Tag: Friday Fitness Hike (page 18 of 36)

Linda, Nancy, and I hiked an 8.4 mile loop starting from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. Amy joined us for the first part of the hike.

Boulders near the Sven Slab area:

Early morning cholla:

Amy spotted this hummingbird:

The bunnies were out too:

Desert Mistletoe:

Linda told me that this is Deer Vetch:

Chuparosa amidst the rocks:

A quartz outcropping:

Linda and Nancy:

A view from the East End Trail:

Linda is about to “crab walk” down a granite boulder on the way back.  (Nancy observes her technique.)

Pinnacle Peak and Troon in the background:

A view of the three Sven Towers – they don’t really look like towers – in the foreground with Four Peaks in the background:

Mike, Bob, Laura, Nancy, Linda, Denise, and I hiked 10.7 miles on Friday. We hiked: Dixie Mine, wash past mine and petroglyphs, Prospector, Bell Pass, Windmill, Coachwhip, Dixie Mine (back to trailhead).

This is the petroglyph panel near the mine:

There are also petroglyphs near the waterfall. Nancy climbs up the waterfall while the others look for petroglyphs.

Just a few of the petroglyphs near the waterfall:

I climbed a short ways up a slab to a ledge and took this photo of the group.

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

A view from the Bell Pass Trail:

Four Peaks:

Just after leaving the Bell Pass Trail, we encountered three cyclists making their way the windmill trail.  All three were very skilled cyclists as they had no problem with the rocks in this area.

A view of Weaver’s Needle and Flatiron through the saguaros just off of the Coachwhip Trail.

Nancy, Denise, Linda, Mike, Laura, and Bob on the Dixie Mine Trail.

A rocky area near the Dixie Mine Trail:

Making our way back on the Dixie Mine Trail…

Desert Mistletoe berries:

Friday’s hike started at the Trailhead Staging Area. Bob, Mike, and I hiked 9.9 miles through the northeast corner of the park. Amy, Jill, and George joined us for the first 1.3 miles (short hike).

A view of Four Peaks from the Escondido Trail:

A view of Lousley Hill from the Eagle Trail.  This was my first hike on the Eagle Trail.

A view of Youth Group Area from the Eagle Trail.  We also hiked the Scout Trail which is visible in the photo below.

These are signs near one of the picnic areas.  The lower “No Bottles” sign was painted on top of a “No Trespassing” sign, but the paint has faded enough to see both.

A view of the Flatiron in the distance:

Cyclists on the Pemberton:

We saw this hawk while on our way over to the Scout and Eagle Trails.

Nancy, Linda, Mike, and I hiked 12.1 miles on Friday.  The highlight of our hike was the South Wash between the Dixie Mine Trail and the Long Loop (in the competitive track area).

An early morning view from the Horse Staging Area:

A view of the McDowells from above Stoneman Wash:

Kevin, Nancy, George, Jill, Janet, Allen, Linda, Mike, and Amy:

The group in one of Stoneman’s feeder washes.

This formation can be seen from the Pemberton Trail just after passing the pond / former ranch homestead:

A view of the clay pit just off of the Pemberton:

Looking west from the intersection of the Dixie Mine Trail and the South Wash:

Looking east just shortly after leaving the Dixie Mine Trail:

More views from the wash…

Linda, Mike, and Nancy:

Four Peaks framed by tree branches:

Saguaros on the latter part of the Long Loop:

Friday’s hike started from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead.  Mike, Denise, and I hiked to the highest point in the McDowells. Amy, Linda, and Jon hiked the Mesquite Canyon and the Feldspar trails with us, and then continued on to the Marcus Landslide Trail. Linda told me that her group hiked 6.4 miles.  Mike and I hiked about the same distance; we added a few extra miles to our hike when we hiked down the Rock Knob Trail into McDowell Mountain Park. (Denise went on ahead after reaching the summit.)

Linda sent me this photo of a white goat on a boulder. She told me that she called to it and that it started coming down, but then disappeared behind a boulder.

I took this photo from the parking area just after I arrived.  This is well after sunrise, but some color was present in the sky from the sun being partially behind a dense bank of clouds.

Looking back down Mesquite Canyon during an early part of our hike:

A view of the Thumbnail Pinnacle on the ridge line.  Our route took us below and the left of the large rock formation below and to the left of the Thumbnail Pinnacle.  This is the Hog Heaven climbing area.

Denise spotted Linda, Jon, and Amy stopped at one of the many signs on the Marcus Landslide Trail:

Denise looks to see what’s ahead of us:

Mike on a steep section of our route up to the Thumbnail Pinnacle:

Denise and Mike, next to the Thumbnail Pinnacle:

A view of Thompson Peak:

Another view of the Thumbnail Pinnacle; when viewed from where I took this photo, it appears to be a slender and dramatic pinnacle.

Approaching the East End…

Densie, sitting atop the summit at the East End.  This is the highest point in the McDowells.  Tom’s Thumb is visible below us at the far right in this photo.

Glass Dome and Tom’s Thumb – and a lot of other boulders too!

Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb:

A view of the Rock Knob area as seen from the Rock Knob Trail just inside of McDowell Mountain Park:

On Friday, the 15th, several of us hiked a bit over 12 miles on the following trails: Wagner, Granite, Bluff, Pemberton, Rock Knob, Gooseneck, Delsie, Granite, Stoneman Wash, Bluff, Granite, and Wagner.

