Tag: Friday Fitness Hike (page 30 of 36)

Friday’s hike started at the Dixie Mine Trailhead at the end of Golden Eagle Blvd.  We hiked out to the mine where we looked down the mine shaft.  We then hiked up the wash past the petroglyphs, meeting up with the Prospector Trail, and continuing down the road before returning on the Dixie Mine Trail. Total distance was just over six miles.

Ranger Amy stopped by to say “Hi” and to pose for a photo by the crested saguaro at the trailhead.

Amy took this photo of Bill, Bob, Janet, Linda, and me.

An early morning view of the Dixie Mine Trail.

We saw a cyclist riding the trail.

One of the many rock outcroppings along the Dixie Mine Trail:

Saguaros:

A view of the mine tailings.  We hiked to the top of that hill where we looked down the mine shaft.

We saw these saguaros on our way up to the top of the tailings.

Bill enjoys the view from the edge of the tailings.

Janet, Bob, and Bill look at the shaft as I get my tripod out.

Bill helps me with the tripod as I attempt to get a photo of the mine shaft.  (Thanks to Linda for both this photo and the previous photo!)

I didn’t have the camera angled down quite as much as I had wanted.  This is the photo I got:

Red Mountain (Mount McDowell) can be seen from the top of the tailings.  The road below is part of the road that leads from Grassland Dr. in Fountain Hills to the radio towers at the top of Thompson Peak.

There are a lot of saguaros on the hillside above the mine tailings.  I thought that the notch in the tall saguaro was interesting.  You can tell that I’m pointing the camera upwards because the saguaros at the edges lean in.

Linda, Bill, Janet, and Bob patiently wait for me to take photos…

One more shot from the top of the tailings…

There is a spring near the mine which keeps that area quite lush.  We found the trail to be more overgrown than normal.  In the photo below, Bill holds up a tree branch to let the ladies through.  (Bob and I ducked underneath it.)

When we got near the mine, we found that several branches, or perhaps even trees, had fallen across the trail.  Janet points up at the tree from which one of the branches had fallen.

Janet ducks underneath the fallen branch.

Approaching the large petroglyph panel…

Two more views of the panel of petroglyphs…

Continuing on past the petroglyphs…

A largish boulder in the wash somewhat past the waterfall area.

Bob climbed a short ways up a slab on the side of the wash.  This could be a useful skill in the event of a flash flood!

A forest of saguaros can be seen from the Prospector Trail.

Janet and Linda hike back along the Dixie Mine Trail.

A nice looking saguaro amid a rock outcropping along the Dixie Mine Trail.

Linda, Janet, Bob, Bill, and I met at the Horse Staging Area (in McDowell Mountain Park) for Friday’s hike.  We hiked a 7.25 mile loop.

The sun had not quite risen yet when I arrived.  Linda took this photo of me taking some predawn photos using my tripod.

This is one of the photos I got:

It’s amazing how much the sky can change in just a few minutes…

Linda’s photo of the sky just before sunrise:

A view of Red Mountain, just after sunrise:

Another pre-hike photo taken just after sunrise:

I had seen this area from the Technical Loop before, but we found a road that brought us closer.

I like this photo from Linda…

Janet noticed the remains of a dead saguaro with an interesting looking protrusion at the top.  I think this might be from one of the arms when it was alive.

Linda took a photo of it too…

A dead tree in Stoneman Wash:

We noticed some very green and healthy looking trees in Stoneman Wash, but none of us knew what they were.  Below, Bill, Janet, Linda, and Bob pose in front of one of them.

Two more views of Stoneman Wash…

Senna flowers on the Pemberton Trail:

Friday’s hike met at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead, where we hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail.  The hike started off rainy, but cleared after perhaps twenty minutes or so.

Amy composed this group photo, which I shot from my tripod.  From left to right are Linda, Kevin, Amy, Janet, Teresa, Marilyn, Mary, and Jerry.

A bird’s nest in a chain fruit cholla, with Sven Slab in the background:

Linda sent me this photo of me photographing the nest.

More chain fruit cholla:

Sven Towers III, and II.  (Seven Tower I is only partially visible at the far right in this photo.)

A spider web among some barrel cacti:

Linda took this photo of the web from above:

We saw a mule deer, but the wide angle lens that I was using didn’t get me very close:

Marilyn got this photo of the deer with her camera.

The Granite Ballroom with the Thumbnail Pinnacle off in the distance.

Broken mushroom rocks:

We spent nearly all of the hike in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.  Some of us did, however, take a few steps into McDowell Mountain Park.  Here, Amy and Teresa pose by a sign on the Boulder Trail.

The trail leads up a hill formed from the slide mass:

Linda took this photo of me at around that point.

The trail goes past a lichen covered slab of granite:

Amy makes her way up the slide mass.  Rock Knob is in the background at the right.

We stopped at the interpretive viewpoint which shows the locations of various landmarks including Four Peaks and Weaver’s Needle.  I took this photo from that view area.

Taking a break near the view point…

Submarine Rock:

We returned via the Caballo Trail.  Along that trail is an old feeding trough…

There’s also an old water tank nearby.  Tom’s Thumb can be seen just left of the water tank.

On the drive out, after the hike was over, Teresa took this photo of caballos crossing the road.

Friday’s hike started at the horse staging area near the entrance to the park.  I took this photo of the sunrise while we waited for everyone to arrive.

We walked across the road to the competitive track parking area and started by hiking part of the Technical Loop.  We branched off onto the Long Loop and then hiked up to Pemberton via Stoneman Wash.  We went through the Trailhead Staging Area on our way to the Scenic Trail.  After about a mile on the Scenic Trail, we turned right onto the trail taking us back to the Horse Staging Area.

Note: I do not recommend hiking the loops in the competitive track area.  They are one way tracks and mountain bikes take them pretty fast.  I warned everyone on the hike to listen for bikes and to be prepared to step off the trail quickly.

A view from early on the Technical Loop:

A view of Red Mountain in the distance.

One of the steep downhill sections on the Technical Loop.  It appeared in pretty good shape.  It often has a lot of loose rock on it.

On our way to the tunnel going under the Sport Loop.

The tunnel…

Another view of Red Mountain.

Linda took this photo of me taking a picture.

We had some cool clouds on Friday.

Sarge leads the way, followed by Bob, Janet, Teresa, Marilyn, and Linda.

Chain Fruit Cholla on the Long Loop.

We saw this horny toad near the end of our hike on the Scenic Trail.

Friday’s hike was 6.25 miles, starting from the Trailhead Staging Area.  We hiked out on the Pemberton Trail and then explored some of the washes near the former site of the Pemberton Ranch homestead.  We returned via Stoneman Wash and Pemberton.

Linda showed up with a new pair of gaiters.  We needed our gaiters today – they kept stuff out of our shoes as we hiked though sandy and vegetated washes.

Two views of one of the washes we explored:

A photo of Amy as she was…

…taking this photo of us:

The small canyons we hiked started out fairly open, but gradually narrowed with lots of twists and turns.  We encountered several forks along the way too.  If you choose incorrectly, you end up in a box canyon.  Today, however, we guessed at the right route; some of our past explorations of this area required us to retrace our steps.

Bob and Sarge pose beneath an undercut section of wall:

Linda and Amy hike past a steep wall.

Amy tells us about this Verdin nest:

As noted earlier, our way narrowed down.  At this point, we had to hike single file.

Taking a water break…

Sarge!

More views on our way back to the Pemberton:

We came across this rusted piece of metal.  None of us could figure out to what it might have once been attached.

A short while later, Amy found this spoon in the wash:

We followed our wash across the Pemberton on its way to feeding into Stoneman Wash. Bob stopped to give Sarge some more water.  I used the time to hike to the top of a small hill to see if we were already in Stoneman wash or if we still had further to go.  (We still had a ways to go.)  While atop the hill, I took this picture of the group with the McDowells in the background:

While still on the hill, I turned around and took this photo looking across Stoneman Wash towards Four Peaks.

It was starting to get warm as we hiked up Stoneman Wash and Sarge was panting a lot. Bob stopped to give Sarge some more water.

Friday’s hike started at the Wagner Trailhead.  Bob, Teresa, Linda, Janet, and I hiked 7.25 miles.  The highlight of the hike was the wash paralleling the Bluff Trail.  Most of the photos below are from that area.

The morning was cloudy, which is kind of unusual for Arizona, though not too unusual for hikes in July and August.  We heard thunder off in the distance and were able to see rain in the distance too.  Occasional gaps in the clouds allowed the sun to light up mountains in the distance.

This is a view of the wash, just after leaving the Granite Trail.  We climb the boulders near the left edge of the photo in order to continue on up the wash.

Teresa and Linda make their way up the rocky part of the wash.

Teresa found this antler in the wash.

Anyone know what kind of plant this is?

We saw many holes as we hiked up the wash.  This one was quite large, but shallow.  We were able to easily see the bottom of the hole.  We wondered what kind of animal made this hole.

Spooky looking tree branches:

Here’s a spider hole.  But what kind of spider lives here?

Part of a burnt tree…

Teresa and Bob hike through another rocky section of the wash.

Rain showers in the distance…

Teresa, Janet, Bob, and Linda at the top of the Bluff Trail.  Janet, Bob, and Linda are wearing colorful gaiters purchased from Dirty Girl Gaiters.

Another view of rain showers from the Bluff Trail:

Another view of the Bluff Trail, with Four Peaks just visible behind some rain showers.

We hiked the Scenic Trail during last Friday’s Fitness Hike.  We had a fairly large group for a hike in June.  Often, it ends up just being the regulars who show up for hikes during the summer months.

I didn’t take many pictures.  The desert is very brown right now; plus I have more than a few photos of this area.  See this post from several months ago for other Scenic Trail photos.

Sarge greets Heather as Bob looks on:

Sarge waits for water at the top of the hill on the Scenic Trail.

From left to right are Heather, Teresa, Mary, Janet, Mary, Marilyn, Linda, and Bob, with Sarge in front.

Bonus photo!  This is Mary’s husband, Clayton, riding the Pemberton Trail on Sunday: