Took the family up to Mingus Mountain to escape the heat in Phoenix. Since we did the Woodchute trail last August, decided to try Gaddes this year. We started at the trail head at the top of the mountain. The trail here is mostly open air without a lot of tree canopy. The hiking gods smiled on us and brought some nice puffy clouds to block the summer sun, right as we got out of the car to start the hike. We immediately bumped into some other hikers, who said they were scouting out the area for a future elk hunt The trail begins a slow descent along the canyon wall. We encountered an alligator juniper with an unusual appearance: it looked like it was growing around another tree. Shortly into the hike, we came across the spring. The spring is fenced off with barbed wire. The spring is also capped off with a galvanized steel barrel with a sheet steel top. We saw some broken/rusty old iron pipes laying around the site. We continued hiking and hit the first switchback that drops the trail to the canyon floor. This is a gorgeous section of the trail and is nicely tucked under the tree canopy. Nearby is the point where trail 9037 intersects with 110. It is a nice diversion and worth the extra time to explore. The whole trip was filled with interesting flora. We saw wildflowers and observed 3 different types of mushrooms growing along the trail. The return trip was all uphill.. and nobody complained
Route Editor
Route Scout
The trail begins a slow descent along the canyon wall. We encountered an alligator juniper with an unusual appearance: it looked like it was growing around another tree. Shortly into the hike, we came across the spring. The spring is fenced off with barbed wire. The spring is also capped off with a galvanized steel barrel with a sheet steel top. We saw some broken/rusty old iron pipes laying around the site. We continued hiking and hit the first switchback that drops the trail to the canyon floor. This is a gorgeous section of the trail and is nicely tucked under the tree canopy. Nearby is the point where trail 9037 intersects with 110. It is a nice diversion and worth the extra time to explore. The whole trip was filled with interesting flora. We saw wildflowers and observed 3 different types of mushrooms growing along the trail. The return trip was all uphill.. and nobody complained 
