This is an easy section on the way to Hog Heaven:

We saw this turkey vulture along the way:

The prominent rock formation somewhat belong the ridgeline and about a third of the way over from the right hand edge of the photo is Hog Heaven. Above that and to the right is the Thumbnail Pinnacle. This strange looking pinnacle can be seen from Fountain Hills.

Heather makes her way across some large boulders on the way to Hog Heaven:

A view of McDowell Mountain Park – we were surprised at how flat it looked.  It doesn’t feel quite that flat when mountain biking there.

Heather, making her way up a loose section somewhat past Hog Heaven:

Heather and Dave make their way up some more large granite boulders on the way to the Thumbnail Pinnacle.

Thumbnail Pinnacle, up close:

Thompson Peak and other lesser peaks in the McDowells. Thompson Peak’s elevation is 3,984 feet. The East End summit is slightly higher at 4,069 feet.

From this vantage point, above the Thumbnail Pinnacle, it no longer has a hooked shape, but instead looks more like a spire. Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron can be seen in the distance. The large bright area in front of (and slightly to the right) of Weaver’s Needle looks like it might be a lake, but is actually a quarry.  The Fountain Lake can be seen in this photo – it’s right of the quarry.

The East End (summit) can be seen at the far right in this photo. Below and to the left is a radio repeater.

This is a view from the East End summit.  We hiked along that rocky ridge to get to this point.