Hike descriptions and/or photos.
Marilyn and I hiked the Chimney Rock Trail into Chimney Rock Canyon and then a short ways into Spring Canyon. On the way back, I hiked a bit more of the Chimney Rock Trail and photographed the formation for which the trail and canyon got their names.
Marilyn, Joe, and I visited Cassidy Arch on Saturday, the 18th. After seeing the arch, I hiked over to the Hickman Bridge Trailhead via the Frying Pan Trail and the Cohab Canyon Trail.
This is a view of the Grand Wash. The trail to Cassidy Arch begins shortly after entering the wash. A sign at the bottom indicates that there’s 950 feet of difference in elevation between that point of the wash and Cassidy Arch. However, my GPS watch showed only and 800+ foot difference.
A view from near the start of the trail leading to Cassidy Arch.
Hikers in the Grand Wash below us:
Joe and Marilyn on the trail to Cassidy Arch:
Looking down at the road through the Grand Wash which leads to the parking area for hiking the Grand Wash and Cassidy Arch…
Fern’s Nipple:
The black hole just right of center below the horizon is Cassidy Arch.
A closer view of the Arch. We still had a ways to go before reaching the arch – we might have been halfway there by that point.
Marilyn and Joe hiking across an expanse of slickrock before reaching the arch:
This is Cassidy Arch. There is a woman in red sitting to the right of a tree above the arch. Below her, one of her companions is rappelling. Another of her companions told me that it’s a 140′ rappel. They had another six (or seven?) rappels to do before getting all the way down.
A closer look at one of the canyoneers:
The woman in red starts her rappel:
Joe told me about good views from the slickrock above the arch…
When I got back, I found that the rappellers had descended; they were in the process of pulling their rope when I took this picture.
I walked around the arch to find out what the anchors looked like. I first looked at the tree. I saw indications that the tree has been used as an anchor in the past. But I’m pretty sure that the group I saw earlier used these chains for their anchor.
Marilyn and Joe returned to our vehicle via the Cassidy Arch Trail. I, however, took the Frying Pan Trail to Cohab Canyon.
The trail gained even more elevation.
Great views…
I thought I was looking at Cohab Canyon here, but I still had quite a ways to go.
The trail led down and then back up again. At around this point, I went over a ridge after which a long descent eventually led me back to Cohab Canyon.
This, finally, is Cohab Canyon.
The orange flower appears to be a type of Globe Mallow. I don’t know what the purple one is.
Marilyn, Joe, and I hiked out and back on the Cohab Canyon Trail starting across the road from Hickman Bridge. I hiked all the way down to the campground, whereas Marilyn and Joe chose not to lose the elevation that they had gained while hiking up the canyon.
This is a view of Cohab Canyon from part way up the side trail to the Fruita Overlook.
A view from one of the Fruita Overlooks.
The grooves in this rock caught my eye…
We came across some sections of canyon where the walls had lots of holes.
Looking out from the trail leading to the campground…
Back at the top of Cohab Canyon; looking down canyon.
Joe, Marilyn, and Kevin:
Another shot view of Cohab Canyon:
After hiking Cohab Canyon, we drove up to the Gooseneck Overlook. This looks down into Sulphur Creek, which carved this channel. We had planned to hike Sulphur Creek on the following day, but ended up not doing it due to the wet and cold conditions.
We then hiked out to Sunset Point, which was accessible from the same parking area.
On our second full day in Utah, Joe and I hiked (out and back) to Corona Arch. The day before was hard, so we did an easy hike for our rest day.
Looking back towards the road and river:
Bowtie Arch on the left and Corona Arch on the right:
Bowtie Arch:
After passing beneath Corona Arch and scrambling up the ridge beyond, I took the photo of Corona Arch, above. When I turned around, I saw this view of the canyon and other rock formations, below.
Prickly Pear blossom. (Joe and I met a woman wearing a pink balaclava; she told us that she saw two unusual things. One was the Yucca stalk (or whatever it is) shown earlier in this post. The other was the prickly pear blossoms. For this area, I don’t think that either is that unusual. But it may be that they were unusual for wherever it was that she came from.)
The hike crosses these train tracks near the trailhead. To the best of my knowledge, the trains traveling these tracks carry potash.
Linda, Bob, Marilyn, and I hiked 7.3 miles starting from the Wagner Trailhead…
Senna:
Sandwash Groundsel:
A view from the Bluff Trail Wash:
Tamarisk:
I’m not sure what this is. Perezia/Brownfoot, maybe?
Velvet Mesquite:
Nearing the intersection of Pemberton and Bluff:
Views from the Bluff Trail:
Kay and I hiked somewhat over 11 miles in the Tom’s Thumb area on Friday, May 3rd. We first made our way up past Gardener’s Wall and then close to Tom’s Thumb. We then hiked partway down Tom’s Thumb Trail and then down East End to Windmill. Once on Windmill, we concluded our loop by hiking Coachwhip, Pemberton, Boulder, Marcus Landslide, and Feldspar.
An early morning view of Rock Knob (lower, left of center) from the Tom’s Thumb Trail:
Pinnacle Peak and Troon:
Gardener’s Wall; we made our way up beneath the boulders at bottom left, took a look at the bottom of Renaissance Direct, then went by (to the right) Fearless Leader, and Hanging Gardens (all of which are climbing routes). We didn’t do these routes; we just looked at them. I noticed some bolts on Fearless Leader, 5.10a, that weren’t there when I tried it back in the early 90s. We continued right along the base of the wall and then made our way up the drainage at the right.
The spot in the sky might be one of the powered paragliders that we saw coming over the ridge later on.
One of the scenic landmarks along the climber’s access trail to Gardener’s Wall:
Kay, making her way up through one of the early “tunnels”.
This is the next cave / tunnel that we encountered. We went in and then left to get to the bottom of Renaissance Direct.
As we made our way along the base of the wall, we saw two powered paragliders. They came over the ridge to which we were hiking.
We’re on the back side of Gardener’s Wall now; this is a view of Glass Dome.
Flat-Top / Mojave Buckwheat:
Gila Monster:
Kay thinks this is the tail end of a kingsnake; I didn’t get to see it’s head, it was already part way off the trail by the time I got to it.
A view from the East End Trail:
Ocotillo blossom:
Prickly Pear:
Heading down Coachwhip…
Saguaros on the Coachwhip Trail:
Buckhorn Cholla blossoms; we saw different colors on our hike, some yellow, some orange, and others closer to red.
The saguaros are starting to bloom too!
Ratany:
More Buckhorn Cholla blossoms…
Mexican Poppies:
New Mexico Thistle:
A prominent pinnacle in the Granite Ballroom area. Off to the left, in the distance, high on the ridge, is the Thumbnail Pinnacle.
Miniature Woolystar, I think:
Prickly Pear blossoms:
Mike, Sandra, Jan, Melissa, Joelyne, Kristin, and I hiked 10.8 miles in the Dixie Mine area. (I’m not sure of the spelling of some of the names, though I did check with Jan on the spelling of his name.)
A view of the McDowells from the Dixie Mine Trail:
We noticed that the grass has become quite dry.
I think this is mesquite:
We saw some nice ocotillo blossoms. This one was just off the trail and at a low enough height that I didn’t need to shoot upward.
These are the mine tailings:
Flat-Top / Mojave Buckwheat:
New Mexico Thistle:
As we made our way towards the mine from the road, we saw a nest high in one of the trees. Two birds, which we took to be hawks were flying around, alarmed at our presence. I only got this shot, though it’s definitely out of focus.
This is the petroglyph panel near the mine.
Sandra, Melissa, and Jan:
Another New Mexico Thistle:
Ascending the waterfall:
Looking down/back from the waterfall:
Continuing up the Prospector Trail…
I think this might be Miniature Woollystar:
Prickly Pear:
Globemallow:
Another prickly pear:
Hedgehog:
Heading down the Coachwhip Trail:
Ocotillo – I think we might have been back on Dixie Mine for this one:
Fleabane:
Linda and I hiked a 12 mile loop starting from the Wagner Trailhead. Sara hiked most of it with us, but she needed to return early.
