Saturday, December 11, 2010

FIRST IN A SERIES OF ARIZONA HIKES

Wednesday and Friday are hiking days
here at Canyon Vistas Resort Park

The hikers meet at the main office
parking lot
at 8:15 in the morning
Departure time
8:30

Normally each morning I let myself
wake up on my own
however
on hiking days I have to set the alarm
That reminds me of the days when I worked
and
I had to wake up to the alarm

I do not like the sound of

ring, ring, ring, ring
buzz, buzz, buzz buzz

A Wednesday Hike


HACKBERRY SPRINGS GARDEN LOOP


An interesting sign at the trail head




Red berries on this 'shrub'
It surprised me to see this type of foilage
in the desert



We came to an area which is referred to as the
Indian Mound
Other hikers have found pottery pieces
and left them for hikers to observe



This section of the hike has
wide open spaces
One hiker commented that this area
must have been the
'garden area'
Many cholla are growing here



You can see many of the hikers
ahead of us
I get to be a slow poke when I
stop to take pictures



Joe commented on these cactus
He thought they were pointed in
the direction of the path

If they could talk they would be saying
This way folks



Someone left us a sign!!!!!!



We had lunch at a dry creek bed



We can always count on Jim and Curt
to lead the group
or bring up the rear



Here I am giving a helping hand

The terrain is about to change



This is like a guessing game
as to where the
'path' is????



Walking by this little pool of water



A beautiful tree growing right here



Now this is getting to be a bit tricky
Thank goodness for the walkie-talkie



Does this look like a path????



Oh good
A cairn of rocks indicates

GO THIS WAY



Great
We are on a simple little path



At this spot we caught up to
four other hikers
This is good!

In the background is the
Chain Fruit Cholla



A close up of the
chains of the Cholla fruit



This is a century plant



Here are two signs
Which way do we go?????



We had the end of the trail in sight
We could hear voices
The fast paced hikers
(we call them 'the rabbits')
were probably wondering
where the rest of the gang where
They had climbed to the top
of the hill to check us out



Here is Dick
He was the leader for the day



The happy hikers
at the end of the trail!

The next hike will be
Freemont Saddle











4 comments:

  1. I loved the hike first thing this morning in sunny (warmer) Arizona. Thank you for letting me tag along. It still amazes me the vast openness of Arizona with nothing but rugged features. I'd be grateful for walkie talkies too as I'd stop and marvel at everything. Thank you. :o)

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  2. I don't remember having a hard time finding the trail on that hike. But then, I was usually looking through a camera lens, stumbling along. You can certainly see how dry the desert is this year. Thanks for my morning hike!

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  3. I love the last picture mom, you should print that one off. I hate the alarm sound too...they must test the rings and pick the most iratating one to go with...I guess that makes sence, I'm rambling...

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  4. This looks like a great trail. Where are your next hikes going to be? You should definitely go up North there are some great trails, especially the Grand Canyon. I'm planning a Grand Canyon hike in the fall with Just Roughin It. I'm excited to go with a skilled hiking group, especially for the Grand Canyon, that way I'll get to see a lot of things I didn't know existed. Plus they supply a lot of the supplies ;)

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