Water in the Desert

I'd planned to hike to a cache near the microwave towers on New Years Day but that got trumped by the chance to hike to a brand new cache behind Tortilla Flat for the First to Find. It was another week before the rain let up enough that I could approach this cache without wearing rain gear.

The cache description mentioned passing a memorial to a lineman that I wanted to see. The college campus that I managed has a lineman program which helped me develop a real respect for the challenges of their job. This individual was a young journeyman lineman who was electrocuted while repairing the power line to the microwave station. His family visits this memorial often and keeps it clean and fresh.

The next day, in spite of the cold (to us) weather, BJ and I went back out to the Hawes Trail area for a hike. That week of rain had me anxious to get outside.

There was snow on the portion of Four Peaks that we could see

and water running in the wash normally dry wash.

It didn't look like much at the top, but was doing a good job as it dropped down through the cut.

Talking with other hikers that are out in the area on a regular basis, most had never seen it flow before. A couple fellows said it wasn't flowing the day before so we were especially fortunate to witness it. Typical desert dwellers - complain about a week of rain, and then celebrate water flowing in the desert...

On a different subject, our old dog has been learning new tricks. Turk has been in booty training, hoping to keep thorns out of his paws with some upcoming desert wandering in Quartzsite. He really didn't like them at first. Still doesn't, but he's doing better

Apache Trail/s

The alarm was set for 3:45 a.m. on New Year's morning to take Jeff and Spencer to the airport. About the same time e-mails started flowing in announcing new caches that had just been approved. Most were urban caches along busy roads, but one caught my eye. It was about 5 miles beyond Canyon Lake and almost a mile from road I was willing to drive.

After  the sun came up the morning was cool but clear. The cache was in a location that I wouldn't have visited otherwise, sandwiched with a view of Four Peaks in one direction, and

three Saguaro on a cliff off in another direction. The hike had its share of ups and downs which made for enough exercise to stay warm. The cache was well hidden and a good challenge to find, but find it I did. Another First To Find on the list. It was well worth the time and effort.

I had so much fun with that early morning hike that BJ and I went back the next day to chase other caches on the Apache Trail between Tortilla Flat and the viewpoint at the top of Fisherman's Hill. Another day of beautiful clear skies and interesting views.

We stopped by 'the' corral to do a little hiking. It doesn't look like the corral gets used much any more. The chicken wire is reinforced with cactus.

We were surprised to run across several rolls of "portable corral" in a wash. Not sure if they blew there or were dumped there. The other rolls aren't going anywhere soon with desert plants growing up through the rolls of fencing.

There was some barbed wire used in the corral, but it looked like it was all pieces too short to be used elsewhere. Lots of twists holding pieces of wire together.

We did stop at the viewpoint at the top of Fisherman's Hill, but didn't continue further east this time because we were getting hungry.

(If you look close at the enlarged version, there's a black car about the middle of the picture, headed down the easy part of the hill.)

On the way home we stopped at the Lakeside Restaurant at the Marina for a late lunch. Apparently, we weren't the only ones eating a late lunch. The place was nearly full and the staff were running hard to keep up, but the food was every bit as good as usual.

While the weather has been cooler than normal, we've been enjoying time together and independently on the trails.

Wave Cave

On Boxing Day, one of BJ's hiking buddies suggested a hike I'd never heard about. The destination for the day was the Wave Cave, in hopes that the weather would be warmer at the beach.

The hike started from the Carney Springs trailhead on the west side of the Superstitions. There is no official trail, and none of us had been there, but how hard could it be?

Early on, we spotted what we thought was our target.

After crossing the border into the Wilderness, we started looking for a track turning off from the Carney Springs trail.

We passed an area that looked like it may have been a miner's camp at one time, with quite a pile of rusting tin cans.

Once we turned off the Carney Springs trail, our track was consistently upwards, working across the face of the hill and then turning into a large ravine.

As we continued climbing in the ravine, our views continued to get bigger. The wind was cold and we were all appreciating our layers, but the views were wonderful!

Almost there!

It's pretty obvious how the cave got its name.

If she could surf the rock, I had to try as well.

It took us as long to work our way back down the track. While the route was obvious if you made the turn off the Carney Springs trail in the right place, it's clearly not an official trail, and demands respect, especially downhill where the loose rocks can be a challenge.

All in all, a really fun hike on a beautiful day. Thanks, Candice!

Night Hike = SAR Call-out

Went on a night hike a couple weekends ago with BJ, some of her Search & Rescue (SAR) friends and their families. It was supposed to be a nearly full moon but was slightly overcast so the moon wasn't as bright as it could have been. The rocky trail runs through desert landscape most of the way.

Hiking up the hill towards Hieroglyphic Canyon in the Superstitions did give lots of opportunities to view the city lights which were challenging to photograph without a tripod.

The creek wasn't flowing but there was some water in the deepest pool. There are several panels of petroglyphs that are quite interesting in the daylight. After a break and conversations, we started back down the hill.

We hadn't gone far when one of the people behind us called for the leader to return. It didn't take long to find that one of the people still near the top of the trail had broken their ankle.

What started out as a hike with friends quickly turned into a rescue. The SAR team's gear trailer was only a few miles away so they were able to get it before the remainder of the team responded to the callout. BJ, along with several of the SAR members that were on the hike headed back up the hill with the Stokes basket to carry the stabilized patient down the hill.


About 3.5 miles & 800 feet elevation gain for me. Double that for the SAR team - and a lot more work!  Sure is nice to hike with the "right" people.  It's definitely SAR season!  In addition to the Friday night rescue, there were three more rescues in Pinal County before the weekend was over.

Enjoy the outdoors but be careful!

Signs of the Season

I really thought that Fall had arrived in the Valley of the Sun when the temp during my walk yesterday morning was in the low 50's. Even BJ was celebrating the arrival of Fall on her Facebook page. Unfortunately, the overnight lows for the next week are all forecast to be over 60 degrees.

It has been cool enough to make hiking enjoyable. The gals invited me to go with them a couple weeks ago on a hike to Wind Cave at Usery Park.

It's a 3.2 mile round trip with 800 feet elevation gain that leads through the desert to beautiful view of the valley. It's impossible to get lost on this hike with directions to Phoenix in view throughout the hike. Apparently the pilots that trained here during World War II had a bad habit of getting lost.

In addition to the trails, the approximately 6 square mile park includes over 70 sites in the camping area with water, electric, and a dump station for $25 per night. Nearly empty during the summer, it will be filling up now that temps are more reasonable. Dry camping is available about 7 miles away in the Tonto National Forest for $6 per night with 50% off for seniors.

The confirmation that seasons are changing is the number of out-of-state license plates that are showing up on the street. Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Washington, and Oregon are all showing up in significant numbers. I guess it's time to get out and enjoy our local back country.