This is a view of Red Mountain from the Pemberton Trail:
Four Peaks in the background with some hills near the Sport Loop in the foreground:
Hedgehog blossoms:
The ocotillos are in bloom too!
Poppies:
Phacelia:
Linda identified this as a Pincushion Flower:
Spiny Goldenweed???
Shortly before this point, Sara hiked back via the Pemberton while Linda and I tramped through some washes…
Brittlebush:
We noticed some dirt-fall in this area. There’s a big chunk of this wall which looks like it might fall sometime soon. I took this photo after we passed that section. It looked worse as we approached it.
Linda noticed this rock as we continued on…
This is a view of Red Mountain from the Tonto Tank Trail:
I think this is Sandwash Groundsel:
More poppies. We weren’t sure what the magenta colored plant behind it was.
Desert Mistletoe berries:
Nora, Heather, and I hiked a little over five miles starting from Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. We did a combo of the Hog Heaven Loop and the Lost Wall Loop visiting the East End, the highest point in the McDowells, along the way. We saw a lot of flowers, perhaps more than I’ve seen on any hike so far this year.
Early in the hike, on the Mesquite Trail:
Heading up to the pass at the top of Mesquite Canyon:
At the pass now; looking toward the Superstitions:
Continuing on the way to Hog Heaven…
The small but prominent pinnacle is the Thumbnail Pinnacle. Below it and to the left is the main wall of Hog Heaven.
Lupine:
Chia:
One of the many patches of owl clover, lupine, and poppies:
(Big) Boulder hopping:
Thistle:
Nora and Heather, below the main wall at Hog Heaven:
Heather and Nora, making their way up some steep terrain below the Thumbnail Pinnacle:
I originally thought that this was a hawk, but in the comments, Cathy says that she thinks it’s a Peregrine Falcon. I think she’s right. In any case, we saw this bird as we continued to make our way up to the Thumbnail Pinnacle. It hung around on that pinnacle as we passed it. We weren’t especially close to it – once again, I used Topaz Gigapixel AI to enhance the detail. (I also used this software on the owl photo from last week.)
We’re near or above the Thumbnail Pinnacle now, looking towards Scottsdale:
We continued up to the ridge leading over to the East End. The Thumbnail Pinnacle is well below us here, looking more like a spire. In the distance is Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron. Towards the right and somewhat closer is Fountain Hills with the Fountain.
Another view looking toward Scottsdale. Thompson Peak is the one with the antennas. Also visible is the East End Trail, far below us.
Blister beetle – thanks to Linda for the ID:
I’m not sure what this flower is; it was incredibly blue/purple though. (Update: Linda identified it as Larkspur / Delphinium.)
Tom’s Thumb with the edge of Gardener’s Wall below it and slightly to the right.
Another view of that ridge; also visible in this photo is Glass Dome at the left.
A view of Pinnacle Peak (center) and Troon Mountain at the right:
We’re nearly down to Tom’s Thumb Trail now. The two prominent pinnacles in this photo are Glass Dome on the left and Tom’s Thumb on the right. Again, the edge of Gardener’s wall can be seen at the far right.
Another patch of dry grasses and flowers:
Tom’s Thumb:
A view of Tom’s Thumb from the other side. The Class 4 West Corner route can be seen in this photo. (Mountain Project has it rated at 5.2.) This was my first climb way back before there were “easy” trails leading to Tom’s Thumb.
Nora and Heather, descending part of the Lost Wall Loop. (It was pretty much all descent, much of it loose and/or rocky, after we left Tom’s Thumb.)
Globe Chamomile:
Another view of Tom’s Thumb – this is one of my favorite spots for getting a photo of Tom’s Thumb.
Hedgehog Blossom; we saw quite a few of them on the ridge prior to resuming our descent.
Chicory:
Blackfoot Daisy? (Not sure about this one.)
Another interesting rock formation on the Lost Wall Loop:
Phacelia (I thought it was Fiddleneck, but Linda corrected me on the ID). What was remarkable about this bunch of flowers was how high they were growing. They’re usually no more than a foot or two off the ground. Other nearby vegetation allowed this clump of it to reach up to perhaps four feet in height.
