Mike, Bob, Nancy, Linda, and I hiked 7.6 miles starting from the Horse Staging Area.
Shortly after sunrise from the parking area:
Looking towards Red Mountain from the parking lot:
Bees around the saguaro blossoms:
Looking towards Four Peaks from atop T-Bone Ridge:
We saw this flower on a tree in Stoneman Wash. (Perhaps someone can identify it?)
A stand of saguaros in Stoneman Wash:
Another view of Stoneman Wash:
Linda, Mike, Bob, and I hiked nearly 11.4 miles on a Friday that started off cloudy and a little bit rainy. By the time we were done with the hike, however, there were very few clouds in the sky.
Creosote:
Linda identified this as Graythorn:
A view of the storm clouds from the Scenic Trail:
Raindrops on the rocks:
Mike on the tall bench at the overlook on the Lousley Hill Trail:
A view from Lousley Hill:
Ironwood:
Views from the Escondido Trail…
Look for the owl!
Saguaro blossoms:
Mike, Bob, and I hiked a loop of about 8.5 miles starting from the Wagner Trailhead.
Some of the wolfberries are drying up, but these still look okay.
A dead tree in Stoneman Wash:
A very pretty and rocky area of the park:
Mike and Bob:
Views of the Superstitions in the background…
Ratany blossoms:
More boulders…
Sandwash Groundsel:
More boulders…
A lone poppy amongst a lot of dry grass.
Still more boulders…
Sandwash Groundsel in Stoneman Wash:
Linda, Doug, and I hiked a little over five miles in the Tom’s Thumb area. (Denise accompanied us for part of the hike too.) We hiked to Gardener’s Wall and then up to Tom’s Thumb. We continued northwest along the ridge and descended past the Lost Wall and Fort McDowell climbing areas. We then hiked the Feldspar Trail, visited the Sven Slab climbing area and returned on the Caballo Trail.
Strong winds were forecast for the afternoon. We were surprised to see how hazy it already was when we started.
Hiking up to Gardener’s Wall…
The path up to Gardener’s Wall goes beneath some granite boulders.
This is an open air cave just below Gardener’s Wall. An enormous granite boulder forms the roof of this “cave”.
After emerging from the “cave”, this large bird flew down from a location higher on the wall to the this perch. We speculated that the bird had a nest higher up and was defending its territory. Fortunately, our path took us away from this bird.
Hiking up past Gardener’s Wall…
Globemallow:
Fleabane:
We saw the rock formation known as Glass Dome after topping out at the top of Gardener’s Wall.
Tom’s Thumb:
Hedgehog cactus blossoms:
This is another view of Tom’s Thumb. The Superstitions are normally visible from this location, but not today.
Buckwheat:
Linda has a big grin on the descent.
New Mexico Thistle:
We saw these small pinnacles midway along our descent.
Prickly pear blossoms:
Sandwash Groundsel:
An impressive agave:
Desert mistletoe:
Low angle granite slabs above the Feldspar Trail.
A young tortoise:
Linda sent me this photo of me and Doug scrambling up one of the granite slabs above the Feldspar Trail:
Chuparosa blossoms:
Some kind of beetle (I think):
A mushroom rock near the Sven Slab area:
Mike, Bob, and I hiked 8.8 miles in the competitive track area. We hiked relatively short sections of both the Technical Loop and the Long Loop, with long sections of several washes in between.
This is a view, taken somewhat after sunrise, from the parking lot of the Horse Staging Area.
Another view from the parking lot:
This is a view from the surface road overlooking Stoneman Wash.
Wolfberries:
Saguaro and Ocotillo:
We had gotten rain during the early morning hours; the day was humid with a good chance of rain forecast for later in the day.
Senna:
Looking up at a saguaro…
White Ratany:
I think the yellow flowers might be Slender Goldenweed with Buckwheat in the background.
This wash was new to us…
Bob and Mike:
Another view of the wash…
Doug, Bob, Mike, Elaine, Denise, Linda, and I hiked 11.9 miles starting from the Dixie Mine Trailhead. (Elaine turned back early for a six mile hike.) We noticed that some of the cactus flowers are starting to bloom and that other flowers are beginning to dry out.
A view of a blooming ocotillo from the Dixie Mine trail.
Mine tailings…
Petroglyphs:
Doug, Linda, Denise, Elain, Mike, and Bob:
Bob, Mike, Doug, Elaine, Denise, and Linda:
Wolfberries:
Prickly Pear blossoms:
Mariposa Lily:
A view from the Prospector Trail, just prior to meeting up with the Bell Pass Trail:
A view from the Bell Pass Trail:
Prickly Pear Blossoms:
Saguaros in the wash:
Rain falling on the large panel of corrugated metal sheets flows into a trough at the bottom. Pipes leading from the trough fill a holding tank lower down. Barely visible (behind some vegetation) at the left is a mostly submerged and concrete lined tank which is sloped on one side for animals to enter and drink. We’re not entirely certain how water flows from the large holding tank to the drinking tank; the pipe leading from one to the other was well above water level and there is no evidence of a pump at this site. (It’s possible that there’s an underground pipe which we could not see.)
We had observed this site from above during past hikes up to Hog Heaven and then continuing onto the East End (summit). I had that that what I was looking at in the past was actually a concrete pad with some sort of round drinking tank. Visiting the site up close dispelled those erroneous assumptions.
We saw animal remains nearby.
More saguaros with views of Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron in the distance.
Owl Clover / Exserted Indian Paintbrush:
Globemallow (with bee!):
New Mexico Thistle:
Pot shard. (We left it and another piece of similar size in place where we found them.)
A view from the Coachwhip Trail:
Prickly Pear Blossoms (with another bee!):
A small rock outcropping with Thompson Peak in the distance:
Hedge Hog Blossoms:
Miniature Woollystar:
Doug, Bob, Joe, Linda, Marilyn, and I hiked Tortilla Creek and then Peter’s Canyon to Peter’s Cave in the Superstition Wilderness on Friday. Our total distance was only a little over five miles with less than 600 feet of elevation gain. But, even so, it took us nearly eight hours to complete this hike due to the challenging terrain.
This is the view across AZ 88 shortly after starting the hike:
Looking east prior to entering Tortilla Creek:
Another view as we approach Tortilla Creek:
This is Tortilla Creek:
The entrance to Peter’s Canyon:
This is another view shortly after entering Peter’s Canyon. Bob and Joe are up ahead.
This is one of the rocky sections early in Peter’s Canyon.
We encountered many pools of water along the way.
Doug, Linda, Marilyn, and Joe:
Joe, Bob, Doug, Linda, and Marilyn:
We encountered sections where the rocks were coated with what I assume to be dried algae. I was surprised to see that it had formed a whitish coating on the rocks.
Joe, looking ahead at Peter’s Cave:
I think this is a type of Penstemon:
This is the view from below Peter’s Cave, looking back the way we had come:
Joe, Bob, and Doug in Peter’s Cave. Despite being large and airy, it was quite cool in the cave.
Another alcove in the cave where someone had built a fire.
Joe, Bob, and Doug in Peter’s Cave:
One of the views as we made our way back:
Marilyn, standing on the rock amidst the water:
A view of the canyon prior to turning the corner into the section with the huge boulders.
This is part of the return trip; we’re nearing the end of the section which required scrambling up and down large boulders and other rock. Tortilla Creek is ahead; it was only marginally easier as we still had to watch our foot placement on nearly every step while also navigating around brush and water.
Small pools in Tortilla Creek…
Nearly done with the creek…
Hiking back up the hill…
Marilyn noticed that the moon had risen:
Doug, Eva, Bob, and I hiked to the top of Brown’s Peak on Friday. Brown’s Peak is the highest of the Four Peaks; it is the left-most peak when viewed from the Phoenix area.
We hiked Brown’s Trail #133 to the Amethyst Trail #253. After pausing for a few minutes at Brown’s Saddle, we continued up a well-traveled trail of use to the summit. After descending to the saddle, we hiked back down the Amethyst Trail to the Four Peaks Trail. Sections of the Amethyst Trail between the intersection with Brown’s trail and Four Peaks trail are still in bad shape (and is very hard to follow) from the fire in 1996. Four Peaks Trail led back to the Lone Pine Trailhead where we had parked. We hiked six and a quarter miles with just over 2200 feet of total ascent. (We gained a few more feet while getting lost and then un-lost on the Amethyst Trail.)
A view from early in the hike on Brown’s Trail:
“Snoopy” (or maybe “Woodstock”?) :
We encountered patches of snow along the way. Eva shows us some of the white stuff she thought she had left behind in Toronto.
Bob, Doug, and Eva:
A view from Brown’s Saddle. The Flatiron (in the Superstition Mountains), Saguaro Lake, and Red Mountain (which is near Fountain Hills) are all visible in the distance.
A view of Brown’s Peak (left) from Brown’s Saddle.
Bob, with some small cacti in the foreground:
We saw this interesting looking tree after leaving Brown’s Saddle:
Our route followed the couloir and then went left to the peak.
The route that we took to the couloir required climbing down some ledges. (There’s an alternate route which goes through a lot of scree.)
Looking down from a ledge on the way up.
A view of two of the other peaks on the way up.
A view from the top:
Templeton of the 4th Cavalry made it to the summit in 1867. Major William H. Brown, for whom the peak was named, commanded the 5th US Cavalry.
Bob, Doug, and Kevin:
A view of Roosevelt Lake:
We could see the other three peaks from the summit of Brown’s Peak:
Bob and Doug near the summit:
A view to the west. Parts of the road that we drove in on are visible in this photo.
Starting our descent…
Doug and Bob, descending one of the steep(ish) sections.
The way down…
Eva patiently waited for Bob, Doug, and me to go up to the summit. She said it was cold waiting in the couloir.
Eva on one of the ledges on the way back from the couloir:
Another interesting view as we made our way down:
Views from the Amethyst Trail…
This is the Four Peaks Trail, at the end of the hike:
Nancy, Eva, Linda, Doug, and I hiked the Black Ridge Loop on Friday. Starting from the Cross F Trailhead, this loop utilizes FR 393, a short portion (several hundred yards) of the Sunflower Trail, an old rancher trail to Brunson Tank and more of the same to the Little Saddle Mountain Trail. From there, the Little Saddle Mountain Trail (which is also the Arizona Trail) leads back to the trailhead. We hiked eight miles in about six hours with just over 1900 feet of total ascent. Route finding was somewhat challenging on this route; we wouldn’t have figured it out without the GPS track posted at the hikearizona.com.
A view of the old Beeline Highway from FR 393:
A view of the power lines from FR 393. The horse trailer and truck are parked at in the clearing at the end of FR 3460. (I inadvertently hiked up 3460 on one of my scouting hikes.)
Another early morning view from FR 393:
A view from the trail leading up to the ridge:
Linda, Eva, Doug, and Nancy:
We saw a lot of flowers on our hike. I think this is Lupine.
A view from the ridge:
This might be Jimson Weed / Thorn Apple.
Poppies and Lupine:
I don’t know what these are:
Linda identified this as Indian Paintbrush:
A nice looking tree at the top o fthe ridge:
I nearly stepped on these small cacti while walking back to the trail after photographing the tree. There were a lot of them in the area.
Another view from the ridge:
We saw this dead tree as we neared Brunson Tank:
Two views of Brunson Tank…
An outcrop near the intersection of the Arizona Trail and the rancher trail:
Old rusty barbed wire hanging from a tree:
A view from the Little Saddle Mountain Trail:
Nancy, Eva, Linda, Doug, and Kevin at the Arizona Trail sign. It’s 393 miles (along the Arizona Trail) to Mexico and 407 miles to Utah.
We saw some of these horses earlier in the hike too.
This one was friendly – it was curious about my camera.
Nancy with the horse:
Several other horses wanted attention too…
Friday’s hike started from the Wagner Trailhead. We had a dozen hikers total, eight of whom hiked five miles with Amy. The rest of us hiked up to Rock Knob for a nine mile hike.
