Tag: McDowell Mountain Park (page 18 of 46)

Nancy, Linda, Mike, Bob, Jody, Heather, and I hiked a loop of 11 miles starting from the Trailhead Staging Area.  It was “Wash Day”; we hiked Shallmo Wash – the wash, not the trail – and a good portion of Stoneman Wash (along with a few other non-wash trails to get us to and from these washes).

This was the sunrise, taken from the Horse Staging Area.  I got to the park early and stopped there first, before driving to the Trailhead Staging Area.

Shallmo Wash…

A view from the beginning of the Long Loop.

A phainopepla on a large (and very dead) tree branch:

Nancy, Linda, Mike, Bob, Jody, Heather, and Kevin:

Another dead tree:

Bob, Bill, Nancy, and I hiked 13.5 miles in the Tom’s Thumb Area.  We hiked these trails (in order): Tom’s Thumb, East End, Windmill, Bell Pass, Prospector, Thompson Peak service road, Dixie Mine, Coachwhip, Pemberton, Boulder, Marcus Landslide, Feldspar, and Tom’s Thumb.

The day was cool and windy.  We saw a thin layer of ice on some of the puddles on our drive to the trailhead.

A view of Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb from the Tom’s Thumb Trail:

Dead Tree near the East End Trail:

A rock outcropping near the East End Trail:

Bill, Bob, and Nancy hiking down the East End Trail:

A view from the Bell Pass Trail:

Many saguaros on a hillside above the Prospector Trail:

Another view from the Propsector Trail:

A view from the Dixie Mine Trail:

When hiking down the Coachwhip Trail from the Dixie Mine Trail, a substantial wash is encountered just before the trail heads up again. (At the top of the hill is the intersection with the Windmill Trail.)  This giant saguaro used to tower above all of the other vegetation in the wash.  It appears that the recent rain softened the soil holding the saguaro in place.  I would guess that strong winds caused it to topple.

A view from the Coachwhip Trail as we approached the intersection with the Windmill Trail:

Another view from the Coachwhip Trail as we made our way towards the Pemberton Trail:

A view from the Pemberton Trail of snow capped mountains in the Mazatzal Wilderness:

A view of the Granite Ballroom (which is a climbing area) from the Boulder Trail:

Bob, Mike, Nick, Nancy, and I hiked a little over 13 miles starting from the Horse Staging Area.  We hiked the Long Loop to the South Wash, then went northwest up the South Wash until we got to the Dixie Mine Trail. We hiked back via Dixie Mine, Pemberton, Stoneman Wash, and the Technical Loop.

A small hawk – we think – on an ocotillo as we walked over to the Competitive Track parking lot.

A hole in the rock near the “Thread the Needle” portion of the Long Loop. Despite having passed this point numerous times, I’d never noticed this hole before.

A tree overhanging our route up the South Wash…

Nick pointed out the remains of a tree on a bank of the wash:

Another view of the South Wash; some of the banks are very high!

A very textured portion of the wash…

Another section with steep banks…

An interesting rock…

Nick, Mike, Bob, and Nancy on the Pemberton Trail:

Desert Mistletoe berries:

A storm over the McDowells – we hiked through light rain during perhaps the last third of our hike.

An ocotillo blosssom:

Eight of us, Bill, Bill, Heather, Janet, Bob, Linda, Nancy, and I hiked a loop of somewhat over twelve miles.  We hiked: Tortoise, Pemberton, Tonto Tank, Pemberton, Boulder, Marcus Landslide, Rock Knob, Pemberton, Bluff Wash, Granite, Wagner.

Dead tree on the Tortoise Trail:

View of Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron from the Pemberton Trail:

A small wash which feeds into Stoneman Wash, near where Pemberton descends into the wash:

Hiking up the Tonto Tank Trail…

Heather, Bill, Linda, Nancy, Bob, Janet, Bill, and Kevin in front of the McDowells:

I think this is Turpentine Bush:

A view from the Boulder Trail:

A large boulder on the Marcus Landslide Trail:

Sven Slab:

Chain fruit cholla in the foreground; Rock Knob behind them and to the left; Four Peaks in the distance:

Another view from the Rock Knob Trail:

Approaching the park boundary on the Rock Knob Trail:

Back in McDowell Mountain Park now; another view from the Rock Knob Trail:

Hiking down Bluff Wash:

Chuparosa: