Tag: Friday Fitness Hike (page 19 of 36)

We hiked 11.8 miles on Friday starting at the Wagner Trailhead. We hiked these trails (in order): Wagner, Granite, Delsie, Gooseneck, Rock Knob, Pemberton, Bluff Trail Wash, Granite, Bluff, Granite, and Wagner.

Christmas Cholla on the Granite Trail:

Mike and Amy on the Delsie Trail:

Mike, Kelly, Bill, Laura, Amy, Bob, and Linda:

A view of Four Peaks from the Gooseneck Trail:

Some flowers are already starting to bloom!

More views from the Gooseneck Trail…

A view of Rock Knob from the Rock Knob Trail:

I think we were still on the Rock Knob Trail for this shot:

A view of Rock Knob from the Pemberton Trail:

Views from the Bluff Trail Wash:

Linda spotted this Queen of the Night plant on the Bluff Trail. She saw another one perhaps 200 feet later.

Earlier in the hike, Amy spotted this hawk:

It’s not a very good shot, but here it is shortly after taking flight:

Friday’s hike started from the Horse Staging Area.  We hiked a 10.1 mile loop consisting of the Escondido, Cinch, Scenic, Pemberton, and Escondido trails.

There will be an equestrian endurance ride over the weekend – it’s called Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way. We saw a number of horses as we walked through the parking lot on the way to the Escondido Trail.

A view from midway up the hill on the Scenic Trail:

A view of Four Peaks from the Scenic Trail:

Laura, Nancy, Bob, Linda, Janet, Sue, and Jerry:

Yet another view from the Scenic Trail:

Saguaros on the Escondido:

Sue, Linda, Bob, Janet, Kevin, Nancy, and Laura:

Still on the Escondido Trail…

When we got back to the Horse Staging Area, we noticed that even more horses had arrived.

Friday’s hike started at the Dixie Mine parking area at the end of Golden Eagle Blvd. We hiked the following trails: Dixie Mine, Coachwhip, Windmill, Bell Pass, Prospector, (road), and Dixie Mine for a total of 10.4 miles with nearly 1500 feet of total ascent. (This distance includes our walk through the gated community, 0.6 miles each way.)

After processing these photos using the PPW (Picture Postcard Workflow), I ran Topaz Impression on a few of them.

A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

Recent rains have made the moss especially green.

We bypassed the mine and continued up the Dixie Mine Trail to the ridge.  This is a view from partway up the hill to the ridge.

Bill, Linda, Denise, Bob, Nancy, Janet, Laura, and Kevin:

A view of the large cottonwood tree and the windmill on the Windmill Trail:

A version of the above filtered through Topaz Impression:

Views from the Bell Pass Trail…

Saguaros on the Prospector Trail:

Friday’s hike started at the Trailhead Staging Area. We hiked a loop consisting of Pemberton, Shallmo Wash, Escondido, and Pemberton (again). When we got back, we hiked the Hilltop Trail too, in order to get 10 miles total.

I used four exposures for this sunrise photo. I couldn’t figure out what to do about the flare immediately below the sun; it was present even in the shots where placed my finger in front of the sun in order to block flare.

Allen, Linda, Steven (?), Janet, Nancy, and Bob:

Views from the Escondido Trail:

Views from the Hilltop Trail:

Nancy, Marilyn, Janet, Allen, Nick, and I hiked eight miles on Friday. Starting at the Wagner Trailhead, we hiked up to the Pemberton and then returned on the Bluff Trail.

Bob, Janet, Allen, Linda, Denise, Matt, Jerry, Krisztina, Dod, and I hiked the Dixie Mine and Sonoran trails on Friday. Bob brought along Sarge and Kina. Janet and Allen brought their dogs, Bella and Savannah.

A view of the McDowells from the Dixie Mine Trail:

We took a water break at the intersection of the Sonoran and Dixie Mine trails.

A view from the Sonoran Trail:

Linda and Denise on the Sonoran Trail:

Switchbacks on the Sonoran Trail:

A view of the Fountain (and parts of Fountain Hills):

A rock formation on the Western Loop Trail:

Another view from the Western Loop Trail; note that Adero Canyon construction has begun.

For Friday’s hike, Bob, Janet, Allen, Amy, and I hiked six miles in the competitive track area.

I arrived at the Horse Staging Area early for these photos:

This is a view from near the beginning of the Technical Loop:

These large arrows are on one of the service roads.

A view of one of the smaller washes that crosses the service road:

Amy and Janet are hiking the Sport Loop.

Another view from the Technical Loop:

Krisztina, Amy, Linda, and I hiked about seven miles today starting from the Wagner Trailhead.

I forgot to bring my camera with me today, but Linda kindly loaned me hers. Thanks, Linda! Amy helped out too by sending me some of her photos.

A view from the Granite Trail:

Amy spotted this Western Diamondback Rattlesnake as we hiked the Granite Trail.

Stopping for water at the Bluff Trail Wash.

Amy sent me these two photos at the rocky section of the Bluff Trail Wash.

Linda ducks under some vegetation in the wash.

Looking down from a small boulder that I climbed.

Amy sent me this photo of me atop the boulder.

Krisztina stops to taste a jojoba seed.

A view from above the wash.

We came upon this dead saguaro along the Bluff Trail. It appears to have fallen recently.

Bob and I hiked a big loop starting at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead. We hiked about 10.5 miles with over 2,000 feet of total ascent. The first three miles took three hours!

This is a view of Morrell’s Wall from the parking area shortly after sunrise. (We arrived too late for me to get a sunrise photo.) Gardener’s Wall is also visible at the far right.

We hiked the Tom’s Thumb Trail to the first climber’s access trail. This is a view looking up the mountain from that trail. The largish slab about a quarter of the way from the right edge and a quarter of the way down from the top of the photo is the Half and Half Wall. The rock formation above it and somewhat to the right is (I think) the Lost Wall. The rock formation just slightly left of center is Lost in the Air. Bob and I visited the top of the Half and Half Wall where we saw a number of rappel anchors at the top. We then followed a trail over to Lost in the Air. I don’t think Lost in the Air gets many visitors. This portion of the trail did have occasional cairns (which were often just a single rock placed on another boulder) and ribbons. One of the challenges was to spot these markers. The other challenge was to move in that direction. There was one spot in particular that I found exciting. The move wasn’t especially difficult, but there was just enough exposure to make it mentally challenging. 

This is a view from the Half and Half Wall.

This is part of the Lost in the Air formation. I think I stitched together six shots to make this one photo.

This is the view to the north from Lost in the Air. The top of Half and Half Wall is just right of center and up about a quarter of the way from the bottom of the photo. It’s not especially steep at the top. We had to walk down twenty to thirty feet to get to the rappell anchors.

We found a way to hike up past Lost in the Air.

Tom’s Thumb and the Rist were visible when we got to the ridge. (Glass Dome and the top of Gardener’s Wall are visible in this photo. Weaver’s Needle and Four Peaks can be seen far in the distance.)

Tom’s Thumb:

We came upon this saguaro and boulders as we made our way around Tom’s Thumb.

This is a view of Glass Dome from the Tom’s Thumb Trail. I had stopped to dump my spare 40oz water bottle into my 3L CamelBak reservoir prior to our descent of the East End Trail. I drank all of my water on this hike.

A view looking toward Fountain Hills from the East End Trail:

Another view from the East End Trail. The rock formation at the very top of this photo is Goat Hill. The East End summit is a short ways (less than a quarter mile) beyond that rock formation.

Saguaros on the Windmill Trail:

A view looking back at Windgate Pass. I think we’re still on the Windmill Trail here.

We hiked down the Coachwhip Trail, turned left on Pemberton, and then left again on Boulder.  This shot was taken from either the Boulder Trail or the Pemberton Trail.

This large boulder is on the Marcus Landslide Trail. We hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail back to the parking lot.