Tag: McDowell Mountain Park (page 38 of 46)

For Friday’s hike, Linda, Amy, Bill, Kathy, and I met at the Trailhead Staging Area.  The five of us hiked the Scenic Trail.  After that, Linda and I continued on and explored Stoneman Wash.

Equestrians saddle their horses just before sunrise.

Sunrise in the rear window of my F-150; the moon is still on its way to setting just over the cab.

A view from the Scenic Trail early in the hike.

Linda, Bill, Kathy, and Amy hike up the one substantial hill on the Scenic Trail.  It’s only about 200 feet of elevation gain.

The view from partway up the hill.  Amy suggested we stop for water; good thing we did, or I would have missed this picture!

Another view from approximately the same location.

A petroglyph can be seen along the trail.

Another “scenic” view from the Scenic Trail.

A view from the Pemberton, shortly before crossing the road:

A view of a small feeder wash to Stoneman Wash.  This can be seen from the Pemberton just before descending a short hill leading down into (and across) Stoneman Wash.

Dried and cracked clay near the former clay mining test site.  I wouldn’t have thought to take this photo, but I saw Linda photographing it with her camera, so I decided to give it a try too.

Another view of Red Mountain.

A palo verde at the top of a small bluff along Stoneman Wash.

The same bluff as above, viewed from a short ways further up the wash:

A large palo verde tree in Stoneman Wash:

Linda poses next to a large saguaro.  It really was leaning that much.

A bright yellow flower with a small white spider in the tortoise enclosure.  We looked for tortoises in the enclosure, but did not see any.

Friday’s hike started at the Wagner Trailhead.  Ranger Amy introduced regulars Bob, Linda, Janet, and me to Bill and Kathy who recently moved here from Wisconsin.  Also joining us was Jerry, who had been on one of our hikes in the past.  Amy had to work at the visitor center and was unable to join us for the hike.

We hiked the Wagner Trail to Granite, turning right.  We followed the Granite Trail until we got to the wash below the Bluff Trail.  We hiked up the wash until we got to the Pemberton Trail, seeing two snakes along the way.  From there we hiked a short ways on Pemberton, turned onto Bluff and followed the Bluff trail to the bottom where it intersects with the Granite Trail.  From there we took Granite back to Wagner, which lead us back to the trailhead.  Total distance was a little over seven miles.

A view of the McDowells from the Granite Trail.

Recent rainstorms have caused some flowers to bloom.  I think these are Senna, but Jerry knew them by a different name (which I’ve now forgotten).

Bob and Sarge lead the way to the gap in the rocks where an easy scramble allowed us to continue on up the wash.  Sarge tried to make it up the rocks on the own, but he needed a boost.  He was a very good dog when I picked him up.

Easy scrambling was required further up the wash too.

We stopped for a group photo at a small wall built in the wash.  We don’t know who built this wall or the purpose of it, save that it may prevent erosion to some degree.  Perhaps it was a small dam at one time which filled in over time?

From left to right, and top to bottom, are Bill, Jerry, Bob, Sarge, Kathy, Janet, Kevin, and Linda.

Boulder-strewn hills form the banks of the wash.

This rattlesnake was well away from where we were walking, but made itself known to us by employing its rattle.  It was kind of dark and difficult to see this snake.  This is the best photo I got of it.

The upper parts of the McDowells can be seen from the wash.

More bouldery outcroppings…

Just before reaching Pemberton, we saw coachwhip snake, also known as a red racer.  I tried to get close to it while it was still on the ground, but it raced away, disappearing into some brush.  Moments later, Jerry noticed it slithering up into a tree.  It took me a long time to see it because, to me, it looked like just another branch.  Once I finally did see it, I was able to take the photo, below:

Here’s the uncropped version of the photo above.  I like this one too because you can see the sky through the leaves and branches of the tree.

This is the palo verde (tree) at the top of the hill near the intersection of Bluff and Pemberton.  There is a small bench, just barely visible, to the left of the tree.

Sarge and Bob pose for a picture.

Friday’s hike started at the trailhead for the North Trail.  Linda, Janet, Bob, and I joined Ranger Amy for a 7.2 mile hike that utilized the North Trail, Chuparosa, and part of the Pemberton Trail.  We focused on hiking, mostly.  I took few photos on this hike than usual.

I took this photo before the hike begin, shortly after sunrise:

Linda took this photo of Bob and Amy at Cedar Tank.  The tank has water in it and Amy saw swimming shrimp.  There were also mosquitoes there, so we didn’t stay long.

We stopped to take a group photo near an old water tank no longer capable of holding water due to many bullet holes.

We saw these large saguaros as we were nearing the Chuparosa Trail on our way back.

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: