Quail Trail

I had so much fun with a geocache out in Gold Canyon that I went looking for another placed by the same person. This second cache took me to a trail I'd never traveled. Just too lazy, I guess. I headed out to the Broadway trailhead east of Apache Junction to wander through the forest, Arizona desert style.

Not only did I experience a wonderful forest of Saguaro, Ironwood, and Palo Verde, but I enjoyed the mountain views as well. The south side of Flat Iron was different from the western side I normally enjoy.

I was supposed to be looking for some caches, but I was having lots more fun enjoying the view and watching the rabbits and birds.

The first section of the trail was reasonably smooth, but once I turned onto the Jacobs Crosscut trail,

the trail got much rockier. I was very pleased to be wearing my hiking boots and using my trekking poles. I think the trail could be a real ankle-turner if you were unprepared.

If you continue the trail beyond the cache that was my goal, you eventually reach the Broadway Cave in the Superstition Wilderness. The cave is the dark area near the center of the picture.

There were lots of quail running around. Once in a while they'd sit in a tree and ignore me unless I got too close.

I loved the area, the hike, the views, and the quail.

By the time I got home, I had several caches in mind to create a caching trail featuring the area. For those that haven't visited MtnShasta's Band-Aid cache, these may give them additional excuses to visit.

My caches published near midnight on the 9th. Apparently they were a bit tougher than I thought!