Cave Trail #233 Photoset • cindyl • 2010-03-28 • HikeArizona.COM

Cave Trail #233, AZ

	2010-03-28
	22 by cindyl

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Cave Trail #233

Phoenix, AZ

Cave Trail #233

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	5.00 Miles	1,400 AEG

Hiking	5.00 Miles	5 Hrs	1.00 mph
	1,400 ft AEG

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rwstorm

tibber

So this one started innocently enough - up the Peralta Trail to Fremont Saddle. piece of cake. At this point I was asking - Seriously? That's what I drove all the way from Tucson for? We did take a lengthy break here, but this was just the beginning. Then there was the jaunt out to the Needle lookout, then the fun began.

The route was amazingly cairned. No way anyone could get lost here. Geronimo's cave was a nice little resting point, too. The men all had to get into the cave so it could be considered a "man cave." Then down - down the "Devil's Slide" that Randy had been touting, but it wasn't so bad. I didn't get down on my bum, not even get down on all fours - I just used my two legs and one arm on occasion for stability - not too bad.

The entire trail was beautiful with wildflowers and blooming hedgehog cactus, but the last stretch down to where we connected to the Bluff Springs trail back to the Peralta trailhead was stunning. There were some gorgeous globemallow that totally knocked my socks off.

I thought before (back at the end of November the first time I did the Flatiron, or when I did the Modified Marsh Valley Loop earlier this month) that I might be in love with the Superstitions. Now I know it.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Beavertail Prickly Pear Dichelostemma capitatum Desert Globemallow Desert Phlox Dudleya Fiddleneck Indian Paintbrush New Mexico Thistle Purple Bladderpod Strawberry Hedgehog White Nightshade

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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There are just two switchbacks left. And another half-mile to the destination...

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