Category: Hiking (page 42 of 68)

Marilyn, Linda, Denise, Bob, and I hiked out to the Dixie Mine and back on Friday.  While in the area of the mine, we went to the top of the mine tailings. We hiked seven miles total.

Hedgehog cacti on the Dixie Mine Trail:

Prickly pear fruit:

Moss:

A view of the mine tailings from the Dixie Mine Trail.  We hiked to the top of the tailings atop which is a vertical mine shaft covered by a protective grate.

This is the grate which prevents helps to prevent people from falling down the shaft.

Looking down the mine shaft. It surprised me that there was water at the bottom. In the past when we’ve looked at it, we could never see water.  It also seemed a lot deeper in the past.

Kevin, Bob, Denise, Linda, and Marilyn:

This is the entrance to the horizontal shaft.

Linda, taking a picture of the main petroglyph panel. (Look at past Dixie Mine posts to see the main panel.)

Denise and Linda, hiking up the waterfall.

Marilyn points at some petroglyphs in that area.  There are quite a few around here, but you need to look for them.

More petroglyphs…

This is the wash past the waterfall.

It started raining by the time we got to the Prospector Trail.

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

Cholla on the Dixie Mine Trail:

Another view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

A view of the highest point in the McDowells, in the distance:

We found a flowering barrel cactus:

Seed pods on a mesquite tree:

This is the crested saguaro at the parking area.

Allen, Janet, Linda, Bob, Marilyn, and I hiked a little over eight miles on Friday. We hiked a loop consisting of the Tortoise, Pemberton, Lariat, Granite, and Wagner trails.

Sunrise:

We saw a tortoise (in the tortoise enclosure) at the start of the Tortoise Trail:

While hiking Pemberton, we encountered an equestrian riding her horse:

Linda and I took this photo of the group:

Saguaros on the Granite Trail.

We saw a cardinal in the same area:

Friday’s hike started at the Four Peaks (Horse) Staging Area.  Bob, Linda, Marilyn, and I hiked a seven mile loop.  Allen, Janet, Bella, and Savannah accompanied us for part of our hike.

A saguaro skeleton with Red Mountain in the background:

Another view of Red Mountain:

Hiking up Stoneman Wash…

A view of Four Peaks in the distance:

This is a jackrabbit in Stoneman Wash.  This gave me a chance to test my (new) Sony HX90V at a full-frame equivalent of 720mm. (The rest of the shots, above, were taken with a Sony RX100 III.)

Linda, Bob, and I hiked an 8.4 mile loop on the Tortoise, Pemberton, Lariat, Granite, and Wagner trails.

This is sunrise from the Horse Staging Area.  (I got to the park early for this shot. The sun was well up when we started our hike from the Wagner Trailhead at 6:00am.)

We saw a horned toad on the Pemberton Trail. When looking at the camera’s viewscreen, it was very hard to see the lizard as it blends in very well with the dirt and gravel on the trail.

A view of Red Mountain from the Lariat Trail.

A saguaro just off the Lariat Trail. I used a single exposure for this shot.

Palo verde seed pods:

Marilyn, Bob, and I hiked, the Wagner, Granite, Bluff Wash and Bluff Trails on Friday. I was surprised to see flowers (again) during the hike.