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February 3, 2025 / 0 Comments

Spur Cross – Dirt Trough Creek

Heather and I did a variation of the Cottonwood Spring Loop. Starting on the Spur Cross Trail, we turned off onto the Metate Trail, did the short diversion on the Towee Trail, and then continued on Metate. When we got to the Cave Creek Wash, we continued across the Wash into the drainage which empties into Cave Creek. Surprisingly, there were a few wet spots, probably enough to filter, had we needed additional water. The drainage, which I think might be named Dirt Trough Creek, eventually led to the Cottonwood Trail, #247. From there, we hiked past the intersection for the Skull Mesa Trail, #248, and continued on to Trail #247A. This trail was difficult to follow. Heather and I got off track a number of times, but the navigation on our GPS watches helped us to find the right track.

Temps for the day got into the low eighties which is warmer than either Heather or I are adapted to in early February. We had discussed doing the Skull Mesa Trail too, but when we were finished we glad we didn’t – Trail #247A is constantly going up and down, giving us enough total ascent for the day.

A look at Skull Mesa from the Metate Trail:

This is a metate, for which the Metate Trail is named.

Down-turned arms usually indicate that the Saguaro was subjected to really cold conditions at some point in its life.

This is a view from the wash.

This might be an ancient petroglyph, though it could be of more recent origin too – it doesn’t look etched enough to me.

Another view from the wash:

A view of Skull Mesa from the Cottonwood Trail, #247:

We’re still on Trail #247 at this point; we had slightly overshot the turn onto #247A – it’s somewhat behind us and to the right, marked with a cairn.

A view of the wash that we had hiked in earlier in the day from #247A.

January 21, 2025 / 0 Comments

Spur Cross – Cottonwood / Limestone Loop

Heather and I hiked a 10.5 mile loop in the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, venturing into the adjoining Tonto National Forest as well. The bulk of our hiking was on the Cottonwood and Limestone Trails.

Heather in a wash that crossed the Cottonwood Trail. I want to go back sometime and hike this from Cave Creek up to this point (and perhaps beyond).

Looking up at Skull Mesa:

The only water we saw during our hike was in this concrete tank. Cave Creek is bone dry, but somehow, Limestone Spring managed to fill this tank to overflowing.

Another view of Skull Mesa:

Elephant Mountain:

This is a trail marker on the Limestone Trail. We could have shortened our hike considerable by following the arrow pointing to the trail leading back to Spur Cross. We continued on toward Rondo Spring, but chose to not add an additional two miles to our hike by going there. Instead, we stayed on the Limestone Trail which leads from National Forest back into the Park.

Another Trail marker; apparently we could also have gone to Peterson Spring.

Another view of Elephant Mountain from a drainage that we hiked through on the way to considerably higher territory.

This is the last trail marker that we encountered along the Limestone Trail. While it does point out how to get back to Spur Cross, possibly the more important locations are those of nearby water sources.

March 27, 2022 / 1 Comment

Sunday Hike

Marilyn, Heather, Gayle, and I hiked in McDowell Mountain Regional Park on Sunday. We looked at some petroglyphs that I only learned of about a month ago. Near the end of our hike, we saw a rattlesnake.

April 4, 2021 / 0 Comments

Sunday Hike

On Sunday, April 4, I hiked 11 miles, mostly in the desert, though I did make my way over to the fountain before returning home.

Red Mountain:

I saw two rattlesnakes, but only got a photo of the second. It was nearly dark and it was hard to see. I had to frame the snake and focus while trying to aim my flashlight at the snake. This photo, below, turned out to be the best of those that I took.

March 21, 2021 / 0 Comments

Rattlesnake

Marie and I saw this Western Diamondback rattlesnake while hiking on Saturday…

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

Aunt Betty, Mom, and Dad

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.