I took this photo in early March during a bike ride with Marilyn. It was taken from near the Pemberton where there’s a gate restricting access to the service road leading to the Long Loop which is one of the competitive tracks. I stood near the fence so that neither the fence nor the gate would appear in the photo. Weaver’s Needle is in the center of the photo far off in the distance.
Marilyn, Nick, and I saw these flowers while we were riding down the new section of the Pemberton prior to the intersection with Lariat.
I took this photo while riding the Pemberton Trail earlier today:
Marilyn and I rode a couple of laps at the competitive tracks of McDowell Mountain park in the late afternoon.
Marilyn on the Tech Loop:
A view from the Tech Loop:
Marilyn on the Sport Loop:
A view near the “Clay Pit” area on the Sport Loop:
I went out this morning and biked a potential route for tomorrow’s hike. The photos below were taken from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
The Preserve trails have been diverted somewhat and sanitized since I was last there. There are also some new trail signs.
Those leaning rocks on the skyline about a third of the way over from the left edge of the photo can be seen from many places in the park. I sometimes think that they look like people hiking with heavy packs.
Another cool looking rock on the Marcus Landslide Trail:
It doesn’t say so on the sign, but this (below) is one end of the Boulder Trail. The trail has been around for quite awhile, but only recently has an official opening been made in the fence.
This is another shot from last Sunday’s bike ride. It was taken from the Pemberton Trail, perhaps a quarter mile from the site of the old homestead.
It was a cool day for September – only 85 degrees – so I went out for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon.
The trails were in remarkably good condition after the monsoon rain that we got on Friday. The rain washed away some of the dirt surrounding the rock on some parts of the trail, making it even more fun than usual. I did encounter this big rut. I started to go down the left side of the rut – or right in this photo – but realized that I’d end up in the rut towards the bottom. I was able to stop before getting into trouble. I decided to put my bike in a deep section of it and take this photo.
I had different plans for this photo while editing it, but I clicked “Auto” in the Levels tool. I thought, “Wow, look at that color.” I dialed it back just a bit and saved it. I might redo it to bring it more in line with how it really looked at that time of day. The sky was actually a darker blue with just a hint of red and purple in some places.
Another shot of my bike just a short ways away from where the photo above was taken.
