Sara, Mike, Linda, Marilyn, and Laura joined me for a 10.7 mile hike in the Dixie Mine Area. (Marilyn and Laura turned back after visiting the mine for a 6.5 mile hike.)
This is the Dixie Mine entrance (though you can’t go in):
Petroglyphs…
Laura, Marilyn, Linda, Mike, and Sara:
Heading up the Prospector Trail:
This is the view shortly after turning onto the Bell Pass Trail from the Prospector Trail:
Linda and I hiked nearly nine miles on a hike starting from the Wagner Trailhead. Marilyn joined us for much of it, hiking perhaps seven miles.
This is a view of the McDowells from the Granite Trail. I had hoped to hike up the wash through the boulders at the lower right, but erosion has made an already high step to a crucial ledge even higher than it used to be. (It’s been that way for several years now, but seems to get periodically worse.)
Senna:
I haven’t seen an ant hill this large in quite some time!
Another view of the McDowells; I think we were on the Bluff Trail at this point.
Four Peaks behind the dead tree and boulders…
At this point Linda and I are at the top of the section which has become more difficult to scramble up. It’s still easy to slide down though.
On Friday, the 27th, Linda and I hiked 10 miles starting from Tom’s Trailhead. We hiked a big loop: Marcus Landslide, Boulder, Pemberton, Coachwhip, Windmill, East End, and down Tom’s Thumb (adding in Feldspar with a return on Marcus Landslide to get us up to 10 instead of just 9).
Sunrise from the parking lot:
An early morning rainbow!
Prominent boulders near Sven Slab:
A view of the McDowells from the Boulder Trail:
As we were hiking up the Coachwhip Trail, I stepped over this rattlesnake, thinking it was a rock. Linda called my attention to it, allowing me to get this photo…
Two views from the East End Trail…
This is a view of the pinnacle known as “Glass Dome” from near the intersection of the Tom’s Thumb and East End trails.
A view of Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb as we hiked down Tom’s Thumb Trail:
On Friday, Sept 20, I hiked a little over 13 miles starting from Four Peaks TH (in McDowell Mountain Regional Park). After hiking through the competitive track area, I wound up on Pemberton and then took Dixie Mine to the South Wash. I then hiked this wash back to the competitive track area, taking the Long Loop back to the parking lot.
Four Peaks from the parking lot:
Another parking lot photo, this time of some saguaros with the Superstitions (including Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron) as the background.
A view of Red Mountain from the Technical Loop:
Looking back towards the Superstitions from my ascent of T-Bone Ridge (still on the Technical Loop):
Another view of Red Mountain as I descend T-Bone Ridge on the west side:
Red Mountain again, but this time I’m in Stoneman Wash:
Looking toward the McDowells from one of Stoneman’s feeder washes:
A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:
In the South Wash now…
We’ve gotten quite a lot of rain since my hike on the 20th, but it has been very dry for a very long time before that. Thus, I was surprised to see these flowers in the wash.
I like the high vertical banks of the South Wash.
The wash goes on and on – perhaps a quarter of the hike takes place in the South Wash.
Mule deer antler:
Looking toward Four Peaks from near the Long Loop:
Looking towards the Superstitions, again from the Long Loop:
Chia:
On Friday, Sept 6, I hiked nine miles on the Dixie Mine and Sonoran trails.
This is a view of the crested saguaro at the parking lot entrance.
A view of Four Peaks on the way to the start of the Dixie Mine Trail. (There’s about 0.7 miles of residential sidewalks to walk between the parking lot and actual trailhead.)
A view of the McDowells:
The route I took provided a good view of Weaver’s Needle!
Saguaros were dense along this hillside.
Looking back down the wash towards the road:
This is the “waterfall”. Seeing bees around one of the puddles at the first landing, I turned around at this point. If you look closely, a few petroglyphs are also visible in this photo.
There’s a cave (which was probably created from mining activity) at the left in this photo.
Mine tailings:
Views from along the Dixie Mine Trail:
When I got to the intersection with the Sonoran Trail, I decided to hike it to the preserve boundary and then a short ways into the preserve. On the way back, I saw a deer!
Dan and I hiked a 10 mile loop starting from Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. We hiked the ridge past Tom’s Thumb and then down East End Trail, returning on Windmill, Pemberton, Boulder, and Marcus Landslide.
Early morning views from the parking lot…
…and early on Tom’s Thumb Trail:
Linda and I hiked 8.5 miles on Friday, the 23rd. We started from the Trailhead Staging Area and hiked some washes early in our hike. We finished on the Tonto Tank and Pemberton trails.
Red Mountain in the distance; we’re on the Pemberton, about to drop into Stoneman Wash at this point.
Clay mounds near Stoneman Wash:
We often see owls in this area, but we didn’t see any until after crossing the Pemberton later on.
Chia:
Mule deer horn:
I think this is a hawk…
We were both surprised to see these Senna flowers along the Tonto Tank Trail. We’ve gotten so little recent rain that I would have expected to see them in or near a wash, if at all.
Chris and Dan joined me for an 8 mile hike on Friday, the 16th. This was their first hike in the area, so we visited Dixie Mine. We looked through the gate into the adit. We also went to the top of the tailings and saw the vertical shaft. Dan, a geologist, noticed a lot of quartz in the area; he told me that those operating the mine were hoping to find gold. After looking at the petroglyphs, we continued to the Prospector Trail, but decided to turn back instead of continuing onto Bell Pass, Windmill, etc. for a much longer hike. When we got to the intersection with the Sonoran Trail, Chris said she was feeling well enough to hike to the Preserve boundary, so we did that too.
Early morning views of the McDowells…
A view from the mine tailings:
Petroglyphs…
A triangular shaped formation further up-canyon:
A view of the mine tailings; I stood on the edge of these tailings for one of the earlier photos, above.
Another view of the McDowells, this time from the Sonoran Trail:
Looking toward Four Peaks from just within the Preserve (still on the Sonoran Trail):
On Friday, Aug 9, I hiked 11 miles starting from the Wagner Trailhead. Trails hiked, in order, are: Wagner, Granite, Delsie, Gooseneck, Rock Knob, Pemberton, Bluff, Granite, and Wagner. It was a warm morning; I saw only one other trail user, a cyclist, while I was out.
Sunrise at the trailhead:
I saw a patch of rainbow as I hiked out on the Wagner Trail.
This is the view from the intersection of the Wagner and Granite trails.
This is the ramada at the intersection of Delsie and Pemberton. At the right are some bike tools with spare tubes in the yellow mailbox.
A view of the McDowells from the Gooseneck Trail:
Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb are visible in the distance. That’s private property for a ways on the other side of the gate. When I’ve taken this shot in the past, I’ve tried to exclude the gate, but decided that it’s also a good shot with the gate.
Senna:
Saguaros:
I’ve seen very few rattlesnakes this (calendar) year. I wouldn’t have seen this one had it not rattled as I walked by.
Buckhorn Cholla:
The Gooseneck Trail passes between some large granite boulders at this point.
Moss:
Sven Slab (left), Morrell’s Wall (middle), Gardener’s Wall (partially visible on ridge behind Morrell’s Wall) and Tom’s Thumb:
A view of Four Peaks from the Rock Knob Trail (just after reentering the Park):
A view of a hawk (I think) from the Rock Knob Trail:
On Friday, August 2, I hiked 9.5 miles starting (and ending) at the Four Peaks Trailhead in McDowell Mountain Regional Park.
A view from the Long Loop (in the competitive track area):
I got photos of a flying owl in Stoneman Wash:
The competitive track area has some interesting terrain…
This is part of the clay mine test site along the Pemberton Trail.
Quail, running away from me on the Pemberton Trail.
Saguaro ribs:
