Tag: Tonto National Forest (page 1 of 9)

February 21, 2021 / 0 Comments

Sunday Hike – Sunflower Trail

On Sunday, Feb 20, Marilyn and I hiked the Sunflower Trail. Starting from the Cross F Trailhead, we hiked the connector to the Arizona Trail and then followed the Arizona Trail south for a little over four miles. We returned via the same trail, but took FR393 back to Old Beeline Hwy, where we had parked. We had views of Mt Ord along the way; that area had been badly burnt by the Bush Fire of 2020, but we saw no recent fire damage along the Sunflower Trail. However, we did not hike all of the Sunflower Trail; there was still perhaps 3/4 mile (near Beeline Hwy) that we did not see.

This is a view at the junction of the Cross F connector, Little Saddle Mountain Trail, and the Sunflower Trail:

Looking back along the Sunflower Trail; we are approaching FR393 here:

A tank (water hole) along the way…

I’ve checked some maps, but could not find a name for this drainage:

Mount Ord:

It turns out that 344 is the Forest Services number given to the Sunflower Trail. At this point, we’re following the trail back to FR393. This section, as well as the section behind (south) of us is a double track. There was some evidence of motorized traffic, but not as much as I thought there might be. About 0.4 miles from this marker, the trail forks left from this road. I consulted a map to see where the road goes; it seems that it might be an older routing of the Sunflower Trail. The road appears to lead to the tank shown in an earlier photo.

This photo was taken near the junction of 344 (Sunflower Trail) and FR393.

February 19, 2021 / 0 Comments

Black Ridge Loop

I hiked the Black Ridge Loop on Friday, Feb 19. I had last hiked it nearly a year ago. This hike was very different – not only did I do it alone, but it was considerably drier than last year. Route finding was also easier; it appears that this route is now getting a lot of horse traffic.

February 14, 2021 / 1 Comment

Sunday Hike – Gold Ridge Trail

Marilyn and I hiked part of the Gold Ridge Trail on Sunday, the 14th. We were relieved to see that it was untouched by the last summer’s Bush Fire.

February 7, 2021 / 0 Comments

Sunday Hike – Pike Creek Loop / Ballantine Trail

Marilyn and I hiked the Pine Creek Loop and part of the Ballantine Trail on Feb 7, 2021. We’ve hiked these trails many times, but not since the Bush Fire ravaged the area during the summer of 2020. It was kind of depressing; fire burned at least 75% of the area, possibly more. We used to visit this area to see wildflowers, including flowering cacti. Much of this vegetation is now dead. It was sad, too, to see the many burned saguaros.

This hill along Pine Creek was one of the few areas that seemed mostly undisturbed by the fire.

June 13, 2020 / 9 Comments

Bush Fire from Fountain Hills

Marilyn, Marie, and I went for an evening walk on Saturday, the 13th. Marilyn noticed a reddish glow in the distance; we walked up a nearby hill to see better. We saw an orange glow in the distance, behind some hills. When we concluded our walk, I brought my camera out to get this photo. It was much less bright than shown in my photo below; actually, at the time we were there, it was less bright than earlier in the evening.

On the ten O’clock news we learned that it’s called the Bush Fire, it’s in the Tonto National Forest, and that traffic has been blocked of on SR 87 (Beeline Hwy).

Update – 2020-06-14:

Marilyn and I went out for another walk, shortly after 8:00pm on Sunday, the 14th. We first walked up to the top of the hill where I had taken the earlier photo. We returned by walking down the street upon which we lived. At the top of the street (which is on a hill), we found quite a dramatic view…

Update – 2020-06-15:

On the evening of Monday, the 15th, I walked across McDowell Mountain Road, hiked up one of the hills to the north, and took some more photos. According to InciWeb, on Monday evening, the Bush Fire is 37,900 acres in size and is still 0% contained.

Remember, this is a long exposure; this scene did not appear this bright while I was there. I was able to see some lights on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, I certainly wasn’t able to see this community in the level of detail shown here – it was much too dark. Likewise, the smoke didn’t have much of the color or glow shown in this photo; that too is due to taking a long exposure.

Update – 2020-06-16:

According to InciWeb, the Bush Fire grew to 64,513 acres in size, still with 0% containment. However, when I went out on my balcony in the evening to look, I saw only a faint glow in several areas. That being the case, I decided against going somewhere to take a photo and instead just took a shot from my balcony. Although my eyes couldn’t see much activity in the distance, a three and half minute exposure picked up a lot of hot spots on Four Peaks in addition to the usual glow in the smoke. I think that the long exposure smoothed out the smoke in addition to making the trees appear out of focus – they’re not out of focus; it’s just motion blur.

March 22, 2019 / 6 Comments

Friday Hike – Flatiron

Nora, Marilyn, Sara, and I hike to the top of the Flatiron and back on Friday.

Early morning photos looking up Siphon Draw towards the Flatiron were almost all back lit. Sorting through my photos, I found that I liked the afternoon shots better. But this one was okay. At this point, we’re nearly two miles in, close to the point where those who don’t go to the top will turn around.

At the top…

After looking over the edge of the Flatiron, we walked east for a short ways (probably less than a quarter mile) where we got this great view looking east. I took a few photos looking west from the top, but I didn’t find them to be especially compelling.

Prior to heading down, we stopped at a memorial commemorating the 2011 plane crash victims.

Continuing on, we got some great views of the Flatiron from the side. If you look closely, you can see someone near the edge.

Looking east again from the massive outcropping north of the Flatiron.

Looking ESE from this prominence.

Looking over the edge…

Nora, Sara, and Marilyn, making their way down.

Looking back up at the Flatiron. Several of the photos above were taken while making our way out to the point of the prominence left of the Flatiron.

We saw these flowers near the top of the slickrock area.

This is the slickrock area. Traction was pretty good, though care had to be taken because some of the rock has been smoothed by the water.

Slickrock area below; Flatiron above:

Globemallow:

We’re nearly done now – this is a good view of where we had been earlier in the day.

March 10, 2019 / 2 Comments

Sunday Hike – Deer Creek

Marilyn, Marilyn, Ben, Mike, Nick, and I hiked part of Deer Creek Trail #45 on Sunday. We hiked nearly ten miles; Marilyn H and I were forced to turn around just before the five mile point after being stymied by a section of creek which didn’t have enough exposed rocks to allow for easy fording.

Deer Creek had the most water that I’ve ever seen in it. It’s been mostly dry when I’ve seen it in the past.

At about the three mile point, we saw Davey Gowan’s grave. According to the accounts that I’ve read, he had a cabin elsewhere in the area, but was buried where he was found beside Deer Creek.

March 8, 2019 / 1 Comment

Friday Hike – Miner’s Needle Loop

For our hike on Friday, March 8, Sara, Marilyn, Ben, Marilyn, Mike, Nick, and I hiked the Miner’s Needle Loop in the Superstition Wilderness. Starting from Peralta Trailhead, we hiked the Dutchman Trail #104 and returned on Bluff Springs #235. I took a brief detour on Whiskey Spring #238 while the others ate lunch.

Weaver’s Needle seen from the Whiskey Springs Trail.

From this vantage point on the Whiskey Springs Trail, I was able to see both Miner’s Needle, below, and Weaver’s Needle, above.

Sara, Marilyn, Nick, Ben, Mike, and Marilyn:

February 24, 2019 / 3 Comments

Sunday Hike – Ballantine in the Snow

On Sunday, Michael, Aldo, Marilyn, Ben, Marilyn, and I hiked the Pine Creek Loop and a portion of the Ballantine Trail. Early on, the trails were mostly clear of the snow that accumulated on Thursday and Friday of the previous week. Higher up, however, snow covered the trail in places. We hiked 7.7 miles with a total ascent of 1800 feet.