Tag: McDowell Sonoran Preserve (page 6 of 11)

Bob and I hiked in the Tom’s Thumb area on Friday. We hiked perhaps 7 miles with a total ascent of 2500 feet.

View from parking lot just before 6:00am:

We hiked the Marcus Landslide Trail to the Feldspar Trail and then scrambled up a low angle slab of Granite.
We saw this interesting cacti on the way up.

A view towards the east on the way up:

This is the view looking towards Morrell’s Wall.

Bob, starting his scramble up the next low angle slab of granite:

Morrell’s Wall on the left and Tom’s Thumb to the right.

I don’t know what these are, but we saw patches of them growing in thin soil atop the granite on the way up. We took care not to step on them. This patch is near the top.

A view from near the top of Sven Tower I:

The Thumbnail Pinnacle looks a long way off in this photo. We ended up hiking past Sven Towers II and III on our way to the trail to Hog Heaven.

A view of McDowell Mountain Park. The Boulder Trail and the Marcus Landslide Trail can be seen below.

I was surprised to see some blooming Globemallow flowers on our way up to Hog Heaven.

This photo is for Linda. (The route goes across the tops of these boulders.)

Looking up at the walls of Hog Heaven:

This is the main wall at the Hog Heaven climbing area:

We had passed the Thumbnail Pinnacle at this point. The brush was a lot thicker than the last time we were here. I took this photo while procrastinating about pushing through the brush.

As we approached the East End, the highest point in the McDowells, we saw two people already there!

This is a view from the highest point in the McDowells. Tom’s Thumb, Gardener’s Wall, Pinnacle Peak, and Troon Mountain are all visible in this photo.

We hiked this ridge on our way to the East End.

A blooming prickly pear cactus with Tom’s Thumb in the background.

We saw and heard a lot of bees on Friday. Here, we see one in the prickly pear blossom.

A view of Pinnacle Peak.

Gardener’s Wall:

On Friday’s hike, Janet, Linda, Bob, and I hiked from the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead to Gardener’s Wall, and then from Gardener’s Wall to Tom’s Thumb. We then proceeded to the top of the East End Trail. We had planned to do a route down the East End Trail, but it had begun raining fairly hard, so we headed back down the Tom’s Thumb Trail instead, for a hike that was somewhat under five miles.

A view from the parking lot prior to starting the hike:

Sandwash Groundel on the Tom’s Thumb Trail.

This is the view to the east as we hiked up the Tom’s Thumb Trail:

Troon and Pinnacle Peak:

Tom’s Thumb:

Janet, Linda, and Bob wait for me while I use my camera:

Another view of Tom’s Thumb as we start making our way towards Gardener’s Wall:

Gardener’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb:

This is another view of Gardener’s Wall. The trail appeared to go between these rocks, but we turned back and found another way.

Bob, at a dead end.

Linda and Bob make their way up the steep trail to Gardener’s Wall.

Janet, after completing a mantling move:

Janet and Linda on their way towards the “cave”.

The cave:

Janet, Linda, and Bob on the traverse past Gardener’s Wall. Note the cairn by Janet’s hand. (It really is a trail!)

Bob looks for the trail from a high vantage point.

Globemallow:

Linda and Janet, proceeding upward again.

A view of Glass Dome after making it to the top, next to Gardener’s Wall.

Views of Tom’s Thumb:

It’s raining in Scottsdale.

It was raining lightly when I took this photo. This was my last photo of the day – it began raining much harder after taking this shot.

We did an 8+ mile route on Friday, March 20 starting at the Granite Mountain Trailhead. We hiked the following trails: Bootlegger, Saddlehorn, (left on) Granite Mountain Loop, Balanced Rock, (right on) Cholla Mountain Loop, Branding Iron, (left on) Granite Mountain Loop, and (back on) Bootlegger.

The Bootlegger Trail passes through these large boulders:

A heart shaped rock can be seen from the Bootlegger Trail.  On the way out, you have to turn around to see it. It’s easier to find when returning to the trailhead.  Fortunately, Linda was our guide; she let us know when it was time to look back to see it.

Another view from the Bootlegger Trail.  The segment of Bootlegger from the Trailhead to the intersection with Saddlehorn is only about 3/4 mile long and is very scenic.  It makes an excellent mile and a half hike for just about anyone.

I think these photos might have been taken from the Saddlehorn Trail:

This is the intersection of Saddlehorn and the Granite Mountain Loop Trail. We turned left here.

Hiking the Granite Mountain Loop Trail:

Taking a break…

Looking up the mountain.  The rock at the top has a roof upon which is a 5.8 called Pasta Man Unchained.

The yellow flowers are Goldfields:

From left to right are Heather, Janet, Bob, Allen, Nick, Jen, Linda, and Bill.  The dogs are Savannah, Bella, Keena, and Sarge.  Linda took charge of Sarge for the day.

Another view, showing the upper part of Balanced Rock:

Nick and Jen returned to the trailhead at this point.  The rest of us continued on the Balanced Rock Trail.

This is Cholla Mountain:

A view of the northeastern portion of Cholla Mountain:

Globemallow flowers:

Blackfoot Daisy:

I think this is Hackberry Beartongue / Arizona Scarlet Bugler (with Fairy Duster in the background):

Fairy Duster:

Returning on the Granite Mountain Loop Trail:

Views of Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron in the distance:

Friday’s hike started at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead at the end of 128th St.  We hiked up to Tom’s Thumb and then took the Tom’s Thumb Trail east to the Scottsdale side of the mountain. We hiked down to the Windgate Trail and then took Windgate back up through Windgate Pass until we reached the East End Trail. We took the East End back to the Tom’s Thumb Trail and followed the Tom’s Thumb Trail back to the parking area. Total distance was 10.3 miles with over 3200 feet of total ascent.

This was the view shortly after leaving the trailhead:

One of many rock formations that we passed on our way to Tom’s Thumb:

Look for three deer in the following two photos. We saw one of the deer high above us as we worked our way up the mountain. As we got higher, we noticed that there were actually three deer – which eventually ran down the mountain.

A view of the East End, Goat Hill, Glass Dome, Weaver’s Needle, Tom’s Thumb, and The Rist. I think part of Gardener’s Wall might also be visible at the lower left.

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

I saw this rock formation as I hiked down the Tom’s Thumb Trail on the Scottsdale side.

Look for two groups of hikers in the photo below.  Bob, Allen, Janet, Greg, and Linda are hiking below me. (Bob was hiking very fast due to time constraints.) There was another group of hikers above me.

Another view of the the trail with Scottsdale in the background.

Bob is pulling even further ahead in this photo.

I noticed that I could see the tall buildings of downtown Phoenix when I took this photo.

Poppies:

We saw a rock that looked like a baseball mitt as we hiked up the East End Trail.