(We also hiked 12 miles on Friday, the 8th, but it was raining that day, so I don’t have any photos.)

This is a shot from the Granite Trail, prior to the hike:

Nancy, Nick, Bill, Mike, Linda, and Amy:

I think this is a view from the Bluff Trail:

A view of the McDowells from the Pemberton Trail:

Chain fruit cholla on the Rock Knob Trail:

Linda, Nancy, Mike, and I hiked 12.4 miles on Friday.  We hiked the following trails: Tom’s Thumb, climber’s access trail leading up to the ridge, and eventually to and past the Tom’s Thumb pinnacle, Tom’s Thumb, East End, Windmill, Coachwhip, Dixie Mine, Pemberton, Boulder, Marcus Landslide. Amy, Bill, and Denise accompanied us up to and past Tom’s Thumb (the pinnacle); we parted ways at the intersection of the Tom’s Thumb and East End trails.

This is a view (modified by Topaz Impression) from the Tom’s Thumb Trail.

A view from the lower slopes of the climber’s access trail.

Taking a break…

This is the small pinnacle across from the Fort McDowell climbing area.

Amy, Bill, Nancy, and Linda making their way up the climber’s access trail.

A view from one of the spur trails (leading to the Half and Half Wall):

Amy, Mike, Nancy, Linda, Bill, and Denise:

A view from the ridge.  Linda tells me that the scar at upper right (extending off the edge of the photo) will be a new golf course.

Tom’s Thumb with The Rist, in front.

Mike, Linda, Amy, Denise, Nancy, and Bill:

A view of the northwest side of Tom’s Thumb:

One of the views as we made our way around Tom’s Thumb:

Mike, Nancy, Linda, Denise, Amy, and Bill attempt to get out of the wind.  (It was quite chilly after we made our way around Tom’s Thumb and regained the ridge.)

Descending the climber’s access trail leading from Tom’s Thumb to the (main) Tom’s Thumb Trail…

Views from the intersection of the Tom’s Thumb and East End trails:

Topaz Impression version of…

…this photo of Thompson Peak:

Four Peaks as seen from the Windmill Trail:

A view of the large cottonwood tree near the windmill (on the Windmill Trail).  The windmill can be seen in this photo, but you need to know where to look.  (That’s often the case when you’re actually there too.)

I think we were near the bottom of the Coachwhip Trail (on our way to the Dixie Mine Trail) when I took this shot:

Four Peaks as seen from the Coachwhip Trail:

A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

This is the photo on which the above version made by Topaz Impression was based.  Part of Fountain Hills can be seen to the at the right.  Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron are both visible in this photo.

This is a photo of the Fallen Mushroom.  I attempted to remove the sign via use of the clone tool; I ended up with something that looked pretty good to me when I noticed that the shadow still remained.  I ended up leaving the sign in the photo.  I wish that those who had installed that sign would have placed it a bit further away.

A view of two of the Sven Towers from the Marcus Landslide Trail:

Desert Mistletoe:

These next two shots were taken with a different camera, a Sony HX90V:

Amy sent me this photo of me setting up a group shot on the northwest side of Tom’s Thumb:

We hiked twelve miles on Friday. Starting from the Wagner Trailhead, we hiked the following trails (in order): Tortoise, Pemberton, Tonto Tank, Pemberton, Boulder, Marcus Landslide, Rock Knob, Pemberton, Bluff, Granite, and Wagner.  (We hiked a short ways up the road when we were done because we were a tenth of a mile short of our goal.)

A view from the trailhead prior to starting our hike. Sunrise was actually about 45 minutes earlier.

A view from the Pemberton somewhat before crossing Stoneman Wash.

A small hill near the beginning of the Bluff Trail:

Linda, Laura, and Nancy hiking up the Bluff Trail:

A large boulder on… the Boulder Trail:

Kevin, Nancy, Bill, Linda, Bob, Laura, Allen, Janet, and Mike in front of a mushroom boulder on the Marcus Landslide Trail:

Chainfruit Cholla on the Rock Knob Trail:

A view of Four Peaks from the Bluff Trail:

Linda, Nancy, Bob, and I hiked 11.2 miles on Friday. We hiked the following trails: Shallmo Wash, Pemberton, Stoneman Wash, Service Rd, Tech Loop, Long Loop.

Bill hiked with us until the Long Loop.  Amy, Pam, and Joelle hiked part way up Shallmo Wash with us.

Stoneman Wash, just after leaving the Pemberton:

Linda, Bill, and Nancy hiking Stoneman Wash:

Signs up for the McDowell Mountain Frenzy.  This is a portion of the Tech Loop just after “The Chunnel”. Note that the arrows are pointing against the normal flow of traffic on the trail. I noticed this at several other places as well. My guess is that, for the race, some of these trails were run “backwards”.

A tree on the Long Loop near the Pemberton Wash sign. The wash in question is actually part of lower Stoneman Wash.

Saguaros on the Long Loop.

A view from the South Ridge of the Loop Loop:

This is the view from a short ways past “Convict’s Crossing.” (It’s listed as “Convict Corner” on the map, but I’m pretty sure that the sign says “Convict’s Crossing.”)

We noticed this unusual growth on one of the buckhorn chollas.

Linda (in front) and Nancy descending the last big hill on the Long Loop.